Marketing

Multichannel marketing

In business, channels are the different routes through which a product reaches an end-consumer

The many routes by which a product reaches an end-consumer are known as channels in commerce. A computer can be purchased from a specialist retailer, a generalist retailer (such as a supermarket), online, or over the phone, for example. Multichannel marketing describes how a corporation uses numerous channels at the same time to contact as many customers as feasible or to maximize profits.

When to use it

● To assess several routes to market and determine how to integrate them as efficiently as possible.
● To support the segmentation plan you've chosen.
● To avoid a situation known as "channel conflict," in which two or more channels offer the same product at different prices.

Origins

The idea that companies offer their products through many channels has been around for almost a century. In 1894, Sears, a brick-and-mortar store in the United States, released its first catalog for direct home sales. The issue of how to handle different channels to market became increasingly significant as commercial supply chains got more professionally managed. The key difficulty for consumer products was figuring out how to sell directly to customers (by phone or catalog, for example) without upsetting retailers or brokers. A variety of middlemen (brokers, importers, licensees, and aggregators) were frequently utilized for industrial items, and there was often a risk of conflict between them.

The development of the internet in the 1990s made channel management more difficult than ever before, resulting in the concept of multichannel marketing as a means of maximizing all available marketing channels, particularly for consumer goods.

What it is

Multichannel marketing refers to how a business connects with customers via many channels such as websites, retail stores, mail-order catalogues, direct mail, email, mobile, and so on. The idea that these are two-way channels with customers receiving and supplying information is implicit in this concept.

To recap, channels are the numerous paths via which a product reaches the end-consumer. If the product is physical, it can be sold directly (for example, Dell selling you a computer) or indirectly (for example, Amazon selling you a book) (such as HP selling you a computer via a retailer). If the product is digital, the number of channels available is substantially greater - consider how many devices you can use to access the BBC News channel.

Because different sectors of consumers used different channels in the past, most businesses were concerned about how to market their products over two or more channels without disturbing one. In the 1990s, HP would have liked to sell its personal computers 'straight' to customers using the Dell model, but they didn't because they didn't want to alienate its merchants.

Consumers are increasingly using various channels (particularly for digital products). This is where'multichannel' marketing comes in: the challenge for businesses is to provide customers the option of choosing which channels to use and when to use them. If you buy a movie from the iStore, for example, you want to be able to watch it on a variety of devices, not just the one you bought it on.

How to use it

When creating a multichannel marketing plan, keep the following guidelines in mind: ● Consistency of message across channels: Customers increasingly connect with businesses across a variety of channels prior to and after acquiring a product or service, ensuring message consistency across channels. When planning a marketing campaign, think about all of the numerous ways customers might interact with your company and make sure your messaging are consistent across all of them. Many firms have developed internal processes and technologies to support this approach.
● Consistency of experience across channels: You do not want a great sales experience to be destroyed by poor after-sales care. So, once you've decided on the type of customer experience you want to give, you'll need to make sure it's consistent across all channels. This includes tiny details like how you address clients (for example, first name vs. surname with title) as well as larger issues like how much discretion your customer care professionals have when resolving issues.

Maintain a single perspective of customer behavior: Having a single picture of customer behavior allows you to respond to customers in the most effective way. This might be accomplished by sharing a consumer contact database and updating it in real time. It can also be accomplished by working closely with key account managers or across divisions.

Top practical tip

If you're selling through channels rather than directly to customers, you'll need to create multichannel marketing strategies for two different audiences: end customers and channel agents. Both are critical, and they must be consistent because your channel agents will be exposed to both.

Top pitfall

Being present everywhere (in stores, online, in newspapers, via direct email, and so on) is not the same as having multichannel marketing. Make the most of your knowledge of your clients' preferences by utilizing the channels they prefer.

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