5 Reasons Why Your Brand Needs Cross-Channel Marketing
DOWNLOAD OUR BENCHMARK REPORT 2022: CROSS-CHANNEL MARKETING
Discover key findings from our analysis of Blueshift customer data by downloading our Benchmark Report 2022: Cross-Channel Marketing.
As the team at Blueshift made our way through this past year, a particular theme became more and more apparent as we moved toward 2022: cross-channel. From product updates to a new Blueshift Academy course and Smart Guide, cross-channel engagement has been at the core of our focus as we enhance our platform to meet your needs as a marketer.
We wrapped up 2021 by analyzing 10 billion messages sent by Blueshift customers to understand the variances in core engagement metrics, including open, click, and conversion rates, between different types of campaigns and messages. This dataset represents multiple industry verticals including Retail & Ecommerce, Media & Publishing, eLearning, Personal Finance, and more.
Here are the five reasons why your brand needs cross-channel marketing based on our analysis. But first, let’s start by defining cross-channel engagement.
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CHANNEL-CENTRIC VS. CUSTOMER-CENTRIC
What Is Cross-Channel Engagement?
Cross-channel marketing eliminates disconnects between channels by creating dynamic experiences built around a unified view of the customer; it puts the customer at the center of every interaction. While single-channel campaigns use one channel to engage customers and multi-channel campaigns use multiple channels independent of one another, cross-channel campaigns allow you to create seamless experiences across the most relevant channels and see a holistic view of the entire customer journey.
As opposed to a channel-centric approach, cross-channel experiences:
- Are connected, customer data-driven experiences across 2+ channels
- Respond to customer behaviors in real time
- Personally optimize the next best action (content, channel, timing of each message) to each customer
Now that you have a handle on what it means to take a cross-channel approach, it’s time to dive into the numbers.
BATCH SENDS
1. 2+ Channels Are More Effective Than One
Communicating with customers across channels, whether with an individual communication or a mass message (such as a newsletter), is more effective than connecting with them on one siloed channel. Cross-channel batch sends resulted in a 49% higher open rate and a 34% higher click-through rate than single-channel batch sends — 41% more effective overall.
Industry Highlight
Media & Publishing brands averaged a 39% higher CTR with cross-channel batch sends vs. single-channel batch sends.
TRIGGERED CAMPAIGNS
2. Cross-Channel Wins Out Again
Triggered campaigns delivered across channels are more effective than single-channel because they establish consistent brand messaging throughout an individual customer’s journey. Triggered cross-channel campaigns resulted in a 35% higher open rate and a 93% higher click-through rate than triggered single-channel campaigns — 63% more effective overall.
Industry Highlight
eLearning platforms averaged a 204% higher CTR with triggered cross-channel campaigns vs. triggered single-channel campaigns.
CROSS-CHANNEL CAMPAIGNS
3. Real-Time Responsive Messages Amplify Engagement
When cross-channel messages are communicated in real-time, customers are more likely to engage with your content and convert, helping to cultivate brand loyalists in the future. Triggered cross-channel campaigns resulted in a 68% higher click-through rate and a 500% higher conversion rate than cross-channel batch sends — 284% more effective overall.
Industry Highlight
Retail & Ecommerce brands averaged a 222% higher CTR with triggered cross-channel campaigns vs. cross-channel batch sends.
1:1 RECOMMENDATIONS
4. Personalization Drives Relevance & Impact
Personalized, AI-powered recommendations add relevance across every interaction with your brand to increase customer engagement along each stage of their individual journeys. Triggered campaigns with personalized recommendations resulted in a 50% higher open rate and a 58% higher click-through rate than triggered campaigns without personalized recommendations — 54% more effective overall.
Industry Highlight
Personal Finance companies averaged a 66% higher CTR by using personalized recommendations in their triggered campaigns.
ENGAGE TIME OPTIMIZATION
5. Optimized Timing Increases Responses
Customers are more likely to respond to communications sent at a time determined by their personal browsing or purchase behavior instead of a generalized send time based on channel. Campaigns using engage time optimization resulted in a 59% higher click-through rate and a 56% higher click-to-open rate than campaigns not using engage time optimization — 57% more effective overall.
Industry Highlight
Retail & Ecommerce brands averaged a 389% higher CTR by using engage time optimization.
GET THE FULL BENCHMARK REPORT
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GETTING STARTED
Best Practices for Implementing Cross-Channel Campaigns
To get started with cross-channel campaigns, there are five main steps you need to follow:
- To unify channel experiences, first unify your customer data from across channels.
- Map out the experience across channels.
- Drive real-time engagement with triggered campaigns.
- Use AI to optimize the content, timing, and channel of each message.
- Test, learn, and iterate.
Creating cross-channel experiences may sound complicated, but getting started is easier than you may expect when you have the right technology platform to back you up ー one that connects all your channels within a single journey builder and enables you to create, automate, and scale sophisticated campaigns and journeys that are powered by a unified view of your customer data.
To learn more about our findings and grow your understanding of cross-channel engagement, download our 2022 Benchmark Report: Cross-Channel Marketing now. Then, get in touch with one of our experts to discover how Blueshift can help you achieve your marketing goals in 2022.
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