Multichannel marketing is the blending of different distribution and promotional channels for the purpose of

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

Distribution channels Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user who needs it, and a distributor is a business involved in the distribution stage of the value chain. Distribution can be done directly by the ...

include a retail storefront, a website, or a mail-order catalogue. Multichannel marketing is about choice. The objective of the companies doing the marketing is to make it easy for a consumer to buy from them in whatever way is most appropriate. To be effective, multichannel marketing needs to be supported by good

supply chain management In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement (purchasing raw materials/components), operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished produc ...

systems, so that the details and prices of goods on offer are consistent across the different channels. It might also be supported by a detailed analysis of the

return on investment Return on investment (ROI) or return on costs (ROC) is the ratio between net income (over a period) and investment (costs resulting from an investment of some resources at a point in time). A high ROI means the investment's gains compare favorab ...

from each different channel, measured in terms of customer response and conversion of sales. The contribution each channel delivers to sales can be assessed via

Marketing Mix Modeling Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) is a forecasting methodology used to estimate the impact of various marketing tactic scenarios on product sales. MMMs use statistical models, such as multivariate regressions, and use sales and marketing time-seri ...

or attribution modelling. Some companies target certain channels at different demographic segments of the market or at different

socio-economic group A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for example be dependent on education, wea ...

s of consumers. Multichannel marketing allows the retail merchant to reach its prospective or current customers through their preferred channel.

Coordination of online and offline channels

Companies that sell branded products and services through local businesses market through both online and offline channels to local audiences. Online and offline multichannel

marketing campaign Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

s can either inform one another or be executed in isolation. A proportion of companies use their online marketing efforts to inform their offline advertising (i.e. they test keywords online to understand if they fit with customer intent before printing them in offline ads).

Comparison with traditional forms of marketing

While multichannel marketing focuses primarily on new media platforms in marketing, traditional approaches use

old media Old media, also called traditional media or legacy media, are the mass media institutions that dominated prior to the internet; particularly print media, film studios, music studios, advertising agencies, radio broadcasting, and television. Ol ...

such as print sources,

telemarketing Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products, subscriptions or services, either over the phone or throu ...

direct mail Advertising mail, also known as direct mail (by its senders), junk mail (by its recipients), mailshot or admail (North America), letterbox drop or letterboxing (Australia), is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. Th ...

and broadcasting stations such as

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. Multichannel marketing does not only use

web 2.0 Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture, and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, a ...

forms but also integrates

media convergence Technological convergence is the tendency for technologies that were originally unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. For example, watches, telephones, television, computers, and social media ...

models, targeting customer interaction through different platforms such as via text messaging, on a website, email, online video campaigns,

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

to track the location of a customer and their proximity to the product or service. Being able to reach out to customers directly is an important

marketing strategy Marketing strategy refers to efforts undertaken by an Organizational structure, organization to increase its sales and achieve competitive advantage. In other words, it is the method of advertising a company's products to the public through an est ...

because it is convenient and enhances direct customer interaction.

Benefits

Some of the long term benefits of this style of marketing include: *Better management of results and sales: Using many communicative platforms to reach the audience increases the chances of receiving feedback from a variety of customers on the overall performance. This feedback gives companies an idea of what the customer wants and what they can improve upon *Higher revenues: The more diverse platforms used in trying to reach customers, the more the potential customers are likely to reach out to purchase goods and services. If the company advertises its brand only on the nternet it will be very hard to capture the attention of potential customers who do not use the internet regularly and rely on other mediums such as the elevisionfor example. *Better understanding of customers: By the response from customers, it is easier to understand what they expect from a product or service and how a brand can be improved. To satisfy the needs of a niche, it is necessary to identify the channels and platforms which work for a certain group. *Increased brand visibility and reach: About 36% of shoppers search products on one channel but purchase the product through a different channel. *Optimize media spend: Data retrieval and centralization enables companies to better target consumer segments and provide them with more effective marketing campaigns therefore optimizing media spend. ref url = https://digital.hec.ca/en/digital-and-omni-channel-marketing/

Coordination of online and offline channels

Comparison with traditional forms of marketing

Benefits

See also

References

Further reading