Why Effective CRM Campaigns Need An OmniChannel Approach

Today’s consumer has changed in two significant ways. First, the number of touchpoints they use to engage with brands has multiplied. Second, they expect a seamless and consistent experience across all channels. That’s why, as this Forbes piece points out:

• Omnichannel marketing is more important than ever before.
• Campaigns need a high degree of personalisation based on consolidated data.

For strategies to be successful, marketers require integrated solutions. These will optimise the customer experience. They can then collect and analyse data to build engagement, conversion, and loyalty.

What role can customer relationship marketing, or CRM, play in this scenario? Chances are, you already use technology to gather customer data across channels. As you know, this gives access to information such as purchase history, personal information, and behaviour patterns. Marketing and sales teams can then act in ways that yield the best results.

With an omnichannel strategy, CRM campaigns can receive a powerful boost. Marketing messages can be made more relevant. Customer acquisition and retention can improve.

What exactly is an Omnichannel Strategy?

In a nutshell, an omnichannel approach helps marketers create a positive consumer experience at every stage of the funnel. It is designed to be frictionless across multiple devices and touchpoints.

Let’s explore what an omnichannel strategy consists of and how it accelerates marketing efforts.

One way to sum it up is with 3Cs:

• It is Convenient. The brand is available with help, advice, and other content, no matter which channel the customer uses.
• It is Consistent. The tone of voice used is the same at all times to increase recognition as well as trust.
• It is Customised. Consumer segments and behaviour are taken into account to create personalised and relevant experiences.

To deliver an omnichannel experience, marketers typically use a mix of e-mail, push notifications, in-app messaging, social media, and live chat. Often, offline touchpoints are incorporated too.

Such tactics can deliver powerful results. In retail, one survey found that 47% of those engaging across 10 or more channels made purchases from websites at least once a week. Another study found that companies with strong omnichannel strategies retain an average of 89% of their customers.

Must Read: How Retail CRM Software Can Accelerate Leads, Opportunities, and Sales

OmniChannel Strategy Makes CRM Campaigns More Powerful

Many businesses have realised the value of CRM. One estimate shows that over 90% of organisations with more than 10 employees use CRM systems. The right CRM software can grow sales by 29% and productivity by 34%.

Adopting an omnichannel strategy for CRM campaigns can multiply the advantages. An effective CRM tech stack should be able to:

• leverage data across functions with ease
• provide actionable information for marketing, sales, and customer service departments
• identify consumer behaviour and trends
• recognise patterns of purchase ups and downs
• monitor social media and other channels for feedback

To optimise this across channels, CRM should:

• increase awareness about the way the business communicates with customers across touchpoints
• provide a high degree of automation, especially with repetitive and predictable tasks and customer enquiries
• be able to integrate channel feedback from multiple departments for a streamlined approach to engagement

For example, a real estate company can gather consumer information and inquiries on websites and other online avenues to get a unified picture of demand across segments. Leads can be generated, and follow-ups can be based on a personal understanding of consumer needs.

Similarly, a hotel or a travel agency business can consolidate data across booking platforms and sub-agents. They can track demand, check the efficacy of deals, and take advantage of seasonal variations.

In this way, the traditional role of CRM combined with an omnichannel approach will enhance and monitor CX to provide valuable inputs for the future.

Essentials of CRM Software for an Omnichannel Approach

To enable the above, companies need to choose their CRM software and technology partner carefully. Nowadays, many savvy marketers are taking advantage of cloud-communication suites to uplift customer experiences.

Before doing so, they should consider some key elements of the tech stack. These will go a long way to enable an omnichannel strategy for effective CRM campaigns.

• There should be a combined dashboard that can display all collected consumer data across channels. This universal dashboard can consist of information from all touchpoints, for example, social media, automated feedback forms, website behaviour, e-mail, and more. Marketers can use such a dashboard to check the health of their campaigns at a glance. It should be constantly updated with the latest data.
• Depending on the needs of the business, there should be a facility that offers automated campaign management across touchpoints. This can be used to assign content, online posts, forms, and so on to create a unified experience. A single interface ensures consistency for consumers and less effort for those running the campaign.
• For speed and relevance, the platform should be capable of real-time engagement. This is especially useful in the case of offers and deals to different segments. Continuous feedback and analysis of consumer behaviour make it simpler to tweak the strategy for a better chance of success.
• Online and offline orchestration is an important part of an omnichannel strategy. The CRM platform should take this into account. It should be able to integrate data about consumer behaviour during offline interactions, such as when they are in a store. This makes true omnichannel engagement possible.
• Customer service is a significant part of the omnichannel experience. The CRM platform should enable a degree of automation and consistency in service. It should send regular updates as well as provide performance insights.

Must Read: The Best Practices that can unleash the power of CRM Email Marketing

Finally, marketers should ensure that the CRM technology they use to follow an omnichannel strategy should be robust, intuitive, and secure. The technology partner should take responsibility for network uptime. There should be flexible, plug-and-play APIs. And a unified data protection framework in keeping with stringent standards and regulations.

To sum up, with an omnichannel strategy for CRM campaigns, marketers can seamlessly optimise the customer experience across touchpoints. With the right CRM platform, this approach results in more leads, conversions, and loyalty.