Omnichannel has revolutionized how industrial companies interact with their customers. However, implementing an effective omnichannel strategy requires careful planning and precise execution. In this article, we'll explore 7 essential steps to master omnichannel and achieve your sales and marketing goals.
Step 1: Defining SMART goals
The first step to a successful omnichannel strategy is to establish clear and well-defined goals. The SMART methodology helps set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives to align omnichannel marketing goals with the company's overall objectives:
S - Specific: Your goals should be clear and concise, avoiding ambiguity. Instead of saying "improve sales," define a goal like "increase sales of product X by 15% in the next quarter."
M - Measurable: Establish concrete metrics to evaluate the progress and success of your goals. How will you measure the increase in sales? Number of leads generated? Email open rate?
A - Achievable: Ensure your goals are realistic and achievable with the available resources. Setting overly ambitious goals can be discouraging and counterproductive.
R - Relevant: Your goals should be aligned with your company's overall objectives and contribute to its growth. How does your omnichannel strategy relate to the company's mission and vision?
T - Time-bound: Set clear deadlines for achieving your goals. This will help you maintain focus and measure progress over time.
An example of a SMART goal for an omnichannel strategy could be: "Increase qualified lead generation by 20% in the next 6 months through personalized email marketing campaigns and relevant content on social media."
Step 2: Mapping the industrial customer journey
Customer Journey Mapping is an essential tool for understanding how your customers interact with your company throughout the buying process. In the industrial context, this process is often more complex and lengthy than in other sectors, so it's crucial to identify key touchpoints and understand how your customers seek information, evaluate options, and make decisions. Below, we'll look at each phase and how to apply them to the industrial sector:
Awareness:
What happens: The potential customer becomes aware of their problem or need and of your company as a possible solution.
Key touchpoints: Trade shows, advertising in specialized magazines, online searches, recommendations from colleagues.
Evaluation:
What happens: The customer researches and compares different options, including your company and your competitors.
Key touchpoints: Company website, technical data sheets, case studies, product demonstrations, contact with sales representatives.
Purchase:
What happens: The customer decides to buy your product or service.
Key touchpoints: Contract negotiation, ordering process, payment and delivery terms.
Usage:
What happens: The customer implements and uses your product or service.
Key touchpoints: Technical support, training, customer service, user manuals.
Re-purchase:
What happens: The customer decides to buy your product or service again or renew a contract.
Key touchpoints: Special offers for existing customers, loyalty programs, personalized communication.
Advocacy:
What happens: The satisfied customer recommends your company to others.
Key touchpoints: Testimonials, online reviews, referral programs, participation in events and communities.
Step 3: Strategic audience segmentation
To identify key touchpoints and strategically segment an industrial audience, it's essential to collect data from various sources. Using web analytics tools, you can track visitor behavior, such as the pages they visit, the time they spend on each page, and the actions they take. Conducting customer surveys can help obtain information to improve segmentation by knowing key factors such as preferences, needs, and brand perceptions.
Step 4: Creating personalized content
By understanding the industrial customer journey and key touchpoints, you can strategically segment your audience into smaller groups with similar characteristics and needs. This will allow you to personalize messages and channels for each segment, offering relevant content and specific offers. For example, you can send personalized emails with technical information to engineers, while offering purchasing managers case studies that demonstrate return on investment.
Step 5: Marketing Automation
Once you have effectively segmented your audience, you can make the most of marketing automation. These tools allow you to optimize omnichannel campaigns by sending relevant messages at the right time and through the right channel for each segment of your audience.
For example, for the segment of engineers interested in your most technical products, you can create a sequence of emails that provide them with detailed information on technical specifications, relevant case studies, and product demonstrations. These emails will be sent automatically at predefined intervals, guiding engineers through the sales funnel and increasing the chances of conversion.
At the same time, for the other segment of purchasing managers, who are more interested in return on investment and operational efficiency, you can create an automation campaign that sends them case studies demonstrating how your products have helped other companies reduce costs and improve productivity. You can also include invitations to webinars or exclusive events where they can meet industry experts and obtain valuable information for decision-making.
Step 6: Integrating Sales Channels
Once you have automated your marketing campaigns, the next step is to achieve seamless integration of all sales channels. This means effectively combining online channels, such as email, social media, and the website, with offline channels, such as events, trade shows, and sales visits.
Sales channel integration is not just about being present on multiple platforms, but about creating a consistent and seamless experience for your customers at every touchpoint. This means that, regardless of the channel your customers use to interact with the company, they should receive the same message, the same quality of service, and the same personalized attention.
For example, if a potential customer discovers the company at a trade show, they should be able to easily find more information about the products on the website and receive personalized follow-up via email or social media. Similarly, if a customer contacts you through the website, they should be able to receive personalized attention during a sales visit or at a subsequent event.
Step 7: Measurement, analysis, and continuous optimization
The last, but not least, step to achieving omnichannel success in industrial markets is the measurement, analysis, and continuous optimization of your strategies. This step is crucial to evaluate the performance of your campaigns, identify areas for improvement, and adjust your tactics to maximize return on investment.
Some key metrics to evaluate omnichannel performance can be the following:
Conversion rate: Measures the percentage of leads that convert into actual customers through your different channels.
Return on investment (ROI): Calculates the financial return of your omnichannel campaigns in relation to the costs incurred.
Cost per lead (CPL): Determines the average cost of acquiring a new lead through your channels.
Customer lifetime value (CLTV): Estimates the total value a customer will generate for your company throughout their relationship with you.
Customer retention rate: Measures the percentage of customers who continue doing business with you over time.
Customer satisfaction: Evaluates your customers' perception of your brand and your products or services through surveys and feedback.
Social media engagement: Measures your customers' interaction with your brand on social media, such as likes, comments, shares, and clicks.
Email open and click-through rates: Analyzes the performance of your email marketing campaigns.
Website traffic: Monitors the number of visitors, page views, and time spent on your website.
Once you define and obtain data on these metrics, it's important to analyze them in depth to identify areas for improvement. Using data analysis tools with Artificial Intelligence, you can discover patterns, trends, and correlations. For example, you can analyze:
Which channels generate more leads and sales: Identify the most effective channels for each segment of your audience and allocate your resources accordingly.
What type of content resonates most with your customers: Determine which formats and topics generate more engagement and conversions.
At what stages of the customer journey do you lose more leads: Identify friction points and optimize your processes to improve the customer experience.
What customer retention tactics are most effective: Evaluate the impact of your loyalty programs, special offers, and personalized communication.
Continuous optimization is an iterative process that requires constant monitoring and a willingness to adapt to changes in the market and customer preferences. By staying up-to-date and proactively adjusting your strategies, it will be easier to maximize the impact of your omnichannel campaigns and achieve sustainable long-term growth. Omnichannel is a powerful tool for industrial companies seeking to connect with their customers effectively. By following these 7 steps, you simplify the process of developing a solid omnichannel strategy that drives your sales, improves customer loyalty, and positions your company as a leader in the industry.
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