Have you ever started a marketing plan, opened several channels, written the messages and run ads on different platforms, only to find that each one behaves like an island? You can’t say for sure which channel converts best, and the work you put into each social network doesn’t add up to a single plan. If that sounds familiar, it’s time to look at cross-channel marketing.
What is cross-channel marketing?
Cross-channel marketing is a way of managing the channels you use to reach your customers as one integrated strategy. Instead of running social media, email and Google Ads as separate projects, you combine them so that each one picks up where the last one left off. The message stays consistent and follows a logical path from channel to channel, which gives people the same brand experience wherever they meet you.
Here’s an example. You run a Google Display campaign for a new line of shoes. The ad sends people to a landing page where they can download the catalogue for your new collection. Once they’ve downloaded it, you invite them to follow you on Facebook. Then, using the details they gave you, you show them an Instagram ad with those same shoes on offer. They click the ad and buy.
Each step builds on the one before, and each channel knows what the customer has already done.
Cross-channel is not the same as multi-channel
Both approaches use several channels. The difference is integration.
Multi-channel marketing spreads the same message across every channel and speaks to a general audience, with no customisation. Say you’re promoting an event: you publish the same posts on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at the same time and run a Google ad alongside them. Among everyone who sees the offer, you can’t tell who has already bought a ticket and who showed interest but hasn’t bought yet.
In cross-channel marketing, the buyer persona sits at the centre. Everything is focused on guiding that person’s journey, from the moment they discover your brand to their first purchase and beyond. Depending on what they do at each touchpoint with your store, they receive a different, personalised message.
Why does it benefit you?
Consistent messaging across channels tends to lead to higher engagement, and with it, a higher conversion rate. You meet customers on the channels they already use, move them along their journey and keep their interest instead of starting from scratch every time.
It also builds loyalty. When the brand experience is reinforced at every point where a customer crosses paths with you, they get to know you and trust you faster.
Finally, it gives you a clearer view of your return on investment. Because the channels are connected, you can track metrics and calls to action across the whole journey and see which parts of a campaign are actually producing results.
Channels you can use in your strategy
As you test each channel, the key is learning to read the data on the people who interact with your messages. That’s how you find out where your customers really are and which channels are worth keeping.
We won’t cover every channel in depth here, but these are the main ones, with a few pointers so you can explore them as your needs grow. For a broader look at running your accounts day to day, see How to Manage Social Media Like A Pro.
Social media
The GlobalWebIndex 2018 social media trends report, which surveyed more than 350,000 internet users aged 16 to 64, highlighted a few points worth keeping in mind:
- 98% of digital consumers used social media, spending an average of 2 hours and 15 minutes a day on it.
- The average digital consumer had 8 social media accounts.
- Mobile phones were the device most used to access them.
- More than half of digital consumers followed brands on social media, and these networks were the most popular place to research products and services, especially among 16 to 24 year olds. Research was still a long way from purchase, though: only 13% of that same group said a “buy” button would encourage them to buy.
- On average, 74% of respondents had bought something online in the previous month.
- The 16 to 24 age group used social media the most to look for products, and the 55 to 64 group used it the least.
These figures date from 2018, so check current data for your own market before you plan around them. The way each platform tends to be used is still a useful starting point:
- Facebook: the largest user base of any social network, and Facebook Messenger is one of the leading instant messaging services.
- YouTube: number one for visits per user at the time.
- Instagram: ahead of Twitter among 16 to 44 year olds, and increasingly important for e-commerce.
- X (formerly Twitter): widely used for customer service. For consumer brands in particular, it’s one of the main places people go to praise or complain about a company.
- Snapchat: the most used channel among Generation Z, especially in North America, with moderate use in other groups.
- LinkedIn: the network of choice for business audiences, so worth considering if you sell to other companies.
Email marketing
Email is one of the best channels for turning a new lead into a customer. The key is to send content that is relevant, useful and well timed. Decide what you want each email to achieve, work out the best moment to reach your customer, and write copy that hits the mark. Ideally, include only one call to action per email.
If you’re just getting started, our guide on converting sales with email marketing covers the basics.
Content on your store
Teaching shoppers about your products is one of the best ways to build trust and credibility. Aim for a library of resources in different formats, such as videos, blog posts and podcasts, and mix two kinds of content:
- Snackable content: quick reads designed to bring traffic to your store.
- Evergreen content: in-depth material such as e-books or guides that stays useful for a long time.
A blog on your online store is the easiest place to start.
Google search and ads
Google is the largest search engine in the world, so not having a plan for being found there is close to not existing online. From the moment you start writing the pages of your store, keep search engine optimisation in mind. Our article on what SEO is explains where to begin.
On top of organic search, Google offers several advertising options: ads in search results, on YouTube, in Gmail and on partner websites in its display network.
WhatsApp is one of the dominant messaging apps in many countries. In a cross-channel strategy it works well after the sale, for order updates and follow-ups, and for offering very personal customer service. See our guide to WhatsApp Commerce for ways to use it in your store.
How to build a cross-channel marketing strategy
There’s no magic formula for a strategy that ties all your channels together, but one thing works for everyone: data. Measure, measure and measure again. What separates chaos across your touchpoints from a connected system is the ability to collect, organise and analyse information about the people who interact with your store.
You also need to know your buyer persona well and map out the customer journey: the path a person takes from the moment they have a problem or a need until they find your solution and decide to buy from you.
These steps can help you get there.
1. Define your objectives
Start with the goal of the campaign. Ask yourself:
- What do you want to achieve?
- What do you want people to do in your store?
- What are the key results for each objective?
2. Build a profile of your ideal customer
Whether you sell directly to consumers (B2C) or to other businesses (B2B), your customer is always a person. In B2B, keep in mind that the person buying usually has to justify the decision to someone else, so educating them about your product or service is critical.
Collect as much data as you can from different sources to understand your customer: purchase history, responses to past campaigns and browsing behaviour all give you an accurate picture of the journey. Then ask:
- What do they think and feel?
- What do they see around them (their environment, their friends, what the market offers them)?
- How do they measure success? What do they want, and what do they need?
- What do they say and do in public, and how do they behave with others?
- What are their fears, frustrations and obstacles?
- What do they hear from friends, managers and the people who influence them?
3. Build a strong brand
Peter Thiel, one of PayPal’s co-founders, has argued that one of the traits of monopoly businesses is a powerful brand. Think of what Apple built around its name: an aesthetic, a way of living and working, and a desire to own its products.
For a solid cross-channel strategy, you need to know the soul of your brand. Why does it exist? What does it do? How does it do it? Once that’s clear, carry it into every piece of communication you produce: copy, images, videos, podcasts, print and anything else.
4. Take it one step at a time
Don’t open lots of channels at once. Start with one or two and watch how your customers respond. You can also ask them, right in your store, which channel they’d prefer you to use to contact them.
One rule to keep: don’t send the same message on every channel. Understand the audience on each one and speak to them accordingly.
5. Collect your customers’ information
Focus on generating leads first. Cross-channel marketing is almost impossible without people in your database. Keep every contact you gather organised in a CRM. A basic version can be a spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets, and as you grow there are paid options for different budgets, such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics.
6. Use remarketing
Remarketing lets you show tailored ads to people who have already visited your website. For example, someone lands on your online clothing store, adds a couple of items to the cart, gets distracted and forgets to pay. With remarketing, you can show them an ad for the exact product they were about to buy and bring them back to finish the purchase.
To set one up, read how to plan a retargeting campaign.
7. Manage your strategy from one place
The biggest obstacle to cross-channel marketing is tools, and the teams that run them, not being connected. Ideally, you’d coordinate everything from a single platform. Large companies use dedicated marketing suites for this; for a small store, the main thing is that your customer data lives in one place and every channel draws from it.
Repeat the process with each new campaign. Each round gives you better data, a sharper approach and a stronger relationship with your customers, and that is what lets you grow your business.
Conclusion
Cross-channel marketing is the smartest way to avoid chaos as your online store grows, and the most effective way to make use of every channel available online. There’s no exact recipe for combining them, but the principles stay the same: clear objectives, a deep understanding of your ideal customer, a strong brand, messages adapted to each channel, and data that you collect, organise and analyse.
