An Example of How to Execute Dynamic Multi-Channel Marketing
There is an old guideline in marketing that says a prospect must come in contact with a brand seven times before they become a customer. While “The Marketing Rule of 7” isn’t a scientific fact, there is some truth to this philosophy.
For brands to form lasting and meaningful relationships with customers and clients, they need to get in front of them over and over.
That’s where multi-channel marketing comes in.
What Is Multi-Channel Marketing?
Multi-channel marketing is a strategy that puts a brand message in front of the same audience through various channels and mediums.
When engaging in multi-channel marketing, a brand seeds their messages across a variety of places where a prospect may come in contact with it.
Those channels may include:
- Your website
- Other websites
- Social media
- Print and television ads
- Text messages
- Flyers
- In-person promotions
- Signage
By showing cohesive messages to the same audience, multi-channel marketing builds affinity with audiences. It allows you to communicate with customers and keep your brand on their radar so when the prospect is ready to do business, they will return to the brand that is at the top of their mind.
Brands can also add to multi-channel marketing to make this marketing strategy even more effective.
Combining Multi-Channel Marketing with Retargeting
Retargeting, or sometimes referred to as remarketing, is a strategy that puts a brand message in front of past audiences or customers. Like multi-channel marketing, retargeting seeds repeat messages in front of the same audience.
The difference is that with retargeting, the messages are shown to audiences that have already previously connected with the brand.
Using data and analytics, the brand specifically targets audiences they know have already experienced a touch point with the brand. The audience has either consumed one of the brand’s messages, visited their website, visited their store, or otherwise experienced an element of the brand.
When you combine multi-channel marketing with retargeting, you amplify the effectiveness of the promotions.
Not only do you get your brand in front of an audience multiple times. You also get your brand in front of an interested audience multiple times -- increasing your chances of converting a prospect into a paying customer.
So, how does an effective multi-channel and retargeting strategy work?
An Example of Multi-Channel Marketing
To illustrate what a powerful multi-channel marketing and retargeting campaign looks like, let’s create a sample scenario. One of our multi-channel marketing campaigns at MyArea Network might look something like this.
1. Photo Card -- Our professional photographer captures photos at an exciting location. Our multi-channel marketing campaigns often start with in-person lead generation. We send a professional photographer to capture photos of guests enjoying a bar or event.
Our photographer takes a few shots of a group or individual and provides them with a photo card that has directions for how they can download the image. The photo card also features a logo and message for a brand we know the person might be interested. We match our photo promotions and brands based on the demographics of the event or bar where we are taking photos.
This is the first touch point between the target audience and the brand.
2. Website -- Target audience visits website to download their image. The target audience uses the information on the photo card to visit our website and download the professional image that was captured of them.
When they arrive on our website, they have their second interaction with the brand.
The same brand that was featured on the photo card is highlighted on the website. We promote the brand through the use of display advertising on the webpage where the user enters their contact information to download their photo.
3. Email -- Target audience receives email offer. Because the target audience entered their information to download the photo, we have now captured their contact information.
This information enables us to send them an email marketing offer, that you guessed it, contains a message for the original brand. This is multi-channel marketing in action as the email is the third time the audience connects with the brand.
The email doesn’t just promote the brand. It typically includes a promotion or offer that provides value for the audience. The goal isn’t just to put the brand in front of the audience over and over. The goal is to provide relevant messages and value to the target audience while creating recognition for the brand. This leads to strong brand affinity and loyalty.
4. Text Marketing -- Target audience receives text message promotion. Along with capturing the email addresses of target audiences, our photo download also captures their phone number. With the audience’s phone number, we can then use text marketing to send another offer or promotional message.
This interaction is the fourth time that the brand is put in front of the audience, which is a little more than half-way through the “Marketing Rule of 7.”
It’s important to note that what makes multi-channel marketing different with MyArea Network is that up until this point, all of the messages have all been from us -- not the brand.
The photo card, website, email, and text message content were all distributed from our platforms. We have seeded the brand’s marketing messages in our own value-packed content that audiences love. So, the audience is not feeling fatigued by receiving multiple messages from a brand. The messages have felt natural, relevant, and welcomed.
5. Facebook Retargeting -- Target audience sees a Facebook ad for the brand. At this point, the brand steps in and seeds their own message. At the same time that MyArea Network is subtly placing brand messages in front of the audience, the brand shares their own message through Facebook.
The fifth time the audience sees the brand, it’s in the form of a Facebook ad.
The ad is not from MyArea Network. It is tied to the Facebook account for the brand. It’s not until the fifth touch point that the audience sees a promotion directly from the brand. This makes the ad more welcomed as the audience is already warm.
They are also seeing this ad around the same time that we send our text message from MyArea Network. This timing puts the brand in front of the audience through two different media platforms and delivery systems.
This is also the point where strategy retargeting and remarketing can come in. To ensure that the audience is even a hotter lead, we often use digital retargeting to develop our Facebook ads.
With Facebook retargeting, we place a pixel on audiences who have already engaged with the brand (by clicking on a link, visiting a webpage, etc.) and only show the ad to those audiences. This magnifies the power of the ad because it is only reaching audiences who are interested in the brand. The final step rounds out the example of a five-step multi-channel marketing campaign.
Pulling It All Together
As you can see, through strategic multi-channel marketing, you can quickly, seamlessly, and powerfully move audiences through the many touch points that are required on their way to becoming a customer.
You can introduce new audiences to a brand and help them become familiar with that brand by subtly and naturally reintroducing them over and over through varied channels and networks.
It feels natural, helpful, and organic.
This is just an example of how a multi-channel marketing strategy can work. There are many ways to tweak, revise, and add to this process based on target audience demographics, business industry, and customer behaviors.
This example simply illustrates how you capture audience attention and continue to nurture interest by repeatedly, yet naturally, providing relevant and useful messages.
Ready to Try Multi-Channel Marketing?
Now that you understand the power of multi-channel marketing and have gone through an example of how this process can work -- are you ready to create a campaign for yourself?
We’ve successfully created marketing campaigns like this for dozens of brands. In the process we’ve helped those brand connect with new audiences, build brand awareness, and develop lasting relationships with customers.
We’d love to see how we could do the same for you. Let’s talk and see how we can help you create your first multi-channel marketing campaign. Schedule a free call to talk to one of our local marketing specialties and set up a new system to attract leads today.
