A Hyper-connected Omni World is the New Normal

The pandemic has been a challenging time for marketer across the world as consumer sentiments and needs kept changing and evolving with every passing week.  One of the key challenges has been staying connected with the core consumers and understanding their evolving needs on a continuous basis. Another significant challenge has been the need to rethink the way brands need to conduct business with their stores moving online completely altering supply chains and team structures

In the year 2020, we have seen thousands of businesses completely transform the way they conduct business. At the core of this transformation, one thing had to remain constant- The need to give your consumers a seamless, consistent experience across all channels. This is where omnichannel marketing has become a key differentiator.

The need to integrate data across online and offline channels to provide a unified experience to the end consumer has been the most important objective for every marketing team and technology has played a critical role in making this possible as 3 levels:

Level 1: Integrating data across all channels (retail stores, trade outlets, e-comm), cleaning the data and creating a central repository of robust first party consumer data that is measurable, accessible and protected. Numerous software products help achieve this.

Level 2: Distillation of data into relevant cohorts. Intelligent software tools have helped in segmenting data into scalable and relevant cohort that can be targeting with the relevant product propositions and thereby minimizing risk of spamming. Product proposition are derived from the AI based algorithm integrated in the tool, that learn from past audience behavior. This is where brands can achieve the “Segment of one- Personalized campaign” and drive improved customer experience and optimized marketing funnels

Level 3:   Finally, marketing automation products help in dissemating the message to consumer cohorts via number channels like SMS, Social media, and Emailers. These tools automate the engagement plan at a creative advertisement level or message level basis the analytics derived from Level 2. Basis engagement rates received brand can further fine-tune their creatives and drive engagement as a Key performance indicator

The benefits of this omnichannel strategy are clearly visible for brands that do this well. Companies with omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain, on average, 13 to 15% more consumers (as per recent Mage study)

Apart from using data well a lot of retail brands have also successfully leveraged a Omni-experience by empowering users to be seamless in their purchase journey .Technology adoption has helped here also in eliminating unnecessary physical interactions and implementing strategies like:

• Scan and pay shopping experience
• Buy online pickup at store option
• Virtual Trail rooms
• Providing quick resolution to consumer queries through chatbots
• Video shopping

As the hyper-connected world of Omni heats up, brand that leverage data to understand their customers well, use the right analytics and automation tools, and are creative will stay far ahead of curve and their customers will possibly get the best seamless experience – Truly a WIN WIN!

About the author: The Head of Marketing VanHeusen India, Suraj is a leader in consumer marketing with more than 15 years of experience with leading Indian and international brands across diverse categories-Beverages, Paints, Cements, Ecommerce and Fashion retail. He is an Alumnus of INSEAD Business School Singapore.