Posted by There are so many different marketing strategies currently that it can be hard to keep up. One of the growing marketing strategies is called Omnichannel. It is a technique that allows a customer to experience the business through separate platforms while keeping the experience seamless.
Businesses with omnichannel call centers have utilized new digital channels in their marketing and customer engagement strategies. Omnichannel is growing in popularity because of the customer experience it provides. Great customer experience is often something that brings past customers back for more products and therefore boosts sales. Even one time shoppers who have a great experience are more likely to recommend an omnichannel business to others.
The main question is: will omnichannel marketing help my business? The answer really depends on what type of business you have and what you want your customer experience to be. Here is an explanation of what omnichannel marketing is and its benefits to help you decide.
1. Understand What Omnichannel Means
Omnichannel marketing and multi-channel marketing often get confused but they are separate strategies. Omnichannel marketing is always multi-channel because it works through various platforms such as the internet, over the phone, and a real building. Multi-channel marketing does not have to be omnichannel because it does not always keep the experience as seamless as omnichannel strives to.
What omnichannel provides is a customer support team that a customer can reach out to through any platform and receive the same experience. It allows the customer to pick up a conversation with a customer service agent on any of the companies platforms and have all of their information already there waiting. Having to repeat everything to each individual agent is frustrating and makes for a bad customer experience that omnichannel marketing strives to eliminate.
Another excellent thing about omnichannel marketing is that it allows the agent to decide what the best avenue for the customer to go through would be. An agent can listen to the customers’ issue and then recommend whether they should go in-store or if over the phone is fine. It allows for a seamless transfer between customer service agents so the customer gets exactly what they need without frustration.
2. Efficient Use of Agents
One of the excellent things about omnichannel is that it allows your customer to go through any avenue to get help from an agent. That means they will only need to talk to one agent to get their problem solved. It makes for better customer experience and wastes fewer agents time.
The biggest frustration that agents and customers have in common is how often the wrong agent gets contacted with a problem. Especially in cases where only an in-store agent can help. Omnichannel makes sure that any agent can help and that the best agent for the job is assigned as soon as the issue is discovered.
Agents often have to waste their own time as well as the customers by asking questions the customer has already answered for a different agent or online. Omnichannel marketing makes sure any information the customer has previously given to any company platform is available to the agent to keep from wasting time and frustrating the customer. It allows the agents to do their jobs more efficiently.
3. AI and Bots
Omnichannel marketing is also a great way to utilize AI and bots in your company. If you are making sure all of the information a customer gives is well documented so that they can go between agents and channels with no bumps, a bot can easily take down that information. This allows for a company to spend less money on huge call centers while the agents they have can focus on problems AI cannot resolve.
Customers prefer to solve problems themselves. It can make a customer feel like they have made a mistake or be very inconvenient to talk to an agent. Allowing customers to solve their own small scale problems through AI is a great way to save money on agents and make sure your customers are still getting what they need.
Because in omnichannel marketing any avenue a customer uses to give information is given to every other avenue, an agent can seamlessly pick up the problem if AI is not prepared to handle the issue. Seventy-five percent of customers would prefer to handle an issue without having to call or talk to another person and the use of bots is a great way to allow them that freedom while still making sure to solve the issue.
4. Customer Experience
Probably the best example of how omnichannel marketing can increase customer experience is Disney. The entire park and industry run on an omnichannel system that allows customers to plan their whole vacation on their phone and have everything set up for them when they arrive.
As soon as you book a trip you can set up everything from where you are going to eat every night to fast passes on your phone before you even get to the park.
Another great example is Starbucks which allows customers to go from ordering to paying and getting rewards on their phone. You can order on your phone and expect your drink to be ready when you get to your chosen store with no pauses on the way. Customers have a seamless experience that can happen across platforms and into the actual building with not a hitch in the process.
There are many examples of companies successfully switching to omnichannel marketing and having much happier customers. The customer experience of being able to handle their own trip or purchase is much better than having to talk to several people to get what they want and then not being sure those requests were translated between individual people.
Omnichannel companies allow their customers to handle themselves with the assurance everything they do on one platform will be waiting for them at the next platform they choose to use.
5. An Established Business
Omnichannel marketing is probably not going to be profitable for a startup or small company. If you are only really selling through one or two platforms then you do not need a seamless experience across multiple platforms. The omnichannel experience is ideal for larger companies selling through many avenues who want a better and more efficient customer experience.
The rise of Gen Z is showing how many different platforms people really shop on. No one in modern America is shopping only in person or only on Amazon. That means that a company selling on several platforms is probably getting the same customer from multiple places. Making sure that customer has the same experience no matter how they shop with you is the best way to get a satisfied, returning customer.
A bigger company selling across multiple platforms can expect a profit from omnichannel marketing and improved customer experience. Modern sales require a multi-platform model and the best way to run a business across many channels is through omnichannel marketing.
Conclusion
Omnichannel marketing is the future of business. It is the perfect way to allow a customer to shop across multiple platforms with the same great experience at each place. It even allows your employees to have a more seamless and efficient experience so they can better help their customers.
The increased use of AI in business is allowing for less customer service agents as customers can take control of solving their own small problems. This also allows customer service agents to have all the information a customer has given in one place so they can be more efficient and helpful. The overall customer experience omnichannel marketing provides is much better for modern sales than any other marketing strategy has been.
Using omnichannel marketing in your established business will allow you to make more seamless transactions while your customers remain happy. There are many examples of omnichannel marketing being of great benefit to both customers and the business itself. So does your business need the great experience and innovation that omnichannel marketing provides?
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