Omnichannel marketing is not new, but the concept continues to fascinate writers and practitioners alike, myself included. That’s because consumer behavior keeps changing, and businesses need to be responsive to these changing behaviors so that they can continue to be found.
While brands used to worry about coordinating their marketing across different channels, now they need to respond to the reality that people are using multiple channels, devices and communication modes to get what they want in an increasingly on-demand fashion. For instance, you can now order a pizza with a voice command to Amazon Echo or with an emoji on Twitter.
Welcome to the world of omnichannel discovery.
As I noted in a previous Search Engine Land column, consumers long ago graduated from Google searches on desktops and mobile phones, with an explosion of devices and technologies continuing to shape how and where we search.
According to Nielsen, “Americans now own four digital devices on average, and the average US consumer spends 60 hours a week consuming content across devices.”
Consequently, as Forrester Research noted in a private report, people discover brands and transact with them in a variety of ways, ranging from social networks to apps.
Google calls these touch points micro-moments because people decide what to do and what to buy through rapid moments of decision-making — which can be challenging for brands trying to figure out how to turn omnichannel micro-moments into business at a location level.
Comments