What Is Multichannel Marketing?
Multichannel marketing is the practice of communicating to your audience in the channels where they spend the most time.
And to reach new audiences.
These channels include:
- Traditional media (TV, radio, print, billboards)
- Digital platforms (websites, social media, email, pay-per-click (PPC) ads)
- Mobile apps
- In-store experiences
- Direct mail
A “Two Ways to Subway” campaign in the U.K. and Ireland tackles multichannel marketing well. Promoting the new menu format that allows customers to choose between 15 set filings or a custom sandwich.
Image Source: Subway
Subway deployed its marketing content across several channels:
- TV
- Radio
- Video on demand (VOD)
- Online video advertising
- Outdoor advertising
- PR and influencers
- Social media
Intended to reach 96% of 18-44-year-olds, it also featured videos, like the one below:
Subway’s multichannel push helped the company reach a bigger audience than if it focused on a single channel. Because some people spend a lot of time on social media. Others prefer TV or other forms of entertainment.
And multichannel approach also means Subway published different types of ad creatives, from outdoor billboards to PR stories. This prevents the audience from getting bored with the same ad.
What’s the Difference Between Multichannel, Omnichannel, and Cross-Channel Marketing?
Multichannel marketing refers to engaging customers across multiple independent channels, with each operating independently of the others.
The primary focus is to maximize reach by offering different ways for customers to interact with the brand. But the customer experience across channels may not be consistent or integrated.
For instance, a brand sends promotional emails. It also runs separate campaigns on social media and in-store without linking any of these experiences.
Omnichannel marketing integrates all channels to create a unified customer experience. Whether the customer interacts via mobile, in store, online, or through an app, the messaging and brand experience stay consistent and interconnected.
For example, customers add an item to their cart on the website. Then receive a reminder through the mobile app. And can later purchase the same item in store using a discount provided via email.
Cross-channel marketing lies between multichannel and omnichannel. It uses multiple channels that interact with each other to create a cohesive customer experience. Channels work together but may not be as deeply integrated as with omnichannel marketing.
For instance, a customer receives a promotional email with a discount code, clicks through to the website, and can redeem the offer in store.
Overall, the key differences between these three approaches are:
- Multichannel: Separate, uncoordinated channels
- Omnichannel: Unified, fully integrated experience across all channels
- Cross-channel: Coordinated interaction between channels, but less integrated than omnichannel
Multichannel Marketing Advantages
Multichannel marketing helps you reach more people and convert them faster. And informs you of your ideal customers.
Let’s explore.
Larger Audience Reach
You’ll reach more people by engaging them on their preferred channels. More preferred channels means a larger audience of potential customers.
For example, if your target audience spans Gen Z to baby boomers, split video ads between cable TV and streaming services. Because 40% of baby boomers watch cable TV daily. Yet Gen Z watches three times as much streaming content as live TV.
Over 90% of Gen Z teens in the U.S. use YouTube. Followed by 78% on TikTok. Reaching this audience would require content distribution across both social channels.
Using multiple channels increases the chances of meeting your audience where they’re most likely to engage.
Stronger Brand Awareness
More channels means people will see your brand message more often. Those repeated touchpoints mean people are more likely to remember your brand.
Similarly, marketing’s rule of seven says consumers need to see a message seven times before acting on it.
Here's an example:
- You see a Nike ad while reading about sports online
- Later, you hear someone talk about Nike shoes on a podcast
- On your way to work, you pass a big Nike billboard on the road
By appearing in multiple places you naturally visit, brands stick in your mind. And influence what you buy.
Faster Time to Conversion
It takes up to 12 touchpoints for a warm inbound lead to convert. For someone new to your brand, it could take up to 50 touchpoints. These touchpoints comprise any interaction with a brand—website clicks, calls, store visits, etc.
Increasing the number of marketing channels quickens this process.
For example, what if Nike only used billboards? You'd see their ad once per day on your way to work.
But when Nike places ads on your favorite sports website and podcast, you now hear about them three times per day at minimum. The brand is on your mind when it’s time to buy new running shoes. And you’re that much closer to purchasing Nike.
Improved Customer Insights and Marketing Spend
Using multiple channels provides more data on the customer journey. To better understand your audience’s behavior and improve marketing ROI.
Data can tell you which channels and tactics are working. Which help with customer acquisition. Which excel at retention. And which aren’t working at all.
Maybe you discover that your SEO content is great at generating product trial users. But social ads aren’t. So you allocate more marketing dollars toward SEO campaigns.
Adjust your budget to balance between established channels and newer, riskier ones. Like this:
Boosted Campaign Performance
In multichannel marketing, each channel’s success can boost the others.
For example, let’s say you run a beauty site. You use Google Ads to attract users to your website. Then push a retargeting email to people who create an account but don’t make a purchase.
Like this:
If Google Ads generates a 3% conversion rate. And email brings another 8% conversion. Both campaigns help each other reach a total 11% conversion.
Each marketing channel offers possibilities for optimization, engagement, and conversion. That has a cumulative effect on your campaigns.
How to Build Your Multichannel Marketing Strategy
An effective multichannel marketing strategy starts with goal setting. Followed by careful planning and targeted execution.
Let’s break it down.
Define Your Goals
Goals drive effort. So they must be clear and specific. And closely aligned with broader business objectives.
Clear goals lead to clear objectives, which are bound by specific deliverables and a set timeline. And goals need to remain achievable so that the team is motivated to achieve them. These goalsetting principles are best captured in the SMART framework, as seen below:
Perhaps a company has aggressive revenue targets. Your marketing goals are to capture more in-market buyers (those with purchase intent) that can be converted faster.
Below, see how the left column doesn’t specify measurable outcomes. Compared with the right column, which provides a clear destination for marketing teams to work toward.
Identify and Understand Your Audience
Understanding your potential customers helps you speak to them in a language they understand. And offer relevant products and services.
Learn about their likes, dislikes, pains, desires, and motivations.
Do this by:
- Conducting surveys: Ask your clients about their preferences, pain points, and expectations through online surveys or in-person interviews. Include feedback forms at various customer touchpoints, like after purchase.
- Talking to sales and support teams: Track complaints and praises your sales and customer service teams get from customers or prospects. Then use this feedback to adjust your marketing campaigns or product features.
- Reading reviews: Read customer reviews on Google, Yelp, and Trustpilot to understand product likes and dislikes
Or use Semrush’s Market Explorer tool to simplify this process.
Open the tool and click “Analyze Category.” Add your location and business category. Click “Research a market.”
Toggle to the “Audience” tab to learn about your target audience.
The tool will display your target audience demographics, socioeconomics, and behavior. Click “View details” in each section to learn more.
Scroll down to the “Social Media” section to see details about your audience’s favorite social media platforms.
In the Travel & Tourism sector, YouTube is a clear favorite.
Once you have enough audience details, create a buyer persona. A fictional representation of your ideal customer. Which helps you craft content, messaging, and offers that solve your persona’s specific needs.
Craft Your Messaging
Creating the right message starts with defining your brand’s tone of voice.
Start by:
- Creating a mission statement and communication goals (i.e., adjectives that reflect your company)
- Determining how you want to sound to your audience (e.g., funny vs. serious, formal vs. casual, respectful vs. irreverent, etc.)
- Observing how your audience communicate with each other (i.e., which terms and jargon they use)
- Setting clear brand guidelines to be used across channels (i.e., words to use, words to avoid, slogans and taglines, etc.)
Next, use your brand’s tone of voice and buyer personas to create a value proposition. A concise statement detailing why your product or service is the best solution for your persona’s unique problems.
Your value proposition should:
- Address pain points: Identify your audience’s key challenges and use tailored, consistent messaging that offers solutions
- Align with customer goals: Identify your persona’s aspirations. And show how your product or service can help achieve those goals
- Speak your customer’s language: Use the terminology and colloquialisms your persona understands and relates to
For instance, your workout app might be targeting a busy father persona. The key messaging could be “Effective exercises you can do at home.” To address your target persona’s limited schedule. And the value prop for this app could be: “Stay active without sacrificing family time—get fit at home, on your schedule.”
Choose Your Primary Channels and Optimize for Them
Focus on the channels where your target audience spends time. Match that with your marketing and business goals and budget.
Owned media channels, such as your blog or an email newsletter, can be used to distribute content at any time free of charge. But paid media channels, such as social ads or influencers, require you to pay to distribute content. And earned media is publicity you haven’t paid for but earned through word of mouth, big achievements, and other methods.
Your channel selection starts with identifying where your audience lives (YouTube, for example). Then, identify the types of content that work best for that platform, such as shorter videos for TikTok but long-form for YouTube.
Lastly, specify which part of the marketing funnel you’re targeting:
- ToFu: social media platforms, display ads, and SEO-optimized content help you reach a broad audience. Messaging should focus on creating awareness and sparking curiosity by highlighting pain points or industry insights.
- MoFu: email marketing, educational content, case studies, and webinars nurture leads and help potential customers evaluate solutions. Messaging should be authoritative and position your brand as the best solution.
- BoFu: conversion-focused channels like direct sales outreach, email-based discounts, and search ads help you reach decision-makers and nudge them toward a purchase. Messaging should be action-driven and use urgency, testimonials, and special offers to prompt conversion.
Pairing relevant channels with funnel-optimized messaging drives visits and conversions faster.
Further reading: To learn more about using various marketing channels, check out 10 Effective Digital Marketing Channels & How to Use Them.
Build Your Attribution Model
Marketing attribution is the process of determining which marketing efforts drive actions, such as a purchase or trial signup.
Building a marketing attribution model is vital. So you can identify the best-performing channels and improve return on investment (ROI).
Multiple models exist. Like first-touch attribution, which gives all credit conversion to the first customer touchpoint. Like a click on your SEO article or social media post.
Other models include last-touch attribution, linear attribution, or time decay attribution. Each model has pros and cons. And they’re an imperfect way of attributing wins to certain aspects of the campaign.
But choosing the right one for your business depends on your customer journey, business goals and sales cycle.
When built, it can help improve your ROI and get stakeholder buy-in.
Further reading: To learn more about setting up your attribution, check out Marketing Attribution: What It Is, Tools to Use & Best Practices.
Monitor and Analyze Performance
Key performance indicators (KPIs) tell the story of which actions were driving your marketing performance. To understand how to improve your campaigns and make data-driven budgeting decisions.
Each channel has specific KPIs. On social media, for instance, you might track engagement rates through comments and shares. For SEO, you might track the number of site visitors coming from search engines.
Regardless of your channel mix, manually extracting and visualizing KPI data is time-consuming.
Semrush’s My Reports does this work for you. Head to this tool and select an existing report template, like “Organic Search Positions.” Or click “Start from scratch” to create a custom report.
Choose your source data, like GA4, Google Ads, and Meta Ads. From the list of sources, drag and drop specific metrics. Further customize how your data is presented using graphs, charts, and tables.
After adding sources and metrics, click “Generate PDF report” to export.
Additional options allow for live dashboard creation, scheduled recurring reports, and more.
Diversify Your Marketing Efforts
Multichannel marketing allows you to explore different channels, test new ideas, and double down on the top performers.
Semrush can is a crucial asset in those efforts. It offers a suite of tools that help you learn about your audiences and the channels they prefer. So you can meet them where they are. And craft targeted messaging that addresses their pain points.
Ready to get started? Sign up for a free account today.