The rise of mobile has changed the face of marketing. Consumers increasingly use mobile to evaluate products and services and make purchasing decisions. An additional challenge has emerged to complicate the marketing landscape. Customers aren’t just using one type of device to make transactions.
According to the Adobe Digital Index Report, consumers use an average of 3 digital devices every day. A consumer may use a smartphone at one point, a tablet at another, and a PC. Marketing companies need to develop omni-channel strategies to keep up with customer agility.
To satisfy customers, companies must ensure that the user experience is consistent across all channels.
The Cross-device Journey
Not only do customers use multiple devices during the day, but they also may use multiple devices to accomplish a single purchase. Adobe’s Get Personal Study found that 79% of consumers report switching devices when engaging in an activity.
Douglas Karr, editor of the Marketing Technology Blog, reports that 65% of shoppers begin their buyer’s journey on a smartphone. Ultimately, 61% continue on a PC or laptop and 4% continue on a tablet. Why does this happen?
Think about how life intervenes when you are trying to accomplish a simple transaction. Imagine you need to buy parts for your vacuum because it got damaged in a move. During your lunch break, you decide to look for parts, so you start browsing the manufacturer’s website on your smartphone. You stop your search when you realize that you don’t have the model number.
Later, when you return home, you go back to the website on your PC, armed with the right information.
This example of a cross-device journey is typical, but it creates a challenge for marketers.
Identifying the Consumer Across Channels
When customers are moving from device to device to make a purchase, they want to be recognized throughout their journey. This recognition shows a high level of personalization in marketing. While companies rate their ability to personalize marketing highly, consumers aren’t so sure.
No one wants to type information into a form with a tiny keyboard at one point only to have to completely start over at another.
This scenario is a little bit like running into a co-worker at the grocery store and not recognizing him. Imagine how annoyed the guy in the cubical next to you would be if a simple change of context made him unrecognizable.
For this reason, you need to be able to capture browsing information from one device for transfer when the customer moves to another. That way the customer feels like they are being catered to throughout their journey.
One Face and One Voice in Marketing
As important as recognizing a customer throughout their journey can be, it is also important that your business be recognizable. Part of creating a unified marketing strategy is maintaining a consistent look, sound, and feel, no matter what channel your information moves through.
Smartphone users, in particular, prefer a mobile-friendly website. Website content should be formatted to be easily read and navigated on a smartphone. The openings of content like blogs can be tailored so people reading it on a smartphone get the gist then can tap on a “read more” button to continue reading that blog.
A clear and consistent voice in your content will humanize your brand and encourage conversations with your customers that result in conversions and customer loyalty. Ultimately, no matter when and where a customer engages with your company, they should be guided to a clear and consistent target goal.
To create a cohesive experience across channels, companies need the right tools to interpret and learn from the data generated by their digitally empowered customers. Pluris IMSTM makes a unified marketing strategy possible by tracking customer engagement and targeting the best candidates.
IMSTM manages all marketing transactions, including cross-channel contacts and response information. With this information, your business can better understand and prepare for how your customer uses multiple devices to complete their purchases.
Start developing a unified marketing strategy today by reaching out to Pluris.
