Push Play for Multi-Channel Communications

There is a lot of excitement over multi-channel delivery these days, and here’s why: Over 750 million users use Facebook every single day. Over 6,000 “tweets” are issued every second. And nearly 20% of all web traffic comes through mobile phone. Clearly, the days of communicating via snail mail and plain old paper are coming to an end, so the question becomes: what are you doing about it?

Companies that continue to use legacy printing and mailing to communicate with customers will find it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with digital marketing. According to Accent, a British market research firm, 72% of consumers want only to interact with a brand via social media channels. Findings from convinceandconvert.com indicate that 44% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email.

And Pew Research says that as of January 2014, 58% of American adults have a smartphone and well over half check for messages even when they don’t notice their phone ringing. Bottom line: Miss out on multi-channel and miss out on a great deal of opportunity.

Multi-channel customer communications and web content management are closely related and it’s our responsibilty to keep up with current trends in order to stay competitive.

Customers have come to expect a multi-channel experience. We want more choices and wider flexibility in terms of how we receive information and interact with a company. As a result, organizations that continue to be paper-bound are seen as behind the times, especially among millennial consumers. According to Edison Research, 66% of 18-24 year-olds are more loyal to companies they interact with through social media and online.

Are you at risk of being left behind? Naturally, with rising customer demand, multi channel communication systems system becomes a greater force in the market. And as customer data becomes more and more distributed across various digital and social media platforms, the need for communication management will only grow.

Multi-channel communication is more than simply as a delivery mechanism; it’s also a perfect match for personalized campaigns and marketing messages. Companies are finding great marketing value across multiple customer touch points (e.g., bills and statement as well as social media or online communications channels). Whereas cross-selling or up-selling was once a low-percentage proposition — junk mail and “stuffers” return well below 1%  —  according to the Harvard Business Review, multi-channel customers are 25 times more likely to engage in additional products and services. In short: Now is the time to engage customers with multi-channel marketing & communications.

Are you ready to move forward?  Organizations often struggle with multi-channel message consistency due to internal processes and systems that are not in sync. Select solutions that bring both the technology and the strategy together in a ways that will be successful. There should be no guesswork regarding what communications were sent, opened or interacted with so you can direct your efforts in ways that maximize your return — and your customer’s overall experience.

Look for a single source approach to multi-channel communications and campaigns that will help you gain immediate as well as long-term business results.