What is "omni-channel marketing"? Here are the tips for cross-border e-commerce

Looking at the entire cross-border e-commerce, "omni-channel marketing" has become a marketing method that is increasingly sought after by overseas brands.

With the rapid development of the Internet, social marketing methods are also constantly changing. Traditional advertising forms are far from meeting the daily needs of today's sellers, and it is very troublesome to promote them. At this time, you can try omni-channel marketing.

What is Omnichannel Marketing?

Omnichannel marketing is a fully integrated approach that provides customers with a unified, personalized experience across multiple touchpoints. This may include physical stores, Instagram, Facebook, email, SMS, and any other marketing or sales channel.

Here’s a simple definition: Omnichannel marketing strategies are the same as any other marketing strategy. The only difference is that they focus on using different channels (such as social, email, and SEO) for each campaign instead of just one.

For example, where did you see this article? Did you follow SaleSmartly’s WeChat official account? Or did you see it through SaleSmartly’s official website? Or did this link pop up on the first page when you searched on Baidu?

As technology continues to innovate, we find that the line between the Internet and reality is blurring. When people’s behavior changes, it means that marketers, salespeople, and customer support representatives will need to respond quickly.

The team should work together to create a variety of campaigns to move target customers from one channel to another to make a purchase . This process is your omnichannel marketing strategy.

Starbucks provides us with a good example:

A quick look at the Starbucks Rewards app will show you why many people think it offers the best omnichannel experience. When you spend money at Starbucks, you get a free rewards card that you can use any time you shop. Unlike traditional customer loyalty practices, Starbucks allows you to check and reload your card through the mobile client, website, offline physical store or app. Any changes to the rewards card or profile are updated in real time across all channels. When you are in line for coffee and suddenly find that your card balance is low, you can top up through the app, you can also top up through the official website, and you can also top up in the store. Once the top-up is successful and reloaded, your account information will be updated in all channels within 30 seconds.

Based on this case, we can also think of:
The first point of contact for your potential customers is usually a valid search. However, when they visit your website through search results, they are also encouraged to sign up for your email list. These emails encourage them to participate in social media.

When they do that, you’re engaging them across three different channels, and that’s omnichannel marketing.

Of course, developing an omnichannel marketing strategy is not that simple. You need to consider target markets, marketing budgets , and so on. Ultimately, your omnichannel marketing strategy should be a strategic plan that is built across multiple platforms, has a consistent customer experience , and includes all channels.

Transform omnichannel marketing into a unified customer experience

Communicating with your customers through omnichannel marketing can either help you or backfire.

If different channels don’t work together, it’s just noise and confusion. If they work together, it’s a powerful and complementary experience for the brand.
Brand experience is more important today than ever before. Customers know whether a company is going out of their way to cater to them or whether they are just being mediocre.

To meet this challenge, you need to show your understanding of your customers across multiple channels (online and offline). In other words, when doing omnichannel marketing, we must provide personalized experiences to customers at the right place, but this is often a problem that plagues marketers.

Part of the problem is that while many companies are able to push messages across multiple channels, they can’t connect those moments into a unified, cohesive experience in a meaningful way.

It’s not enough to have isolated conversations with customers. We need to coordinate those messages to create a single, coherent conversation.

SaleSmartly can solve this problem very well. We have integrated multiple social media channels. Whether you are advertising on Facebook and Instagram, or using social media to drive traffic to private domains such as WhatsApp and Line, SaleSmartly allows you to reply in the same background, allowing you to contact the right platform at the right time .

One such example is our client Rooster, a home apparel business.

Rooster’s head of operations said: “A year ago, we were just starting to gain a foothold in the US market. As a young startup, especially as an e-commerce brand, it is difficult to break into the US market. To be successful, we need to maintain consistency in our message in every element of our marketing activities.”

“From the moment someone discovers us on social to the moment they sign up for emails and receive targeted ads, we have to determine: How do we maintain a continuous conversation with the customer throughout their journey?”

Rooster found the answer through SaleSmartly . They targeted through social channels, website pages and devices, and responded to the traffic attracted from various channels in the SaleSmartly background, which is a key element in creating a connected experience and focusing on strengthening Rooster's brand value. The chatbot function can also initiate interactive activities on social media platforms, thereby expanding future customer groups and promoting brand engagement.

The result? Exponential revenue growth. Rooster increased revenue on the social platform by 388% while successfully reducing new user acquisition costs by 78%.

In the future, more and more brands will join the ranks of omni-channel marketing, and SaleSmartly will always be with everyone to help Chinese brands go global.