Top five tips - making sense of multichannel marketing

There is no doubt that marketers need to look very closely at a multichannel communications strategy - both to stay in the game, and to keep ahead of the competition - it's no longer enough to stick with the tried and tested traditional ways of doing things. But this is easier said than done, especially if you are a one-man band or a smaller brand with limited access to a range of skills.

Here are five tips for being clever about multichannel marketing.

Start from what you know

You probably have a pretty good system working for you right now. So why rock the boat, you might ask? And does this mean going back to basics and starting all over?
Why rock the boat? Because if you don't you'll stagnate and get left behind. Going back to basics? No, because your core skills and tactics have got you where you are today. So rather than thinking of it as rocking the boat, look at areas where you can improve on what you are already doing by introducing a new channel. Don't panic, you don't need to implement this all yourself, but more on that later.

Be promiscuous, but break up quickly

Try out new channels, measure their impact and then just as quickly ditch the ones that don't work out. You might think that email and SMS, for instance, are a bit vanilla in today's world of bright and shiny social networks. But we've seen that email is still one of the most effective channels, delivering the best ROI, despite declining open rates. Likewise SMS, although more expensive, is being used to successfully convert recipients by clever marketers.

And never underestimate your community - you might be surprised by what you learn from them. Twitter is a great example of this: long thought of as a left-field niche platform, thanks to uptake by the media, celebrities and consumer brands, its uptake is becoming mainstream faster than expected.

Think mobile

No one can argue with the global obsession with our mobile phones, whether more basic feature phones or all-singing, all-dancing smartphones. In real terms, the tipping point is upon us: 30% of new customer acquisitions are now mobile, according to Hein Klopper of pioneer mobile platform, Referback Affiliates.

So, always think mobile, whether it's cleverly employing SMS to activate static campaigns via a shortcode; doing the same thing with quick response (QR) codes for smartphones; or knowing that mobile email open rates have increased by a massive 300%, according to ReturnPath research, and your customers are probably going to be checking their email on a mobile device before seeing it on a desktop computer.

The takeup of smartphones has also given new life to channels such as SMS. Short messages have always had a significantly high open and read rate, but now you can include a link to more detailed information, or your Facebook page, or a mobile-optimised landing page - whatever your conversion goal is - and convert your target then and there.

Pretty much every other online channel you'll consider is seeing the same shift to mobile - even Facebook is slowly but surely getting its mobile presence on par with the desktop experience. Some social networks are primarily mobile as well - think photo-sharing site Instagram: great for on the go, spur of the moment visuals.

Consider your calls to action in light of this very carefully. If something is being received on a mobile device, marketers need to consider how this conversion might actually take place, as it is going to be very different to that on a desktop computer.

Understand each channel

Having said try everything once before dismissing it, be sure to use each channel appropriately. Understand the channel's benefits and limitations: SMS, while more costly, is great for small, time-sensitive snippets; email can convey longer, more nuanced pieces; Facebook and Twitter are great for peer endorsement and targeting but are public and out of your control.

Get to grips with the cultural expectations around each channel: Facebook and Twitter, for instance, are probably more suited to conversations that result in brand building and user content production than hard sell conversions; while a to-the-point SMS or opted-in email newsletter is a better home for your conversions. And vice versa, use your emails to encourage customers and prospects to follow you on Twitter or Facebook to expose them to another side of your brand engagement and keep them warm for later conversions.

The key to a successful multichannel marketing campaign is not to simply cut and paste messages from one medium to the next. The various strands of your communication need to create a compelling story that encourages engagement, brand recall and ultimately conversions. Calls to action should be appropriate for the medium on which they are being received. Marketers need to consider the whole journey towards their goal and make sure users do not get blocked along the way.

Also give your customers the opportunity to say which channel they would prefer for you to reach them on at different times, and what type of information they want to receive on each. That way, you can be sure you are using the correct channel, for the correct message, for the correct customer.

Don't DIY

Sounds like a whole lot of distracting work? The trick is not to do it yourself. Let's take email and SMS, for instance. Traffic that coverts online converts via email and SMS as well. You could be sitting on the opportunity to have a second successful business running in less than a week if you tap into the resources of a specialist SMS and email company to handle this aspect for you. Continue to spend 29 days a month on sticking to your knitting, and spend one day briefing your email and SMS partner, leaving the intricacies of delivery via new channels to them.

So it turns out you can have your cake and eat it, too. Embrace a multichannel world for more effective communications, more chances to connect with customers and ultimately better conversions and a higher ROI. But be smart about how you do this to not dilute what you are already achieving and rather to build on this success.