Why You Need a One-Stop Shop for Omnichannel Marketing

It’s not easy to carry on a conversation with a consumer these days.

Why? Consider this scenario: Consumer X wakes up and reads the news on her smartphone. Then she catches up on email on her home computer during breakfast. During the day, she’s on the work computer, though she checks in periodically on her phone as well. Then she’ll do a bit of tablet surfing at night while she’s watching her connected TV.

If you weren’t able to determine that these devices were all being used by the same person, you’d get an incomplete view of your target consumer. Our consumer might be seriously in the market for a car, for example. However, an automaker just seeing her activity on a tablet wouldn’t necessarily know that.

Though this vignette is frustrating for marketers, it’s the norm still in 2016. In part that’s because the technology needed to connect these devices isn’t widely distributed. But using specialized providers for one aspect of omnichannel marketing — like video for instance — also perpetuates this scenario. That’s why to win, marketers really need a one-stop shop for omnichannel marketing.

More than the sum of its parts

Creating an omnichannel marketing campaign is a little like manufacturing a new ecosystem. A fully realized omnichannel marketing plan will include some symbiosis. A branding video for awareness, for instance, might affect your conversion tactics. At least, you would be able to see the connection, which you wouldn’t otherwise.

In addition, being able to employ multiple devices in a single campaign affords the opportunity to have a conversation with a consumer that’s coordinated, sequenced and makes sense. For example, if your target consumer has narrowed her car choice down to two or three and she’s ready to visit a dealership, then hitting her with branding ads is a waste of money since you’ve already had that conversation with her. At that point, you need to give her incentive to visit your dealership instead of your competitor’s.

On the other hand, since the average consumer buys a car every decade or so, hitting everyone with direct-response ads is foolish. It’s like standing outside a dealership and asking everyone walking by, “Hey, are you interested in buying our car?” Most people will say no. That’s why auto companies put most of their energy into branding ads. When that consumer is ready to buy though, they need to change tactics. Years ago, that transition was going on in the consumer’s head. Now the consumer leaves clues behind that she’s switching into buying mode.

The only important question: Is it working?

For marketers, technologies and devices used to make this conversation happen is of secondary importance. Of primary importance is whether the campaign is working, whether it actually increases sales or meets other self-identified goals. Marketers also want to glean insights from the campaign. If you find that a certain messaging is resonating with a group of consumers that you hadn’t considered targeting before, for instance, that is important information.

Marketers who take this big-picture view will realize that there’s greater ROI in the holistic effect of using a one-stop shop for omnichannel. Taking a step back, it’s amazing that we can have this comprehensive picture of the consumer in all her complexity now. From a bottom-line point of view though, taking all the elements of the consumer journey into account is also the most cost-effective approach.

Check out the video below where my Turn colleagues Bruce Falck and Ethan Lubka discuss omnichannel marketing.

About Amobee

Founded in 2005, Amobee is an advertising platform that understands how people consume content. Our goal is to optimize outcomes for advertisers and media companies, while providing a better consumer experience. Through our platform, we help customers further their audience development, optimize their cross channel performance across all TV, connected TV, and digital media, and drive new customer growth through detailed analytics and reporting. Amobee is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tremor International, a collection of brands built to unite creativity, data and technology across the open internet.

If you’re curious to learn more, watch the on-demand demo or take a deep dive into our Research & Insights section where you can find recent webinars on-demand, media plan insights & activation templates, and more data-driven content. If you’re ready to take the next step into a sustainable, consumer-first advertising future, contact us today.