Struggling to stay afloat while managing cross-channel marketing? Feeling spread so thin even peanut butter can’t spell “jiffy”? As a small to medium-sized business, maybe your to-do list is toast (as in, jam-packed):
- Crafting another captivating ad
- Sharing another engaging blog post
- Joining another social media conversation
Oh, the overwhelm! Seriously, you’re not alone.
Approximately 81 percent of marketers use cross-channel marketing—leveraging more than three digital channels to showcase their brand. An integrated marketing strategy, such as this, is hardly uncommon… and with good reason. Studies show that being active on multiple channels pays for itself:
- Expands your reach
- Elevates brand recognition
- Ensures you’re “discoverable”
- Encourages leads and conversions
But…that doesn’t mean you have to feel like you’re constantly swimming upstream.
What is Cross-Channel Marketing, exactly?
Cross-channel marketing unifies your branding efforts. Instead of dividing promotional campaigns into lonely silos, content is dispersed both online and offline. In a cross-channel marketing campaign, specifically, a single message is shared across various platforms. It’s a way to deliver the same brand narrative everywhere, tailored to fit each medium and audience.
Think about it: your logo is plastered across business cards, email marketing, and Facebook ads. Why not do the same with deeper, targeted messages? Why not rely on a seamless user experience?
What Would Be an Example of an Integrated Marketing Strategy?
Consider the cross-channel marketing campaigns for two lawn care companies—A and B. Which one is using cross-channel marketing advantageously?
Company A
- Social media post about an upcoming local flower show
- Customer testimonial praising Company A’s new lawn mower
- Subscriber email highlighting the benefits of installing a smart irrigation system
Company B
- Social media post about the frustrations of weeding and gardening
- Customer testimonial recommending Company B’s weed removal product
- Subscriber email plugging Company B’s weed removal helper and discount code
If you guessed Company B, you get a gold star ⭐!
While both companies market themselves across different channels, only B uses an integrated marketing strategy. The social media post addresses a common pain point, commiserating with the target audience. The testimonial dovetails a viable solution via the company’s product offering. The email clinches the deal, riding the coattails of previous outreach, citing product benefits and an incentive to buy.
Notice the graduation of each touchpoint, concluding with a call to action. Three different channels, one unified strategy, designed to address each stage of the buyer’s journey.
What Are the Benefits of Cross-Channel Marketing?
- Expand Engagement: Marketing on just one channel limits a significant portion of your audience. With cross-channel marketing, you can reach a much wider base. What’s more, this approach ensures that each segment of your audience receives personalized attention. And more personalized content = more likelihood of engagement (and sales).
- Cultivate Loyalty: 64 percent of customers discover new products via social media. Keep up a consistent narrative and customers will trust you as an authority and a source for reliable solutions.
- Track Metrics: Analyzing cross-channel data provides insights into your marketing performance. Rather than evaluating platforms in isolation, you’ll glean their collective impact on your bottom line. For best results, analyze multiple KPIs—especially these six.
Get Started with Cross-Channel Marketing
Step 1: Define Your Goals
Cohesive messaging is key to cross-channel marketing. As you brainstorm goals for your first campaign, we recommend making them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely).
Need inspiration? Check out these integrated marketing strategies that have gone viral.
Step 2: Do Your (Customer) Research
Craft your buyer persona(s)—the ideal customers you’re looking to pitch. Ask questions like:
- Who is your target audience?
- What are their goals and challenges?
- How do they make purchasing decisions?
- Why should they choose your brand?
To get the answers, data is your friend! Investigate who has viewed and engaged with past social media posts. Track URLs or cookies—the metrics in the back-end dashboard of your website. What crumbs leave a trail? Age range of visitors, for instance? Geographic location? Time spent lurking on your home or product services page? Blog topics assuming clicks or comments?
Or, if these digital options fall flat, send out emails embedded with surveys, product links, and CTAs (calls-to-action). Track how different segments of your audience engage. Note unsubscribes, direct feedback, frequently asked questions, and spikes in email click-through rates.
Pro tip: Email subject lines with the most “opens” indicate interest of some kind. Build on that subject matter… an integrated marketing strategy is just the ticket.
Step 3: Choose Your Platforms
Identify where your audience spends most of their time. You’ll want to concentrate your cross-channel marketing in a couple of key places. We recommend prioritizing social media (great for hooking new leads), alongside email campaigns (great for boosting loyalty). Plan the content you’ll share on each platform, ensuring it aligns with your campaign’s overall message.
Step 4: Customize Your Content
Craft content that speaks directly to different segments of your audience. For example, you want to market a new service. Current followers and new leads will want to know how your product is going to enhance their lives. And long-time customers may appreciate “early bird access” or a discount for their loyalty.
As such, vary the content and the premiums attached to it.
Step 5: Address Challenges and Optimize
Not impressed by the results of your integrated marketing strategy? The good news: you can grow from here. Maybe you need more data to understand your target audience. Look at your results to see who is (and isn’t) engaging across platforms. Maybe the placement of your CTAs aren’t landing. Experiment with A/B testing email subject lines, and fine-tune your strategies based on performance metrics. Your efforts, over time, will drive results.
Still struggling to keep your head above water? Let’s chat! One Part Social is your go-to guru for cross-channel marketing and more. Connect with us today to set up a complimentary call.
We’ll get that to-do list working for you—not against you. Ready in a jiffy 😉