Multi-channel Marketing / Multi-channel Strategy are common buzzwords in agency lingo — right up there with “Data-Driven” and “Full Service”.
A Multi-channel Strategy is simply a strategy that incorporates multiple channels & activities implemented in — and can’t stress this enough — a complementary manner to achieve a common goal. Examples could be growth in Revenue, Sessions, Customers or improvement in Retention, Repurchase Rate or a decrease in Paid Marketing spend.
The problem is that too often, we see clients with a goal like increasing Revenue working with a couple of different agencies, consultants and even internal team members operating in isolation and ultimately at cross purposes — when results could be amplified significantly if they worked together.
The above is an extremely common issue when working with multiple agencies that specialise in only one channel like SEO or SEM. Ultimately, it pays to have an internal team member or a lead agency taking charge, managing the process and rolling out strategies from a joint Marketing Calendar across each channel.
At LION, we follow a Blended Multi-channel Methodology — a holistic strategy encompassing Customer Acquisition, Retention and Brand Awareness, with SEO as the foundation. Our model is based on having specialised teams across each channel led by a director with over a decade of experience in their channel and eCommerce.
While the goal of SEO is generally to increase Organic Sessions and Revenue through improved Visibility and Rankings, SEO is focused on optimising the performance of the entire website — which in turn can improve the results of all other channels and activities.
Well, let’s look at a couple of examples:
e.g. Site Speed, Broken Links, Indexing
The diagram below shows the different facets of a Multi-channel Strategy and how SEO is the foundation.
Now, there’s some overlap between the channels and activities, with Customer Acquisition and Retention generally higher priorities as they are key revenue drivers and where most sites can generate the quickest revenue wins — and let’s face it, we all want more revenue, right!
We’ve also included some insight into additional activities that can support awareness, acquisition and retention.
New Visitors / Customers
Customer Acquisition is driven through SEO, Paid Search, Google Shopping, and to a lesser extent, Social — and focused on enhancing the visibility of the site, supporting the acquisition of new users, customers and email subscribers and increasing total website sessions, transactions and revenue.
Key Metrics — New Visitors, Sessions, User Experience, Conversion Rate, Transactions & Revenue (by both Total and Channel).
Repeat Visitors
Customer Retention and Repurchase Rate are largely driven via Email Marketing, Social & Display Remarketing to re-engage with both past visitors and lapsed customers to cross- and up-sell, reduce the time between and frequency of visits, acquire subscribers & reviews — ultimately increasing revenue from Repeat Visitors & Customers. This phase may also involve mapping out and focusing on strategies to increase the Customer Lifetime Value.
Key Metrics — Increased Frequency of and Reduced the Time between Visits, Increased Repurchase Rate, Email Subscribers & Reviews and ultimately Revenue from Repeat Visitors.
Above-The-Funnel
Social and Display Network Ads are used to raise brand and product awareness for key customer segments, increase brand recall, support off- & online marketing initiatives and acquire new visitors. Note: Awareness activities are measured by impressions & reach, typically only contributing a small percentage of overall revenue.
Key Metrics — Impressions & Reach. Secondary Metrics — Sessions & Revenue.
At LION we’ve developed a new initiative where our Senior Directors & Consultants — each with 10+ years in eCommerce — conduct regular reviews identifying current performance, new multi-channel opportunities and initiatives to help you succeed. From referral platforms like Commission Factory to Influencer Marketing — all of which add value, from greater Brand & Product Awareness to more Sessions & Revenue. What’s most important in implementing these additional activities is to:
i.e. what’s the goal?
So that results & success (or lack thereof) can be measured.
For instance, if considering Influencer Marketing — rather than just handing out $X for a review or sponsored post, actually identify how many Impressions, Engagements or Sessions you need for an activity to be worthwhile and set that as a KPI. If it doesn’t meet the KPI, understand why and use that to inform strategy and investment decisions moving forward.
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Where do I start? If you’re looking to invest in your eCommerce digital marketing, you won’t regret bringing LION on board. The entire team at LION are veterans…
Need help putting it all together and developing a comprehensive multi-channel strategy that drives growth and makes commercial sense. Want to supercharge your site, generate more revenue and implement a measurable strategy?
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Christopher Inch — Head of Strategy
Chris is a specialist in eCommerce with over 14 years of experience in Digital & eCommerce Strategy, including Search Marketing, Social Media, Email Marketing Automation and Web Development.
