Use Omnichannel Marketing Strategies to Build Brand Equity

When capturing attention becomes a must-have for building brand equity and no longer a nice-to-have, adopting an omnichannel marketing strategy may be the key to success. An omnichannel approach means the seamless integration of all available marketing channels, both online and offline, with the ultimate goal of delivering a cohesive and consistent customer experience.

 

By unifying branding, messaging, and conversion goals across platforms, brands secure trust among their target audiences, build brand equity and enhance customer engagement.

 

An effective omnichannel marketing strategy is one that leverages the unique strengths of each platform while ensuring a harmonious user experience across all channels. This includes social media content, press releases, media pitches, events, and expert forums. By providing a consistent customer experience, messages resonate more deeply, enabling brands to establish a stronger connection with their audience and, ultimately, improve return on investment.

 

One example of an omnichannel marketing strategy for a consumer retail brand could involve matching online and in-store customer experiences with:

 

• Product curation

• Payment channels and promotions

• Delivering email discounts and coupons 

• Supplier collaborations on social media

• In-person experience that engages the five senses.

 

Through this approach, the brand prioritizes offering a cohesive user experience across channels, ensuring that customers can interact with the brand in various ways without encountering inconsistencies in messaging or branding.

 

Embracing an omnichannel marketing strategy allows businesses to tap into the power of a consistent brand image and messaging across every touchpoint, ultimately fostering stronger customer relationships and driving success.

 

Omnichannel Marketing for Brand Recognition

Omnichannel marketing empowers brands to effectively target different audience segments where they naturally exist (i.e. social media platforms to engage with younger audiences, traditional media and events to reach older demographics). Each channel presents identical brand imagery, messaging and CTAs, but remains tailored to the user preferences or behaviors of targeted audience segments, resulting in more impactful communication.

 

Creating an omnichannel brand experience has been tremendously successful for tech brands, with Apple serving as a best-in-class example. The clean visual design aesthetic pairs perfectly with the simplicity of its messaging, the quality of its packaging, and ultimately the value of its products. Each interaction with Apple furthers the customer’s experience and builds loyalty, and is part of the reason why Apple enjoys a consistent customer retention rate of around 90%.

 

Omnichannel marketing strategies can also drive awareness for brand-building initiatives.

 

Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, originally launched in 2004, is an example of an omnichannel PR campaign that created a cultural moment, promoting a simple-yet-powerful message about body positivity. The campaign commanded nationwide attention through TV commercials, print ads, billboards, social media, and a dedicated website. Later, it added user-generated content and encouraged consumers to share real beauty stories using the hashtag #RealBeauty.

 

The campaign created an enduring emotional connection with consumers and generated widespread media coverage, earning praise for its message of inclusion and self-acceptance, including:

 

• Grand Prix honors at the 2007 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

• The “Campaign of the Decade” by Advertising Age in 2009

• According to a Harvard Business School case study, Dove’s omnichannel campaign reached 35 million women in 140 countries, and contributed to sales growth from $2.5 billion in 2004 to $4 billion in 2014.

 

An omnichannel approach also facilitates better data collection and analysis, as it standardizes customer interactions and behaviors across multiple channels. This data can provide valuable insights into customer preferences, interests, and behaviors, which can inform future PR strategies and campaigns.

 

More recently, Airbnb’s 2017 “We Accept” campaign used a Super Bowl commercial, digital ads, social media, a dedicated website, and a nationwide PR campaign to push back on discrimination and promote its DEIJ commitments.

 

According to a report by Amobee, social media engagement around Airbnb increased by 689% on the day of the Super Bowl, and its Twitter mentions increased by 2,100% during the game.

 

Developing Omnichannel Brand Marketing Tactics for 2023

Whether your brand is seeing a drop-off at the point of sale, employing multichannel approaches that feel disjointed, has a lead funnel that is proving too long to convert users, or is even beginning a digital rebranding initiative, it is worthwhile to consider adopting omnichannel tactics, where customer experience is the highest priority, messages and images are consistent across every leveraged channel, and brand authority is the foremost consideration at every point of the process.

 

As we enter an uncertain economic environment where brands are cutting staff and budgets, the pressure is also on for brands to deliver on this promise. Here are some ways to begin assimilating omnichannel tactics into your brand’s marketing strategy:

 

White Label Branding

White labeling describes an increasingly crucial feature for any component of a brand that is outsourced by a third-party service or technology such as SaaS products, marketing programs, website builds, ecommerce payment processing platform integrations (like Stripe or Plaid), to name a few.

 

Privacy & Consent

With increased regulation and scrutiny, major advertisers like Google are phasing out browser cookies and shutting down third-party data access for advertisers. This will forever change the concepts of remarketing, setting up a new era of digital marketing by consent.

 

To prepare for this, brands are embracing community building (making users feel socially welcome) and personalization (encouraging users to share data and preferences).

 

Brands that invest in personalizing to individuals will provide customers with more relevant and tailored experiences. This involves the use of data analytics and customer insights to understand the needs and preferences of the individual.

 

Machine Learning Integration

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLM) with omnichannel marketing strategies is revolutionizing the way customers engage with brands. These cutting-edge technologies enable the creation of consistent, immersive experiences that cater to individual preferences and needs.

 

AI-powered chatbots and social listening tools, for example, allow for personalized support and recommendations, enhancing the customer experience. Large language models, like GPT-4, can generate human-like text that can be employed across multiple channels, ensuring seamless communication and brand consistency.

 

By leveraging the capabilities of AI and LLM, brands are better equipped to create engaging, tailored experiences that foster stronger connections with their audiences, ultimately driving success in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

 

Customer Experience is Queen

The essence of omnichannel marketing is putting the customer experience first. This will involve providing seamless and consistent experiences across all channels, as well as creating more engaging and interactive experiences for customers.

 

One major brand already doing this well is Starbucks, which uses its mobile app to help customers fund their accounts, place a drink order, and pick it up at a store without waiting in line. All the while, customers earn rewards points towards free items. They are also carving out a space in Web3 by offering classes in the metaverse, and edutainment experiences in real life.

 

Expansion of Social Commerce

Social commerce is the direct integration of e-commerce into social media platforms, engaging users to shop directly from social media posts. Thanks to the explosive growth of TikTok and Instagram’s integrations, social commerce is expected to nearly triple between 2022 and 2028, growing to more than $145 billion. Look for other social media platforms and major retailers to get into the social commerce game in 2023 and beyond.

 

Challenges, Opportunities and Engaging the Right Partner

As both markets and marketing technologies evolve at dizzying speeds, the challenge of developing a brand strategy that balances holism with cutting-edge is a daunting one.. Especially in the face of recessionary pressures and budget cuts, brands may feel tempted to put new digital outreach strategies by the wayside in 2023. But doing so could truly be fatal, as audiences increase scrutiny of brands’ digital presences in the wake of heightened scamming and tightened spending.

 

MikeWorldWide (MWW) has three decades of experience in working with brands to maximize their market exposure while leveraging every channel to its fullest, appealing to each individual consumer in a branded, thoughtful way.

 

As you consider your next product launch, campaign, or brand-defining initiative, leverage MWW’s dynamism and surround-sound expertise to help black out the sun or outshine the competition.