10 Omnichannel Marketing for Brand Commitment (Integrating Traditional and Digital Media and Experiences)
- The Rise of Omnichannel Marketing
Nowadays, consumer move from one channel to another, the combination of online marketing and offline marketing is the best combo. They complement and support each other in the sense that some people may look over the internet first before they make a purchase and then read about product reviews before they decide. The routine can go the other way around the consumer may look at the product at the store to see its physical appearance then review online then make an online purchase. The same happened to me as I have ordered a laptop online but before that I checked the physical looks of it first then ordered in Amazon.
Checking the attributes physically first then making an online purchase is called “showrooming” and checking online then going to the physical store is called “webrooming”. Indeed, the internet has shifted the way people make a purchase and make a decision. More and more people are becoming online and channel-agnostics. People move from one channel to another. Traditional marketing can be tracked and monitored in a different set of metrics and different set of goals. Customer journey path is now considered spiral as compared to a straightforward approach. There are numerous ways on how digital can be consumed and as well as traditional before the lead converts to sales.
Omni channel Marketing has been the trend these days, it is the process of integrating the channels to work for a common objective for the brand which could either be a sale or awareness. When people has more exposure to different channels and has explored many options, it says that it yields a higher commitment to purchase. Omni channel has 30% higher value than a single channel. Omni channel is the solution to the growing trend of e commerce and it is growing rapidly.
TREND 1 – Focusing on Mobile Commerce in the “Now” Economy
Mobile phones are the tools to easily access website and information about the resort. The mobile economy has flourished as everyone has one or more mobile phones and are heavily attached to their smartphones. The ease of making transaction online through mobile has become a fashion. People can even walk into a store nowadays and receive promo discounts or even announcements because it can track the mobile phones that are within the proximity of the store. It has become a success ingredient to include mobile channel in a digital marketing plan. Wearable’s like smart watches has also became a part of the lifestyle, this can also be used as tool to leverage on marketing strategy.
TREND 2 – Brining “Webgrooming” into Offline Channels (WALK- IN GUESTS)
Webgrooming is when people search for products online and may or may not do crowdsourcing as well, the end activity is they go to the store and purchase the product from the physical store.
Technology like NFC or RFID are used to create a communication between retailers and consumers. With the resort, creating machine to machine connections can allow the business to track where the customers are within the 12 HA beach front property. Thinking forward, the behavioural data that can be retrieved can be used to identify past purchases and other data about the guest thus allows personalization of services that can make the beach experience more worthwhile. RFID’s can be tagged in rice cookers and other inventories that are for rent. The resort can leverage on this technique by putting a lot of effort in making product viewing more enjoyable and more strategic. Videos that are compelling and enticing. The resorts FB page can give a virtual tour video or pictures that are arranges in a way that customers can easily get a clear picture of the outing that they are availing of. Just like any other hotel or resorts, details should be complete, policies should be clear. Some guests are even from other provinces as far as Bulacan and all they can rely on is the information found in the web before they can make the purchase,
TREND 3 – Bringing “Showrooming” into Online Channels (BOOKINGS WITH RESERVATION and OCCULAR VISIT)
Showrooming is checking the attributes physically first then making an online purchase. Online channels can never replace offline channels, Offline shopping allows consumers to hear it, feel it, see it and touch it. These are concepts operations management concepts that are aligned to an efficient and effective selling. Human to human interaction is evident part of this traditional purchase method. It is less likely that they go to the report to do ocular and pay a reservation fee. Most of the time they are assisted by the reservations officers to give them a more human centric touch. Moreover, some guests are from different countries and they make reservation through FB, Viber and other chat apps. But still there are still 20% who goes to the venue to do an ocular visit first and eventually pay he reservation fee at the resort.
Optimizing Omni Channel Experience with Big Data Analytics
Rich customer data can capture customer demographics and journey patterns, browsing patterns and social media activities, product promotion and transaction records. Analytics can provide information that can clone the identity of the usual guests and this can maximize ROI. This can engage marketers to collect data for forecasting trends. This can identify the demands of the target market. Using Webgrooming and Showgrooming will give an all-inclusive Omnichannel immersion.
2. Step-by-Step Omnichannel Marketing
Customer path analysis is the best tool to develop a good Omnichannel. If you know your target market it will be easier to do the intergration across all touch points and digital and traditional channels. It is a two (2) step process.
STEP 1 Mapping all Touch Points and Channels Across the Customer Path. By answering the 5 A’s
Aware – Learn about the resort through a friend (Calling Card)
Appeal – Visit the resort website (Visit the website)
Ask – Inquire by calling the reservations number or through FB (Contact Center)
Act –Booking and accommodation (Pay Reservation Fee through Reservation Staff)
Advocate – Recommend the resort (Post videos in blogs or FB)
STEP 2 Identify the Most Critical Touch Points and Channels
Omnichannel enables guests to view and engage in multiple channels before the purchase and the point is to make sure that all touch points are seamless.
STEP 3 Improve and Integrate the Most Critical Touch points and Channels
Based on the touch points that has the most engagement, the marketing team should be able to determine the most used and most important areas where the company should allocate more funds to drive more conversion to the resort. Goals and budgets should be aligned and metrics as well should serve as basis of success of the online and offline campaign.
3. Summary: Integrating the Best of Online and Offline Channels
The brand should have a perfect strategy that addresses all touch points and that could answer the demands of the guests from awareness, research, purchase and even out of the box experience, this is equal to the 5A’s and the whole organization should have a unifies structure that is consistent. A process that is polished to avoid gaps. Customer behavior is relative, they can go to from one channel to another and behavior can be spiral than straightforward. The brand should prepare a customer path and journey map that will also tackle all possible activities, motivations, questions and barriers. Online and Offline strategies are best combined. No standalone strategy can survive on a long term basis.
A. What are the most important customer touch points and channels for your business?
For the resort, the most important key point is the conversation between the reservations officer. This avenue is online and over phone. The staff receives incentives in form of commission per booking and bonus when target goal is reached. However, the management practices that performance evaluation is not solely based on sales but on overall efficiency, effectively in the role, culture and ethical behavior.
B. Have you aligned the channels to support a seamless and consistent experience?
Yes, by having a customer journey path and map, we have identified all touch points and by knowing the needs of each activity we were able to decide on what is the best channel to use. Moreover, integration is the key since people’s search behavior vary from one another.