Cross-Channel Marketing

Cross-channel marketing allows brands to interact with customers via multiple channels, including the web, email, mobile app, SMS, call center, direct mail, and in-person interactions.

This approach allows your brand to send relevant marketing content to your customers via each channel of their shopping experience. Cross-channel marketing tactics can be used at different stages of the customer journey, from acquisition to retention.

Cross-channel marketing will allow savvy marketers to add more touchpoints to the user's buying journey. Continue reading to learn more about developing a cross-channel marketing strategy and how it differs from multichannel and omnichannel marketing.

Cross-Channel vs. Multichannel Marketing

Although they sound similar, there are major differences between multi-channel marketing, cross-channel marketing, and omnichannel marketing.

Cross-channel marketing is the use of multiple channels to carry out a single campaign. Multichannel marketing, on the other hand, refers to communicating with customers through a variety of channels that operate independently of one another.

In cross-channel marketing, for example, you might download a brand's mobile app and then receive a welcome email about your membership. This strategy combines multiple channels (mobile app, email) to produce a single successful campaign.

In contrast, multichannel marketing is less specific. A brand uses as many channels as possible to interact with customers and execute a variety of unrelated campaigns with multichannel marketing. For example, a company may engage with customers via a mobile app, email, SMS, social media, and a storefront, but the campaigns on each channel are separate.

Cross-Channel vs. Omnichannel Marketing

Cross-channel marketing differs slightly from omnichannel marketing. To provide a seamless shopping experience with interconnected touch-points working toward the same goal, the omnichannel approach employs consistent and personalized messaging across all channels.

In omnichannel marketing, for example, a person may see an ad for a brand's product and add it to their cart, then receive an email with an in-store discount for that product. They would then visit the store, receive personalized suggestions from the clerk based on their web account, and earn rewards points and personalized offers via mobile app after making a purchase.

Cross-channel marketing is the collaboration of a few channels, such as email and SMS, whereas omnichannel marketing connects all channels. Both offer customers a unified shopping experience.