5 Creative Omnichannel Experience Ideas for 2024

Topic: Marketing, Uses of SMS

Marketing teams are constantly striving to deliver the most eye-catching campaigns possible. One of the biggest challenges is standing out from the sea of messages sitting in customers’ inboxes. So what can you do to catch your audience’s attention?

There’s no single surefire way, but one strategy is to adopt an omnichannel approach. Give customers and prospects access to your products, offerings, and services across a variety of channels, devices, and platforms, so they can move freely between them all. Now, even if they miss your first message, you can target them via another channel/device/platform.

Here are some omnichannel experience examples you could adopt for your campaigns:

  1. Send follow-up reminders via other channels
  2. Optimize your website for mobile
  3. Upsell when sending order and shipping confirmations
  4. Re-engage with dormant customers
  5. Offer destinations in addition to stores

1. Send follow-up reminders via other channels

One of your first instincts may be to launch an email marketing campaign in the lead-up to an event, such as a product launch or seasonal occasion. While email is and should remain a staple in your marketing communications stack, it’s easy for your prospects and customers to miss your email among the mass of others they’ll receive.

Rather than relying on email nurtures, experimenting with subject lines, or testing different times to send the email, why not incorporate other communication channels into your strategy?

For example, send text messages to people who didn’t open your email. Your messages could be as simple as a “It’s your last chance to get 20% off!” reminder along with a link to your website. Or, you could take it to the next level with richer features, such as an interactive button that links to your website.

With text messages boasting an average open rate of 98% and 97% of messages being read within 15 minutes of delivery, this channel can be an excellent way to boost your marketing efforts. Check out the examples below!

2. Optimize your website for mobile

More than half (59%) of global website traffic is generated by mobile devices and this figure has consistently sat around the 50% mark since the start of 2017. Your brand needs to cater to this – whether that’s offering a mobile-optimized website or an app. 

Additionally, the device/platform your customers start their journey with may not be the one they end it on. In other words, people are used to browsing a website on desktop, moving over to the store app, then checking ratings via a review app before finally heading over to checkout on their mobile phone.

Thus, make sure your channels and platforms are not only optimized for these different devices but also connected so customers can easily switch between them and still receive a consistent experience.

3. Upsell when sending order and shipping confirmations

If there’s an email or message that’s almost always read, it’ll be the order and shipping confirmations. Why don’t you take this opportunity to upsell?

In the same email/message, you can include an exclusive promotional code as a ‘thank you’ and to encourage customers to return. Or, you can remind them of an upcoming/ongoing sale. There are many possibilities here!

4. Re-engage with dormant customers

Existing customers are valuable. Not only are they more likely to return to do more business with you, but they also tend to spend more. And therein lies a main challenge…getting them to return.

One way to do this is to show your appreciation of them. Make them feel special. Here’s an example workflow:

First, send an SMS to ensure your customer reads the message
Then, send your exclusive promotion
If there’s no engagement, send a reminder with a degree of urgency

5. Offer a destination, not just a store

Today’s customers are looking for a great experience. They want to be able to purchase goods online and collect them in stores. They want to add items to their basket via your website, then head over to your app and see that the items are still there. They want to switch from store to website to social media channel to app and for it all to feel like the same brand. 

It’s about offering a destination, not just a physical or digital store. That’s how businesses can deliver a memorable customer experience.

Is your omnichannel experience strategy aligned with customer expectations?

The more technology advances, the more it becomes integrated into our everyday lives. The majority of us will think nothing of starting their digital journey on desktop and switching over to tablet before finishing on mobile. We may even receive a smartwatch notification somewhere in between.

For businesses, that means offering an omnichannel experience. In other words, give customers and prospects access to your products, offerings, and services across a variety of channels, devices, and platforms. And these should all be connected, so customers can move seamlessly between them.

However, do you know which channels, devices, and platforms your customers prefer to use and receive messages from? Do you know the journey they like to take? Knowing this is what will help you to craft the right omnichannel strategy.

At Esendex, we’ve been helping businesses improve their business communications and customer relationships for more than 20 years. And we can help you too. Find out more by reaching out to us.

Author Avatar
Julia Applegate

Based in Charleston, SC Julia is a Demand Generation Marketing Manager with 6 years of experience in B2B technology businesses and an emphasis on growth and demand generation marketing. Julia is passionate about balancing data-driven marketing with creative campaigns and bringing agile methodology to new companies.