Technology is advancing at a breakneck speed. And so is the marketing world! Unfortunately, with so many available tools and platforms, marketers are either lost or are unable to experiment with new successful marketing techniques.
The term “marketing” refers to more than just promoting your product or attracting fresh customers. Marketing also has its branches and is scattered into several different segments. And the two categories that are currently creating a lot of buzz in the marketing industry are multichannel marketing and omnichannel marketing.
Although these two marketing approaches may seem similar at first glance, they have vital distinctions that many marketers are unaware of. This article will help clarify these terms, and by the end, you’ll have multiple perspectives on marketing. So, To better understand the differences, it’s essential to lay groundwork:
What Is Multichannel?
“Multi” refers to “more than one or many,” and “channel” denotes the number of networks. These two words are combined to form “multichannel,” meaning numerous channels exist. These channels can be online or offline, ranging from voice, email, chat, or physical stores to many other channels.
Many customers keep switching channels to find their desired solution. Today’s businesses are aware of this fact and strive to travel to the exact area where their customers are officially present. This opens up many opportunities for businesses and their teams to access their customers’ ongoing actions. However, businesses are more concerned with enhancing customer interactions rather than offering a seamless experience.
Let us consider an example to understand this concept better:
A customer browses some exciting products on the e-commerce web page. Therefore, he adds those items to his cart to purchase them next month. If he is fortunate enough to remember, he will buy; if not, he might miss out on his products.
Here, in the multichannel marketing technique, businesses focus on expanding their channels to reach as many customers as possible. And the customers over here are responsible for taking the next step to complete their whole buying process.
What Is Omnichannel?
The word “Omni” in marketing means “everywhere.” However, unlike multichannel marketing, businesses here not only engage with customers across several channels but also help them reach the finish line of their buying process.
This marketing strategy focuses on delivering a seamless customer experience from the first to the last touchpoint, regardless of which channel the customer uses. This form of marketing ensures that each channel is connected to the next, resulting in a connected customer experience. Hence, companies implementing this strategy can retain 89% of their customers (source).
Let us again consider the same example to understand this concept better:
A customer browses some exciting products on the e-commerce website. So, he adds those items to his cart the next day but later forgets to make the purchase. However, in this case, this customer will likely purchase his products because businesses here use retargeting ads or a specific message to remind their customers again and again about their products.
Multichannel Vs. Omnichannel
Although these marketing terms refer to connecting with customers, they aren’t analogous. To better understand their uniqueness, let’s focus on four critical differences between them:
1. Channel vs Customers
Multichannel marketing aims to cast the net as wide as possible to attract the targeted customers. While omnichannel marketing unifies all channels and streamlines the purchasing process for the customer,
2. Uniformity vs Engagement
Omnichannel marketing ensures that all internal departments sync with the brand’s message, enabling customers to have a consistent experience across all channels. Contrarily, multichannel marketing focuses on building customer engagement to raise brand awareness.
3. Efforts vs Effortless
Omnichannel marketing uses data and insights to approach customers, simplifying and accelerating the customer’s buying process. However, this doesn’t happen with multichannel marketing; instead, it tries to spread your brand message across various channels and nudges customers to take action.
From the above differences, we can conclude that omnichannel marketing puts the customer at the core and provides excellent quality support at every touchpoint. In contrast, multichannel marketing is centered on expanding its channels to connect with more customers.
Learn how data enrichment can improve your customer experience!
Both omnichannel marketing and multichannel marketing are crucial in our sales journey. We need more networks or channels to extend our reach to the right customers. So it makes sense why we need to use a marketing tactic called “multichannel marketing.”
After landing with the potential customer, the quality of the customer experience decides the success of the customer’s buying journey. A hassle-free customer experience is what omnichannel offers you as a great technique. Thus, we need to harness both marketing tactics to steer our businesses and companies in the right direction.
