Trend: Email Metrics Ease Multi Channel Integration

It has long been understood that pointing all your company’s marketing efforts in one direction will not yield the best possible results. Most recently, multichannel integration has included both online and offline mediums, but not without a significant amount of confusion. A recent STRATA study found that “more than half of US media buyers said less than 25% of their clients are running online and offline integrated campaigns” and even more surprisingly, one in four media buyers didn’t have a single client employing a multichannel strategy. This could be attributed to the fact that it is a considerably more complex process to measure the combined ROI of a multichannel marketing campaign. A Mckinsey Consulting study suggested that “onlines confusing and incompatible set of metrics may be most at fault” for the low percentage of marketers making use of a multichannel campaign as well as the “challenges with measuring overall investment”. Marketers are getting lost and instead of utilizing the tools available to them, they are shying away from integration all together. This doesn’t have to be the case. There is an easier way to integrate online and offline. Email is the one channel that will help immediately while providing rich customer metrics. An effective email marketing campaign can help solve the problem of origination as well as track the results of a particular campaign and compound its positive effects by layering impressions across multiple channels.

Takeaway: Email Eases The Multichannel Pain

Email is the easiest online medium to integrate with and is the only online channel that doesn’t require technology. For example, giving up an email address doesn’t require a special app or smart phone like QR codes do. It is the one technological medium that can cross from the offline to online world and therefore is the best place to begin a multichannel marketing campaign.

Once implemented, email can be used to extend the conversation and interaction you have with your customers. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins is an excellent example of this. In his radio advertising, listeners are asked to call a 1-800 number to sign up to attend his seminar. Even though many callers may not make a purchase, valuable data is still gathered. Callers are asked to provide their email addresses so they can receive a special report from Tony. That email is then added into the system, effectively bridging the gap between online and offline channels.

How To: Behavior Is Driven By Incentives.

Email addresses are not given out so easily. However, savvy companies are combating this by offering incentives in exchange for email addresses. These can come in many forms, special offers, downloads, exclusive invitations etc. and help start the relationship between brand and consumer on a positive note. Essentially, in order to ensure interaction, marketers are influencing behavior by sweetening the pot.