Marketers Embracing Omni-Channel Customer Journey Strategies

A study released this week by Kitewheel found a declining focus on social media interactions as organizations move toward an omni-channel approach to the customer journey.

The data, which examined brand interactions across several industries, showed that between 2014 and 2015, companies began to expand efforts in multiple channels. Notably, social’s share of interactions declined 23 percent, while web interactions were up 67 percent and email grew significantly: 270 percent.

The study also found that while mobile apps are still a small percentage of overall interactions, they are on an upward trajectory. Interactions increased 10x over the past year.

“(There was a) significant swing in the volume of social interactions between 2014 and 2015,” Kitewheel president Mark Smith told VentureBeat. “It seems 2014 was the year of social-led journeys, and by 2015, it really had become an omni-channel journey world.”

According to the data, the most important priorities in a customer journey are creating a personalized and relevant customer experience (17 percent) and a fast and efficient customer experience (11 percent).

Seamless Customer Journey Important for B2B Buyers

As the focus on digital continues to grow, a July 2015 report by Adobe and Econsultancy found B2B marketers believe customer experience, personalization and big data hold the most promise for B2B marketing success over the next five years.

Nearly a quarter of B2B respondents (22 percent) named customer experience as the greatest opportunity; followed by personalization (16 percent) and big data (13 percent). These responses matched up with B2C marketers, indicating digital tactics for both segments are converging.

As further evidence, a Nov. 2015 study by Accenture and SAP hybris found that B2B buyers are looking for a seamless omni-channel buying experience. The data showed digital experiences are becoming more important to B2B customers and buyers would leave businesses with sub-par online experiences. In 2015, 75 percent of B2B buyers said they research at least 25 percent of their work-related purchases online, even if they made the actual purchase offline.