Capturing customer attention—one of the most valuable assets a business can earn—has become increasingly challenging, with over 50% of B2B marketers noting its growing difficulty in recent years. (Source: Content Marketing Institute, 12th Annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends)
So, when it comes to being seen by your customers, it’s important to be where they’re already looking for solutions to their challenges. This includes places such as:
- Their email inbox and mailbox
- Social media accounts
- Websites across the internet
- Google or other search engines
When you reach your customers using one or more of these channels, it’s called multichannel marketing. Understanding your customers and their preferences, interests, and preferred communication channels needs to inform your strategy.
Multichannel vs. Omnichannel Marketing Strategy
In the realm of marketing strategies, multichannel and omnichannel approaches differ in how they engage customers.
Multichannel marketing involves using multiple communication channels, each operating independently. For example, selling products through a physical store and a website would represent distinct strategies for each channel. Another example is where an in-store promotion could differ from an online ad which could differ from the focus of a direct mail piece. Each channel, or “leg” of marketing can potentially use different tactics than the others.
86% of marketers agree that multichannel marketing is increasing in effectiveness. (Source: Ascend2, The State of Multi-Channel Marketing)
In contrast, omnichannel marketing uses two or more communication channels together, focusing on the holistic customer experience. Every touchpoint reinforces the brand journey for a more unified experience, regardless of where or how a customer interacts with the brand. For example, a customer could get a coupon by mail, which could then trigger retargeting to see that same offer on social media.
One key differentiator between the two strategies to remember is:
- Omnichannel marketing adapts to customer preferences and behavior
- Multichannel marketing focuses on pre-defined sales pathways
The Key to an Effective Multichannel Marketing Campaign
Data is the foundation for effective multichannel marketing. In fact, 26% of marketers believe data helps their marketing drive more ROI. (Source: HubSpot, The State of Marketing Report)
However, only 23% of marketers describe their multichannel marketing strategy as very successful or best-in-class compared to competitors. (Source: Ascend2, The State of Multi-Channel Marketing)
Some of marketers’ lack of confidence in the success of their multichannel marketing strategies may be rooted in the data they work with, which includes:
- Business or customer data: This data fuels targeted activities and campaigns
- Campaign performance data: This data is captured and analyzed after campaigns finish to determine its success and to inform future efforts
Business or Customer Data Hygiene
When working with their business or customer data, ensuring the accuracy of that information is paramount. For example, knowing the individual’s contact information, job role, social media profiles, and other demographic and firmographic information can support a more relevant connection.
That’s why 37% of marketers state data “quality” and 27% state data “quantity” are the top challenges in developing a multichannel marketing strategy. (Source: Ascend2, The State of Multi-Channel Marketing)
To ensure the accuracy, quality, and completeness of business or consumer data, you can implement data hygiene strategies and complete them yourself. Data hygiene means identifying incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate or irrelevant parts of the data—then completing, correcting, deleting, or modifying the “dirty” data.
You can also work with a company that specializes in data and business intelligence and offers access to large databases, so you can keep your data up-to-date and accurate on your own. Or you can seek out companies that offer access to large databases and services that do parts of the data hygiene process on your behalf.
Whether you handle data hygiene yourself or work with a company, investing time and attention in your data upfront can lead to better targeting, stronger campaign results, and increased sales.
Using Campaign Performance Data
The data that results from executing your campaign strategies can help you understand how:
- Different channels contribute to conversions
- Customer behavior differs across channels
- To best segment your audience based on their preferences and actions
- To improve future campaign decisions and performance
Types of data you may want to analyze could include, email open rates or click through rates, direct mail responses, or social media impressions, conversions, or engagement.
Typically, you will access this information through your various marketing platforms such as your email automation platform and social media apps. You can pull information from your platforms to combine them in spreadsheets to further analyze this data and surface new insights. This work helps inform future iterations of your campaign to be optimized for better results. The bottom line is adopting a data-driven marketing strategy just makes sense for today’s businesses.
Now that we have a better grasp on why data should serve as the foundation of a multichannel marketing strategy, let’s look at the channels you should consider. Channel selection will vary based on many factors including industry, customer needs/behaviors, and type of promotion, among others. We’ve gathered information about what’s working, what’s less effective, and other considerations you need to factor into your multichannel marketing strategy.
Data: The Must-Know Statistics for Shaping Your Multichannel Marketing Strategy
Be Where They’re Already Looking
While it may seem basic, the most effective place to reach your customers is where they already look—such as their email inbox
- 88% of people use email every day. (Source: Zerobounce, Into the Inbox: Email Statistics Report for 2024)
- Email is the highest converting channel at 19.3%, compared to 6.6% as the median conversion rate across all industries. (Source: Unbounce, Conversion Benchmark Kit)
- 83% of B2B marketers consider email one of their most important channels. (Source: ViB, The B2B Marketer’s
- Forecast for AI, Budgeting, and Lead Generation)
- The what, when, and how you send your campaign emails can also affect your success.
- Nearly 21% of all email campaigns are opened within the first hour of sending. (Source: GetResponse, 2024 Email Marketing Benchmarks)
- 47% say they open all emails from a brand because the brand always sends them relevant messages. (Source: Zerobounce, Into the Inbox: Email Statistics Report for 2024)
- 89% of all B2B emails have the company name as the sender (Source: SuperOffice, New study: 59% of B2B companies do not use email marketing)
- The takeaway to remember? Knowing your customer matters! (Data, anyone?)
- Another reliable place to reach your customers is their postal mailbox. The delivery might be slower, but it can yield big results!
- 95% is the average engagement rate with direct mail, meaning opening, reading, and/or filing it. (Source: WARC, Driving effectiveness with direct mail)
- 41% of customers are likely to scan a QR code on a piece of direct mail and take action. (Source: LOB, The 2023 State of Direct Mail)
- 71% of people read direct mail the same day it is delivered. (Source: LOB, The 2023 State of Direct Mail)
- 86% of B2B marketers say direct mail is responsible for attracting their customers with the highest lifetime value. (Source: SG360, The Future of Direct Mail 2024)
That is hearty inspiration to implement a multichannel marketing campaign with direct mail, wouldn’t you say?
Social Media Reigns
In today’s always-connected world, both organic (free) and paid social media plays a critical role in marketing strategies. Let’s learn more:
The US had 239.0 million social media users in January 2024, equating to 70.1% of the total population. (Source: Statista, Number of internet and social media users in the United States as of January 2024)
And 60% of B2B marketers believe social media is the top channel for generating revenue. (Source: Wpromote, 2023 State of B2B Digital Marketing)
Social Media’s Impact
- 89% of B2B marketers use organic social media as their top content distribution channel. (Source: Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Outlook for 2025)
- 84% of B2B marketers find LinkedIn is the organic social media platform that delivers the most value. (Source: Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Outlook for 2025
- 49% of marketers said social media advertising/promoted posts produced the best results. (Source: Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Outlook for 2025)
- And 46% of B2B marketers agree that social media contributes most to achieving bottom-of-funnel goals. (Source: Wpromote, 2023 State of B2B Digital Marketing)
So, what exactly should you be posting on social media?
Types of Social Media Posts
65% of B2B customers say they find short-form content (blog posts, infographics) most appealing. (Source: Demand Gen Report, 2023 Content Preferences Survey Report: Personalized, Data-Backed Content Enables B2B Teams To Fast Track Buyer Enablement, Speed Up Path To Purchase)
When it comes to discovering new products, short-form video rules:
- 48% of Gen Z customers like discovering new products in short-form video
- And the preference extends to 47% of Millennials and 36% of Gen Xers
- Baby Boomers buck the trend, however. 43% of Boomers prefer discovering new products through a social media marketplace where purchases don’t happen within the app (Source: HubSpot, How (& Where) Consumers Discover Products on Social Media [New Data])
Social Media Influencers
If you find yourself lacking in your own content to post, you can always explore the idea of influencer marketing, which is a collaboration between a business and a popular social media user who has a large following (aka influencer). The influencer promotes a business’ products or services to influence purchases from their followers. Influencer marketing can generate “buzz”, which can lead to free user generated content (UGC)—the underlying goal of using a social media influencer strategy.
Despite being a newer social strategy, 39% of B2B marketers leverage influencer marketing. (Source: Winterberry Group, Outlook for B2B Marketing)
That said, 56% of marketers say the main purpose of running influencer campaigns is to create UGC. (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub, The State of Influencer Marketing 2024: Benchmark Report)
So, what is UGC? You’ve likely already created it yourself!
User Generated Content
UGC is original, brand-specific content created by customers, such as reviews, photos, blogs, or social posts, showcasing their personal experiences with a product or service. UGC can be at no cost to the business, whereas influencer strategies are normally paid and are being increasingly used.
One thing you can’t ignore about UGC, its impact:
84% of Americans are more likely to trust a brand if it incorporates UGC into marketing initiatives. (Source: EnTribe: EnTribe 2022 User Generated Content Survey)
Even more surprising, 40% of shoppers won’t purchase an item if there isn’t UGC on the product page of a brand’s website. (Source: Bazaar Voice, Shopper Experience Index – Volume 18)
Facebook and YouTube are the 2 most popular social media platforms in 2024. Others from the top 10 channels include Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, WeChat, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, and Douyin. (Source: Shopify, Top 10 Most Popular Social Media Platforms)
That said, there are many different social media channels to choose from in multichannel marketing, we have only started to scratch the surface of important insights. As you consider the channels to include in your multichannel marketing strategy, we encourage you to perform additional research to understand what will work for your customers.
Start Charting Your Path to Multichannel Marketing Success
Now you have the information you need, backed by statistics, to make better decisions about how and where to capture customer attention through multichannel marketing.
Remember, the success of your strategy begins with a solid foundation—built on understanding your customers and their preferences, interests, and preferred communication channels. A thorough understanding can build relationships that stand the test of time.
In today’s competitive landscape, multichannel marketing can be key to connecting with customers and driving business growth.
Making Sense of Multichannel Marketing
Designing a multichannel strategy to enhance customer engagement can feel overwhelming. However, starting with reliable data and a solid plan to track success provides a strong foundation. This approach helps you identify the best mix of channels for your business, optimize your return on investment, and make more informed decisions to build impactful campaigns
Interested in giving your multichannel marketing strategy a refresh? Salesgenie can help.
