What is Cross Channel Marketing?

We love marketing. At Advocado, we’ve been involved in the business of marketing and advertising for years, and we’re excited to live on the forefront of this industry. And currently, that means providing attribution for cross channel marketing. What is cross channel marketing? Simply put, cross channel marketing is the process of connecting and integrating marketing content across various media platforms. In practice, cross channel marketing consists of coordinating marketing efforts created for offline channels (like TV and radio) with your online work such as blogs and pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements. It’s all about creating a united front for your business’s audience.

Now that we’ve established what cross channel marketing is, it’s time to explain why it’s so important in the first place. Here is a small sample of why businesses across industries need to tap into this new way of doing things.

The New Purchase Process

Marketers are always striving to find new and sophisticated ways to describe the “buyer’s journey.” Odds are, you’re familiar with terms like the “sales funnel,” too. Well, in truth this way of thinking about customer progression –– from marketing, to sales, and ultimately to customer service –– is outdated. Instead, consumers draw in information about a product at their own convenience and from a myriad of sources. After all, most customers search across multiple sites before they decide to make a purchase. Heck, consumers will even think about making “impulse buys” like food purchases days in advance to visiting a restaurant. The point is, consumers don’t move straight down the sales funnel anymore. Rather, they meander at their own pace.

Timing and Coordinating Content

Marketers can react to this changing paradigm in two ways: they can either dig their heels in and attempt to force leads to revert back to the old methods, or they can adapt and tailor their efforts to the changing needs of the consumer. It’s pretty obvious which is the right strategy to back.

So how do you mold a cross channel marketing strategy that works for your business?

The answer is all about creating online content that complements offline content, and then picking the most opportune times to boost that content. For instance, since many people watch television with their smartphone handy, it makes perfect sense to align your broadcast advertisements with your PPC ads online. After all, the point of a TV ad in many cases is to get a lead to visit your site. Companies that utilize cross channel tracking tools like MicroMoment+ can attribute their online traffic back to the broadcast content that generated it. As a result, a business can easily calculate return on investment (ROI) and return on ad spend (ROAS), as well as identify the ads (both broadcast and PPC) that drive sales.

Also, with MicroMoment+ AdBot, your business will get access to software that automatically adjusts your PPC bids in time with your TV commercials. Rather than struggling to gain exposure, companies that use this technology can ensure they dominate their audience’s attention at the most advantageous times –– and monitor the results accurately.

Final Thoughts

Plenty of businesses employ a cross channel marketing strategy and don’t even realize it. The truth is though, if you advertise on more than one platform –– you’re practicing cross channel marketing. The problem is not many companies get the best from their cross channel efforts. Accurate marketing/sales attribution, enhanced ads, improved ad spend, and better conversion rates have proved elusive for marketers in the past. But no longer. Contact the Advocado team to see how we can transform the way you think about your marketing/advertising strategy. We’re ready to help your marketing team today –– click here to learn more!