Multichannel Marketing is Multidimensional
One of the challenges of multichannel marketing is measurement. The reason measurement is a challenge is because the multichannel experiences occur across a variety of dimensions. It is difficult to capture in just a simple chart or matrix everything that is going on in the multichannel process. In this post I want to focus on the firm's capabilities versus customer preferences using consumer marketing as an example. For example, the customer base has a certain communication channel preference, such as email or mobile. We have certain channel strategies in place and our priorities are reflected by the resources we allocate..Customer Preferences vs. Our Strategy
The first step in measuring a channel strategy is to take an honest look at our channels versus those preferred by the customer to ensure that there is a match. The first question to ask is are we spending our money where our customers are spending their time? If the customer is primarily focused on mobile devices and we communicate rarely over that channel, then there is a mismatch of resources that the analysis will highlight. The overlap in customer channel preferences and our strategy in the figure below represents an opportunity to develop our communications in those preferred channels. |
| Take Charge by Aligning Channel Preference with Channel Strategy |
For example, recent studies indicate that consumers are spending more time online but that advertising budgets are still focused on traditional media. This chart illustrates the time spent versus total ad spend for a variety of channels in 2011. There is a clear disconnect between the time spent on mobile devices and ad spend. This trend is only going to be more prominent as users have been flocking to mobile devices in even greater numbers since that time. Our suggested analysis would show the time spent on channel by the consumer and and the corresponding resources we have allocated to that channel.
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Maximizing Channel Strategy: Don't Overlook Emerging Channels
Another example of an opportunity for maximizing channel strategy could be tablet devices. Tablets are rapidly outperforming mobile devices for shopping. The screen sizes are larger and allow for easier shopping. Not surprisingly, average order values, retail traffic, and conversion rates are higher on tablet. Yet again the spending on tablets lags the activity on the tablet by the consumer. So the first step to developing multichannel metrics is to develop a strategy that is consistent with customer preferences. Only by understanding first where the customer is spending time and how they like to communicate can we hope to develop an effective multichannel measurement program.By Debra Zahay-Blatz.
You can find Debra on Google+ and Twitter as well as LinkedIn.
