When It Comes To Cross Channel Marketing, Mobile Is Not A Channel

Ok you may be thinking, based on the title: "This guy is crazy, of course mobile is a channel!." Yes, of course mobile is a channel. But marketers need to realize that is more than. Much more than that.

Mobile is a way of life. And no that is not hyperbole. Not by a long shot. It is fact.

Once you realize that mobile is a way of life you can then begin to think about incorporating mobile into consistent and personalized cross-channel experiences to drive more engagement and revenue.

A New Way of Life

Picking up your Smartphone as soon as you wake up is a habit of most people today. Relying on our phones has truly become our new way of life. Smartphones have changed the way we think, the way we behave and the way we shop.

Wal-Mart CEO, Doug McMillon said about their Mobile App in June; “Consumers have a remote control in their hands and they want brands to provide utility, allowing them to interact with the brand over mobile seamlessly and at their convenience.”

Retail marketers need to break away from the notion that Mobile is just another new messaging channel and embrace the power Mobile has in driving the overall brand experience. Location awareness inside and outside of the store empowers you to weave a relevant, custom brand experience for your Mobile enabled customers.

Elevated Expectations

Mobile innovations have elevated consumer expectations faster than mobile marketers could rise to meet them; technology, budget, and expertise limitations prevented marketers from engaging with mobile customers well. Now, it’s possible for marketers to fully incorporate mobile into their
cross-channel marketing strategy and interact with customers whenever and wherever they are.

Since mobile customers are easily distracted and incredibly diverse, each with different preferences, mobile marketers must be able to not only understand which customer segments prefer which mobile experiences, but also deliver those experiences expeditiously.

However, in order for marketers to build a personalized experience around the customers, they need to employ data-driven marketing strategies by gaining customer insights across the other digital channels.

Cross Channel Orchestration Helps Increase Open Rates

Today’s customers frequently interact with brands across multiple channels and devices leaving a trail of identifiers (like email addresses, loyalty accounts, browser cookies, and mobile device IDs) littered amongst the various technologies that power those customer interactions.

Watch this brief video to see how Adidas uses Oracle Marketing Cloud to orchestrate cross-channel marketing to increase email open rates by 2X and boost conversions by 50% with a new customer experience.

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