When it comes to consumers’ path to purchase, there are two constants. One, no journey is the same and, two, there are multiple channels and touchpoints along the way.
One study indicates 70-80 percent of consumers research a company online before making a purchase at a brick-and-mortar location. Another says 77 percent of online shoppers follow their favorite brands on social media to stay updated and informed about upcoming sales and offers. In the automotive industry, seven of 10 consumers read reviews online before purchasing offline.
For brands that rely on dealers and distributors to sell their products and services, an omnichannel strategy is critical to delivering channel marketing outcomes. Such a strategy includes a sound definition and understanding of the target consumer’s path to purchase, a corresponding marketing mix that includes multiple touchpoints, and delivering a seamless user experience.
Creating a Journey Map
With data comes knowledge. With knowledge comes insight. With insight comes the ability to address the unique characteristics of a path to purchase for a particular product or service. To ensure your omnichannel strategy is delivering desired outcomes, a great first step is to create a journey map that represents your target consumer’s path to purchase.
For channel marketers, it’s important to acknowledge that the path to purchase for Product A may be different compared to the path for Product B. Therefore, multiple journey maps representing the same consumer segment may be needed depending on the product, promotion or desired outcome.
Data- and insights-driven journey maps allow you to plot corresponding communications touchpoints on this visual representation of your consumer’s path to purchase.
Multiple Touchpoints
At the core of an omnichannel marketing program is the seamless integration of multiple communications touchpoints that are based on a target consumer’s path to purchase. For channel marketers, those touchpoints are oftentimes a combination of offline and online tactics. In addition, channel marketing programs utilize touchpoints that are created by the brand and delivered by their retail channel partners.
Therefore, it’s critically important to orchestrate the coordination, localization and execution of assets and elements included in an omnichannel program. That’s where a brand’s local channel marketing partner plays a key role. With visibility to corporate objectives as well as a local dealer’s business objectives, a local channel agency can bridge the gap to ensure all assets, messaging and tactics are coordinated, delivered and measured in an integrated manner.
Seamless User Experience
The successful execution of an omnichannel strategy come down to whether or not a target consumer’s interactions with touchpoints on the path to purchase are delivered in a seamless user experience.
Once again, this is an area where a brand’s local channel marketing partner performs a critically important function.
Whether it’s tailoring branded content or digital assets for a local dealer or ensuring landing pages comply with brand guidelines and pay off corporate and local promotions, the local channel marketing agency is in a unique position to connect the proverbial dots and maximize outcomes.
Channel marketers that clearly define their omnichannel strategy by understanding the target consumer’s path to purchase and developing a marketing mix that includes multiple touchpoints–while engaging with the right agency partner to deliver a seamless user experience–are well on their way to executing programs that achieving desired outcomes.
About Channel Fusion
For 20 years, Channel Fusion has provided brands and their channel partners with a wide variety of solutions and industry expertise. Part of our offering is Digital Fusion, a turnkey offering and dedicated team of “Fusers” who are focused exclusively on the development, delivery, management and reporting of digital marketing programs for brands’ channel partners. Discover how we deliver successful digital marketing outcomes for brands like yours.