Interactions between companies and customers play an important role in today's world, because it is important that you develop a true customer journey and thus build a high level of customer loyalty. By using different channels, you can establish customer contact points on several levels, enabling barrier-free communication with a customer on various platforms. At Chatarmin, we can help you to expand this customer service to include your WhatsApp offering.
What is omnichannel communication?
The term omnichannel means using “all channels” and the so-called omnichannel strategy is of particular interest to modern companies that want to reach their customers via other contact options in addition to email or SMS. The main goal is to establish seamless communication between companies and their customers that extends across multiple channels and is ideally barrier-free.
In general, omnichannel marketing should enable customers to access the same wealth of information through all channels without having to worry about missing anything important. This means that communication is designed the same way on all channels, and of course, nowadays, this also includes popular messenger apps like WhatsApp.
What is interesting here is that the omnichannel strategy is often equated with the multichannel or crosschannel. However, this is a false assumption and we would like to educate you about the differences between these three types of marketing so that you can get a good overview of which marketing strategy is best for you.
Alternatives: What is the multi-channel approach and what is crosschannel?
In marketing, there is often overlap between different methods in terms of how to reach customers, and for this very reason, misunderstandings can arise. While we will present the omnichannel strategy in some detail in this informative article, we also want to give you a brief insight into two other marketing tools that work in a similar way.
What is multichannel communication?
The multichannel strategy can be seen as the opposite of the single channel and prescribes the company goal of opening as many communication channels as possible. However, this is where the big difference to the omnichannel comes in: with multichannel, the various channels do not work hand in hand and are not coordinated with each other, but rather they present diverse content independently of each other.
What is cross-channel communication?
Cross-channel is actually the next step up and already includes some links between the various channels so that customers can benefit from a unified experience. For example, your company could offer the option of buying and reserving products online on the company website, but ultimately picking up the product from your store.
In this way, different channels are linked, but it is still far from the trendy omnichannel. Nevertheless, the crosschannel approach is a good first step towards the eventual integration of the omnichannel strategy in the area of e-commerce and co., so you can build on it.
Does your company need well-positioned omnichannel communication?
In the past, newsletters were sent by email or customers received paper advertising to promote new products and draw attention to promotions. This approach has changed significantly with the increase in digitalization, because today, modern companies, especially in the area of e-commerce, rely entirely on sophisticated channel strategies that enable them to bundle different channels and use them effectively to pass on important information to their customer base.
Omnichannel is one of the touchpoints of modern marketing and no online shop should miss the opportunity to build a healthy customer relationship management. This helps to create a closer customer relationship with regard to the virtual marketplace on the website and to create a customer journey.
Incidentally, you also simplify the work of your team, because the interaction of the media channels makes it possible for them to align the website and other channels precisely with the desired target group, so that all activities are geared towards optimizing the purchasing process. If you would also like to benefit from the use of this media strategy, we will explain the numerous advantages of these online business activities, which are sure to convince you.
Omnichannel communication: these are the advantages
Compared to the classic and certainly outdated email newsletter, omnichannel marketing has a number of advantages and we at Chatarmin want to give you the chance to see the most important benefits of omnichannel communication at a glance.
That's why we've prepared a brief overview to help you focus on the notable advantages of omnichannel.These positive features of multiple communication channels include, among others:
- Personalized customer experience
- Specific targeting- Interaction of different social media channels
- Live chat offers
- Create WhatsApp newsletter
- Click and collect measures
- Promoting awareness of your own website by advertising on other media
- Uniform customer journey on every channel
- Effective use of customer data to improve the purchasing process
- Targeted alignment of the online shop with the target group
- Not to be underestimated: increased sales
Further advantages of the omnichannel concept
By integrating an omnichannel strategy, you are able to reach all customers on different media formats. Of course, you are welcome to continue using email and SMS support, as there are, of course, customers who prefer these forms of communication. But with a view to customer interaction, you benefit from having your customer information synchronized across all media, available to everyone in a standardized way, and offering a comprehensive marketing measure.
Instructions: How to apply omnichannel communication to your business
Sometimes, as a business, you may find yourself in a situation where you want to make changes to the way you do marketing. If you're familiar with this situation, you should use your customer data to analyze which interactions your customers prefer. CRM systems make it easy to standardize marketing across multiple channels, and linking your media will enable customers to experience the benefits of omnichannel. Chatarmin shows you the steps you need to take to achieve your omnichannel goal.
Step-by-step approach: This is how you implement the multichannel approach
With the omnichannel approach, it is important that the available customer data is used to make campaigns of the same type across all channels as similar and as informative as possible. There are, of course, many illustrative examples of a functioning omnichannel approach, but first you should introduce some basic steps in your company to be able to tackle the marketing strategy:
Step 1: Consider which channels and information you want to make equal for your customers. Step 2: Compare CRM systems and find the best tool for your needs. Step 3: Start interacting with your media bit by bit. Step 4: Optimize media offerings for smartphone access. Step 5: Offer customers a channel change at any time and do not force them to use a channel.
What are the best CMR systems?
To simplify omnichannel communication, there are various tools available to help you coordinate different channels. The most popular CMR tools currently include:
- HubSpot
- monday sales CMR
- salesforce
- ClickUp
- pipedrive
Which channels are particularly recommended for an omnichannel strategy?
There's no question about it – in today's world, you have the chance to be represented with your company through many different media outlets, and the more you actively use, the greater the accessibility of potential customers. Email marketing still plays a role, but the 2020s rely on more popular contact options such as:
- Messenger Apps
- Social Media
- Company website
- Direct customer contact in the store
Chatarmin supports you in customer communication via WhatsApp
Especially with regard to messenger apps, we at Chatarmin have to put WhatsApp in the spotlight, because this app has become very important in omnichannel marketing. We support you in using our expertise to reach as many WhatsApp users as possible and to take advantage of the high open rate of messages to make this part of omnichannel marketing successful. You can improve customer satisfaction with the use of a WhatsApp chatbot.
How can the omnichannel approach help optimize the customer experience?
While we can actively help you improve your customer experience on WhatsApp, this informative article will help you maintain the customer experience on other channels as well. Omnichannel communication is about serving a large number of customers by providing a service through the communication channel of their choice.
A customer always feels comfortable when they are not forced to do something and can instead determine how they shop and which forms of contact they can use to communicate. These two points are fundamental to creating good customer satisfaction and, in turn, a positive experience.
Modern strategy: a multi-faceted offering instead of forcing customers to use a specific channel
The pressure to use a particular channel is a major problem in today's society. Many providers have their own communication devices and force customers to create their own user account here or there. This pressure to use certain channels has a negative impact on customer satisfaction and should therefore be avoided at all costs.
Instead, create a wide range of communication options for your customers using an omnichannel approach. This way, customers are spoiled for choice when it comes to deciding which communication method they prefer. They will feel visibly more comfortable with every contact or purchase and are more likely to consider returning as a customer at a later date.
Flexibility and personalized communication will help you with your multi-channel sales strategy
If you are one of those entrepreneurs who have learned that adaptability is the key to success, then you probably won't shy away from the topic of omnichannel communication and have now developed a taste for implementing this communication strategy. There is no question that a multi-channel sales strategy is a good starting point for making a positive impression on your customers. Take a leaf out of the book of various large global corporations that have long since perfected omnichannel communication and provide their customers with a wide range of information.
Best practice examples: These companies know how to communicate across different channels!
Many large companies, which you are sure to be familiar with and possibly even consider to be a business role model, rely on omnichannel marketing. We have selected a few well-known corporations for you that are prime examples of how to implement the omnichannel approach as effectively as possible. 3 particularly exemplary companies in this context are:
- Disney
- IKEA
- Media Markt
A customer experience on every channel
These companies are true experts when it comes to implementing an omnichannel strategy. They use all available channels, such as social media, not only to raise customer awareness of their company, but also to offer the best possible customer service. The customer knows that with these partners, they will be able to make contact across all channels to get help with their concerns. Although e-mails still play a role here, in today's world they are increasingly being replaced by WhatsApp communication.
WhatsApp customer contact with an omnichannel: omnichannels are designed to appeal to a wide range of customers – so WhatsApp is a must!
If you want to offer comprehensive customer service across multiple channels today, the WhatsApp Messenger App is an absolute must. WhatsApp has over 2 billion users worldwide and the message open rate is well over 90 percent, so companies have long since acquired a taste for addressing customers via this channel.
The experienced Chatarmin team will help you enhance the customer experience via WhatsApp chat and turn WhatsApp into a channel for running various marketing strategies. Using WhatsApp can be particularly beneficial if you are active in digital marketplaces for online trading and want to send information via an app. These aspects will become more and more important in the coming years, because a good network via app is one of the methods for your company to reach a broad mass.
Investing in the future: Setting up broad distribution channels is becoming increasingly important for you
It is already essential for companies to reach customers on and through various channels and to make it easier for them to communicate. However, an omnichannel strategy is likely to become increasingly important in the coming years, because customers appreciate being able to obtain their information through a contact method of their choice.
Which sales channels and contact methods should you offer in the future?
As far as possible, offer a wide range of options and integrate as many social media channels as possible. Since we at Chatarmin are particularly familiar with the WhatsApp app, we would of course like to mention it separately. But there are many more communication channels that you should include in your offering. Therefore, consider integrating the following communication channels for your company and good customer care:
- Text messaging
- Phone
- WhatsApp marketing
- Social media like Instagram, Telegram, X, Facebook and Co.
- Maybe even your own smartphone app
Make it easy for your customers to reach your company
Ultimately, the now very popular omnichannel communication is mainly about making it as easy as possible for customers to get in touch. At Chatarmin, we therefore understand the advantages of communicating across multiple channels and how important it is to use WhatsApp for these purposes, because the popular messenger app plays a significant role in the omnichannel approach.
Conclusion: Omnichannel communication - Chatarmin supports you in broad-based customer contact
Do you want to activate the various communication channels to offer your customers a comprehensive service and are you also considering offering a direct WhatsApp service as part of omnichannel marketing? Then we are your No. 1 point of contact, because Chatarmin is an expert in the field of corporate communication with WhatsApp and we look forward to taking the customer experience for your buyers to a new level on a WhatsApp basis.
Benefit from our experience with WhatsApp today and create a customer-centric experience tailored to your needs
Is an omnichannel approach also of interest to your company? Then you are really moving with the times and it is our pleasure to help you create a unique customer experience across multiple channels, which offers you the opportunity to sustainably improve the quality of customer communication for both sides.
