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What is Omnichannel Marketing?

Definition of Omnichannel Marketing

There is no official definition of what Omnichannel Marketing is. The concept is still too young for that. Omni comes from Latin and means everything or everywhere. We know it from the church, where our God is omnipresent. Hears all, sees all and understands all. It is quite a nice ambition to have for a company.

In marketing, the term Omnichannel Marketing covers marketing in such a way that the individual customer gets one coherent and meaningful experience, regardless of the mix of channels on which he/she chooses to interact with your company. In order for this to truly be possible, it is first necessary to be able to recognize the customer, then to collect data for every interaction and remember and use this in communication and service in future touchpoints – regardless of channel.

Omnichannel Marketing. The customer is at the center and data flows freely between all channels and the customer has a seamless experience if the channel is changed.

So, in principle, Omnichannel Marketing will mean that you must always be able to recognize all customers, always collect all data and always use this in communication with all known customers. This is of course wildly ambitious and in practice

companies need to earn money. So while the cause is good and worthy, the focus should be on using omnichannel tactics to the extent that it creates increased revenue and profit. And this scope will change as a company gradually becomes more mature in handling the personalization of a coherent customer experience across channels with the help of more and more marketing consents, more customer data, better marketing technology and a mature organization.

Omnichannel Marketing therefore includes a large number of disciplines which are not necessarily part of traditional nor digital marketing. Therefore this book.

How mature is your organization for omnichannel marketing?Read about the Omnichannel Hexagon!

Learn more about omnichannel marketing in the book 'Make It All About Me'

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The difference between Omnichannel, Cross Channel and Multichannel

Although there is no official definition of Omnichannel Marketing, there is no doubt that the term is a refinement of the term multi channel, which arose around the introduction of e-commerce and digital marketing channels. Multi channel marketing refers to the ability to use several channels in your marketing. Seen in a contemporary light, there was initially a tendency for the marketing function to replicate the same mechanisms and the same funnel metaphor from traditional marketing onto the new, especially digital, channels. Each channel was not used on its own terms - the most glaring was the use of social media, which especially encourages dialogue and interaction - here these were nevertheless used as another offer channel - instead of precisely using the medium to interact and socialize with its customers.

The development from single channel to omnichannel. More and more channels are being connected and integrated.

In larger organizations, each channel could also often have its own person in charge. One responsible for the website, one for the app, one for email marketing and one for social media. Each with its own objectives, KPIs, budget and perhaps even each with its own agency as a partner. This silo division is still a common scenario in larger organizations.

In pure multi-channel, data is also divided into silos and is collected and used at most within each channel to super-optimize the measurement points for this particular one. There is no incentive for anything else – at least not for every single middle manager. Multi channel provides a focus on the individual channel, which can be really nice for e.g. a really good app.

In cross channel marketing, the silos are partially broken down. It is still the same funnel metaphor that underlies the effort on each individual channel. Marketing takes its campaign idea developed with the advertising agency and squeezes it into all imaginable marketing channels. After this, part of the budget is lost – namely the part that did not cause a purchase. Whatever part it was.

The fundamental difference lies in the use of data across channels. Data is not necessarily divided into silos in that there is now a recognition that when you use behavioral data from the website in personalized e-mails in marketing, for example - or vice versa - then suddenly a greater effect occurs.

Omnichannel Marketing is the culmination of the broken funnel metaphor. Marketing has taken the consequence that the customer's purchase decision is not funnel-shaped or, for that matter, linear. Each communication channel is in principle two-way – understood in the sense that all data is collected for use in later interactions – via all other communication channels – hence the word Omni. In practice, the call center knows immediately whether the customer they have on the phone is someone who opens their emails, has logged in recently and what he/she has previously bought both online and in the store. They do not have any conflict of interest or a bias in relation to the direction in which they would like to push the customer, but can openly (and already well informed) inquire about how they can help the customer further. E-mails are also personalized based on e.g. customers' previous interaction with the brand as well as their indication of interests and preferences. All to make each individual customer feel at the center – and thus buy earlier, more and more often and like to tell their friends about it.

Who are the best?

The finest examples of Omnichannel Marketing in Denmark can be found among the award winners at FDIH's e-commerce price. In both 2021 and 2020 it was Matas who took the prize in this category – and in 2020 they also won the gold prize. Matas won the award for their streamlined Omnichannel setup with ClubMatas, where they use insights from customer data to develop service and communication concepts that create value for both customers and the company. The jury placed particular emphasis on the Matas Plus subscription concept.

Previous winners in Denmark include the B2B company AO Johansen, Bolia.com, Sportmaster and others.

Outside the Nordics, companies such as Nordstrom, Sephora and Macy's are prime examples of dedicated work with Omnichannel. According to their annual report defines Macy's fx today as an 'Omnichannel Retail organization operating stores and websites'.

The task of achieving Omnichannel Marketing nirvana is not easy and involves multiple disciplines, each of which plays a necessary role in orchestrating the perfect customer experience. It is these disciplines that form the background for the Omnichannel Hexagon and my work with this book.

You can read more about other people's definition of Omnichannel in the following articles:

Omnichannel Marketing – your next challenge – in my opinion one of the best articles on the subject
The definition of Omni-Channel Marketing – Marketo's excellent definition of the topic, which naturally leads to sales of their marketing automation tool
Why and how brands should go Omnichannel in 2014 – quite nice article, which i.a. refers to MIT's report “Beyond the checkout cart”
Defining the difference between a multi channel and an omnichannel customer experience – provides various statements about omnichannel from US experts in the industry.