The Impact of Cross-Device Journeys and Real-Time Personalization

Are you tired of the terms omnichannel and customer journey yet? You better not be, because the evidence is becoming absolutely clear that these are critical terms in today’s marketing ecosystem.

What is Omnichannel Marketing?

Omnichannel marketing is the use of a variety of channels to market to prospects and customers. Channels may include one or more media or devices and include social media, search engines, advertising networks, traditional media, direct mail, email, mobile and more.

Just a note, we used to call this multichannel marketing but I guess that wasn’t cool enough. The challenge of omnichannel marketing is that the prospect isn’t using just one session and one path to engage with your brand online. They may be utilizing their workstation at their job, then their mobile device, then their tablet while they’re browsing or watching television, or their laptop. Even within mobile they may be interacting via social, a mobile web browser, and/or a mobile application.

Add to the equation offline behavior, like browsing your store, and you’ve got quite a mess on your hands when you try to attribute purchase decisions and try to personalize the online and offline experience for the visitor. Modern marketing systems are beginning to take the breadcrumbs that users are leaving and beginning to connect the dots to paint a clear picture. Signal recommends the three C’s: create, capture and calibrate; to continuously hone your data and personalize the experience.

Shoppers have moved beyond the behavior predicted by the traditional marketing funnel, and the customer’s path to purchase has become more of a winding road, with many more points of entry and exit. Despite (or perhaps because of) a proliferation of marketing channels, from broadcast ads to pay-per-click, direct mail to programmatic advertising, it’s harder than ever for companies to understand just what makes a customer click buy.

For a great discussion on real-time interactive marketing, be sure to listen to our interview with Jess Stephens. Real-time marketing increases conversion rates by an average of 26% and 61% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that delivers customized, real-time content.