Why automated multichannel marketing is key for customer retention in 2024

Introduction

Multichannel marketing is more important than ever before. Customers are more aware of their options and have access to multiple channels at all times. In 2021, there was an average of 20.5 internet-connected devices per household in Australia. This number was forecast to reach 33.8 by 2025. In the U.S. the average home has 20.2 connected devices, according to a new report based on an analysis of 41 million homes. That equates to a whole lot of channels competing for your customer's attention.

Many companies see this simply as a greater opportunity for pushing out their own agendas on their customers and staying top of mind with persistent messaging via email, social media, SMS, push notifications and more. 

This is a dangerous mindset because it can come across as intrusive and just plain annoying for customers, especially if they’re not even actively engaging with the brand. 

However, there are good ways to achieve automated multichannel marketing that doesn’t feel like a headache. This article will explain why a retention-first mindset is the best approach for successful multichannel marketing, and demonstrate how this kind of outlook will lead to increased engagement, improved sales conversions, better customer lifetime value and most importantly - loyal customer relationships. 

The changing behaviour of consumers

Today’s customers are changing.

In the past, the buying process was a lot more passive. We may have relied on brands to update us about their new products, services and offers. But with today's increased connectivity, consumers are far more informed than ever before, which means they’ve become more demanding, and a whole lot more impatient too. 

They are checking reviews on vacuum cleaners on the shop floor, subscribing to mailing lists or YouTube channels to be notified on upcoming tech releases, searching for the best deals on price comparison sites or using a discount code extension on their browsers. 

It’s not just behaviour that’s changed however. With cybersecurity a growing threat and fears around data privacy reaching breaking point, customer expectations around how brands treat their personal data are rising too. Handing over their personal details, people expect personalised experiences at all times across all channels in return. Whether they are shopping in a store or ordering online from their mobile device, they want to be able to do things on their own terms, feeling seen and welcomed by the brands they interact with. 

They expect to be empowered with all the relevant information they need to make a considered purchase decision, even if it means notifying them of a better price elsewhere or being honest about when and how you, as a company, have slipped up. 

Customer context

Having context is the key to understanding customer behaviour. It means having the ability to understand what a customer is doing, how they are doing it and why they are doing it. Customer context is an important factor in the customer experience because it allows marketers to anticipate customer needs and deliver more personalised messaging at the right times for the maximum impact.

Customer context can help you:

• Understand what your customers want from your brand (and when) so that you can deliver on their expectations more effectively
• Provide relevant content at just the right time (and in the right place) so that customers aren’t turned off by a poor experience, or feel bombarded and frustrated with irrelevant communications.

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A personalisation nation

We’ve said it before, you’ve heard it before. Personalisation is a basic expectation of the modern consumer and is key for customer retention. Personalisation is a way to make the customer experience far more relevant and engaging, which in turn helps increase engagement with the customer. As reported by McKinsey, over three-quarters of consumers (76%) said that receiving personalised communications was a key factor in prompting their consideration of a brand, and 78% said such content made them more likely to repurchase.

Anyone can schedule emails and broadcast messages with generic information about a business or products. Tailoring the customer experience based on previous behaviour, however, whether it’s purchasing habits or browsing activity, achieves much more satisfying results. Including personalised placeholders in your automated omnichannel communications demonstrates you are using customer data for their own benefit: you are listening to them and their behaviours, and showing you care about their needs and desires.  

Multi screen habits need multi channel marketing

If you are not using a channel-agnostic approach to marketing, it's time to rethink your strategy. In order to be in the running for precious screen time and for your business to succeed in the long run, multiple channels must be integrated.

All channels, from Email, to SMS, to WhatsApp and beyond are all ways to connect with customers helpfully, and productively where they are already spending their time. But they must not be overused. 

Social media is one of the most important channels for customer retention because it allows brands to interact quickly and directly with their target audience on a personal level. Using social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter creatively allows businesses to build trust with potential customers by sharing valuable content that they might not be able to find elsewhere. This is a win-win because it gives businesses access to real-time feedback from customers so they can improve their products or services along the way, as well as helping people make better informed buying decisions. 

Building a personality behind the brand across social media channels makes you stand out against competitors and increases the likelihood of becoming a memorable and trusted partner. 

Automation for the win

How to bring all this together into a winning, multi-channel customer retention strategy that is targeted and timely, thoughtful, but not creepy or annoying, and feels individualised at scale?

It's simple: automation. Automation allows teams to scale their cross channel marketing efforts, which means they can focus on more important tasks like improving product quality or reducing costs. Most importantly, using technology to service the customer better can provide peace of mind that every customer receives excellent service from start to finish (and beyond! We’ve seen great success coming out of our clients’ win-back strategies before.)

Automated multichannel marketing has become essential for customer experience and marketing teams because it allows them to serve their customers what they want, when they want it with a data-driven approach. The growing sophistication of AI and predictive analytics, allows automated communication to feel like one-to-one experiences which is the real productivity game changer. 

Engage your customers in an ongoing conversation

As we’ve explained, the marketing industry as a whole is changing quickly to keep up with rapidly evolving customer behaviours and expectations, and the ever growing possibilities of technology. 

The most important ingredient for successfully retaining modern customers in 2024 and beyond therefore, is convincing and effective multichannel marketing leveraged by automation that remains invisible to the customer. Automation that ensures helpful and customer-led interactions that come across as personalised, genuine, and scalable too.

Pendula’s customer retention platform is a no-code multichannel solution that enables businesses to create hyper personalised, two-way conversations across multiple channels, at scale. Talk to an expert about your business and how we can help you to achieve your goals today.