Customers have multiple ways to interact with retailers—mobile, web, social media, email, and in-store, the list goes on. These options provide flexibility, but they create challenges to track, monitor, and understand what’s happening at each touchpoint. Too often, every interaction is tracked and managed by disparate systems, creating siloed insights and leaving retailers with little useful data to make business decisions. What can you do to appropriately collect, analyze and create actionable insights across the customer journey from your digital intelligence? How can you ultimately improve customer loyalty?
The first step is integration.
Data and insights from multiple sources and applications need to be connected. Integrating systems enables you to connect the dots and sets the framework for an omnichannel experience. Not only does it create the seamless flow for customers across channels, but it delivers a 360 view of the customer to marketing and sales. This continual feedback loop empowers you to adjust your strategy and tactics in real-time as customers engage with your brand at every point of their journey.
Once you have integrated, it’s time to think about how to intentionally create omnichannel experiences that inspire loyalty. What evokes loyalty? A sense that a brand “gets you” and meets you where you are, when you need it. Loyalty can feel like an elusive emotion to pin down, but customers are naturally loyal to brands that meet their needs, make it easy, and generate positive feelings (or conversely, do not cause negative feelings).
Here are five omnichannel strategies that inspire loyalty:
- Connect mobile with email.
Batch and blast doesn’t cut it anymore; consumers see right through it. Our inboxes are littered with messages from brands, many of which we send to spam. The fix? Point people to your mobile app by inviting them to download it through email. Mobile provides a more personalized channel and you can use email to invite customers to ‘app-only’ experiences, exclusive features and promotions. - Website: make it easy to convert.
The customer journey often begins on your website, but 92% of consumers don’t make a purchase on the first visit. Promoting your mobile app on your website is a great way to get them into an experience that is more likely to get them to convert. - Social media: take advantage of 1:1 advertising.
Social media is a must for app promotion. You can connect with your target audience using paid or organic social media campaigns, or both. Building a customer community on social is a great way to provide content that is a mix of promotional, aspirational, and educational — all of which create a loyal following. - Use location-based marketing for timely engagement.
We have found that 36% of people who shop using apps said a mobile location-based push notification influenced their in-store purchase. Geofences and beacons are the most effective ways to trigger location-based messaging, as they trigger messages on a customer’s mobile app when that person is within a defined distance from the store. - Transform your in-store experience.
Physical stores are not dead. Integrating an omnichannel experience with your stores is a great way for customers to feel connected no matter how they shop. Mobile apps can serve as virtual shopping assistants with features such as price checks, in-app rewards wallet, promotion catalogue, buy online pick up in store services, and more.
All of these strategies take advantage of your mobile app as a key driver in connecting with customers and serving them in ways that feel personalized and helpful. Localytics can help you put all of these methods into play to generate a true omnichannel experience curated for today’s modern shopper.
Discover how leading brands are putting this into play in our ebook.