Tips for Engaging With Omnichannel E-commerce Customers
Commerce, especially e-commerce, is changing rapidly. Today, customers and brands intersect in an omnichannel space, engaging, buying, and selling across channels, from in-store to online to text.
Omnichannel e-commerce requires brands to have a flexible and adaptable approach to their communication and outreach to best respond to the rapidly changing e-commerce environment. This diverse approach requires solutions that can respond to customer demands and deliver on expectations.
Here are eight tips for retailers to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to omnichannel e-commerce.
1. Make It Easy for Customers To Find You
Be sure you use all the tools available via Google (such as Google Business Profile) and other search engines to help people find your online business. These acts do not take much time but can ensure you have a presence where people are searching.
Another consideration is the role of social media in your campaigns. What platforms do your ideal customers use? Do you have a presence there? Integrating content in social media posts with your other marketing helps build omnichannel connections.
2. Personalize Your Messaging
Your communication via SMS messaging and emails needs to be relevant, appropriate, timely, and personal. You want to customize your messaging whenever possible to show customers you know who they are and the history they have with your brand. Personalization helps connect more deeply and retain customers with the most relevant messaging.
3. Use Data in Marketing
Today, customers share extraordinary amounts of data, from transactional information to personal details and product preferences. Your brand must have tools available to capture and use these data points smartly.
With good, accurate data, personalization and customization become much more accurate and powerful. In addition, you can use the collective customer data to identify patterns and shared demographics among your customer base.
4. Have the Right Platform
Having the right technology is critical to delivering on the needs of omnichannel e-commerce. Omnichannel communication platforms like Mitto provide a complete solution that provides critical services while integrating with other business systems.
Look for an omnichannel software solution that includes:
5. Be Consistent in the Customer Experience
Customers want to experience your brand the same no matter what the channel. Whether engaging with you over text, via email, or through customer support, they expect the brand to have the same vibe in every engagement.
6. Know the Customer
With an omnichannel approach, you need ways to connect the information for all your engagements. That means that sales, marketing, and customer service must be working from the same data set. With the same data available throughout your e-commerce business, staff can interact with customers consistently and with one voice.
7. Measure and Use Results
With so much of your omnichannel messaging built on data, it’s essential to measure the results. Determine the right key performance indicators (KPIs) for your marketing and communications and use the data available to track results.
Understanding the factors leading to customer acquisition, engagement, conversion, and retention helps you understand what's working in connecting with your customers.
The ability to analyze large amounts of data will allow you to make better-informed decisions about future campaigns and adjust accordingly.
The ever-shifting world of omnichannel e-commerce need not be daunting. With a strategic, focused approach, your e-commerce business will thrive in connecting with and relating to customers new and old.
Omnichannel e-commerce requires brands to have a flexible and adaptable approach to their communication and outreach to best respond to the rapidly changing e-commerce environment. This diverse approach requires solutions that can respond to customer demands and deliver on expectations.
Here are eight tips for retailers to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to omnichannel e-commerce.
1. Make It Easy for Customers To Find You
Be sure you use all the tools available via Google (such as Google Business Profile) and other search engines to help people find your online business. These acts do not take much time but can ensure you have a presence where people are searching.
Another consideration is the role of social media in your campaigns. What platforms do your ideal customers use? Do you have a presence there? Integrating content in social media posts with your other marketing helps build omnichannel connections.
2. Personalize Your Messaging
Your communication via SMS messaging and emails needs to be relevant, appropriate, timely, and personal. You want to customize your messaging whenever possible to show customers you know who they are and the history they have with your brand. Personalization helps connect more deeply and retain customers with the most relevant messaging.
3. Use Data in Marketing
Today, customers share extraordinary amounts of data, from transactional information to personal details and product preferences. Your brand must have tools available to capture and use these data points smartly.
With good, accurate data, personalization and customization become much more accurate and powerful. In addition, you can use the collective customer data to identify patterns and shared demographics among your customer base.
4. Have the Right Platform
Having the right technology is critical to delivering on the needs of omnichannel e-commerce. Omnichannel communication platforms like Mitto provide a complete solution that provides critical services while integrating with other business systems.
Look for an omnichannel software solution that includes:
- Technology that manages all your customer interactions in one place
- Multichannel capabilities, including SMS, voice, and integration with social media applications and communication platforms like WhatsApp
- Scalability to grow with your business
- Security to keep customer data secure and your company in regulatory compliance
- Campaign functions to build, launch, and manage marketing initiatives that deliver timely personalized messages
5. Be Consistent in the Customer Experience
Customers want to experience your brand the same no matter what the channel. Whether engaging with you over text, via email, or through customer support, they expect the brand to have the same vibe in every engagement.
6. Know the Customer
With an omnichannel approach, you need ways to connect the information for all your engagements. That means that sales, marketing, and customer service must be working from the same data set. With the same data available throughout your e-commerce business, staff can interact with customers consistently and with one voice.
7. Measure and Use Results
With so much of your omnichannel messaging built on data, it’s essential to measure the results. Determine the right key performance indicators (KPIs) for your marketing and communications and use the data available to track results.
Understanding the factors leading to customer acquisition, engagement, conversion, and retention helps you understand what's working in connecting with your customers.
The ability to analyze large amounts of data will allow you to make better-informed decisions about future campaigns and adjust accordingly.
The ever-shifting world of omnichannel e-commerce need not be daunting. With a strategic, focused approach, your e-commerce business will thrive in connecting with and relating to customers new and old.