The consumers of today have endless amounts of instantaneous information available to them about the brands of their choice. This means that modern marketers need to be capable of executing the most critical campaign : the ‘cross-channel campaign.’
As the list of available platforms increases, brands are hosting their information in more and more places in order to reach consumers via their platform of choice. The tricky part is ensuring that the multiple marketing channels are brought together to produce an effective cross-channel campaign in which each channel supports or promotes another.
When considering a cross-channel campaign, three of the main contenders are usually email, mobile and social. So how do we get the most from these platforms?
Lead nurturing and drip campaign emails typically deliver educational product or service information to help guide your subscribers to conversion. Move your subscribers from “just looking” to “buying it today” with a series of emails devoted to educating, informing and encouraging them to take action.
Target specific subscriber lists and execute communications based on time intervals or subscriber action, using lead nurturing campaigns to guide, mature and engage prospects along the sales cycle. Successful drip campaigns include new subscriber welcome series and other programmes designed to gradually introduce customers to your brand, helping to build and maintain a successful relationship. Email performance is trackable, helping you see which leads are most engaged enabling you can target them appropriately.
Triggered messaging programmes like these are designed to automatically combine email with your CRM and web analytics data. This helps to produce timely, relevant messages which generate substantially higher conversion rates.
As a result, email:
• Streamlines and standardises your sales cycle
• Reduces manual processes by your sales team
• Engages subscribers with your product or service
• Ensures your brand stays top-of-mind
• Eliminates the need for expensive mailers or paper-based promotional materials
• Provides a trackable form of communication
Mobile
Using the mobile platform to produce text alerts is a convenient way of sending account updates straight to clients’ mobile phones,. Text alert programmes are often promoted via corporate websites, on payment envelopes or through customer service centres.
According to Mobile Dependence Day, part of ExactTarget’s Subscriber Fans & Follower research series, 89% of US consumers own a cell phone. 41% of those have made a purchase based on a text message they received on their mobile.
As text alerts are often driven by opt-in or individual preferences, using them to proactively approach those consumers who are on-the-go can be a highly appreciated form of keeping in close contact with already engaged customers. Text alerts allow you to notify users of urgent or sensitive information which increases customer satisfaction and peace of mind.
To tie your mobile audience in with your cross-channel campaign, consider driving your text alert recipients to a mobile landing page where they can opt in to your email programme.
Social
Integrating social media into your marketing campaign allows you to encourage your subscribers to share your brand message with their friends and peers via various social networks. It is a fast and effective way to share content, and it allows your most loyal customers to take the initiative by talking about your brand. Consumers are more likely to engage with a message sent by a friend than one sent by a brand, resulting in further reach to a vast and potentially profitable new audience.
Incorporating social networking icons or widgets into your emails or other communications provides your customers with an easy way to share your content with the click of a button.
Having a good cross-channel planning and management system in place allows you to easily monitor and track conversations about your brand in real-time – and is an essential part of today’s interactive marketing reality.
With thousands of Tweets, Facebook posts and google searches made every second, surviving in the “interactive marketing wild” can seem impossible. That is why marketers need a platform which enables them to engage in real-time marketing, consolidating all data to create a common view of the consumer landscape and deliver targeted, permission-based interactions across email, mobile and the social web.
More channels shouldn’t mean more challenges, just careful planning to turn multi-channel woes into cross-channel success.
NB. Information taken from ExactTargets Field Guide to Cross-Channel Marketing
