The Journey from Single Channel to Multi-channel thinking.

​With an industry like Marketing, the journey from each buyer/seller stage has an impact on the end product. We are no longer persuaded to buy into something after seeing one TV advert, or one social media post. In fact, it is the volume and repetition of a message that really gets us to connect with a particular brand. Whether that be a billboard, a walking-sign-Spiderman or a conversation between friends, these persuasive tools are usually never used in silo. For the Marketing professional, this demonstrates that our efforts pay off when we think about the bigger picture, the whole strategy and hence, multi-channel.

What is the multi-channel way?

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“The multichannel approach merely aims to get the word out via the maximum possible number of channels” So whether it be emails to your existing customers, prints in magazines or adverts on TV, it’s about reaching the widest audience possible to get noticed.

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If you’re used to managing one channel of marketing it’s easy to be rigid about how you perform for that channel only, and you’re missing out on a few tricks...

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We’re all customers and constantly consuming. So, I’m sure you’ve noticed a particular advertisement appearing on TV, and then again on the radio. Perhaps it came up as an ad’ while you were scrolling Facebook, and of course, in store too. Now ask yourself if it caught your attention.

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Putting this into perspective - as a graphic designer, you may create a video advertisement and resize it to go alongside third-party websites when they’re looking at similar products.

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There are a few 'journeys' multi-channel marketing can take, so in order to start thinking in that way too, here are a few things to consider...

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The journey of a customer

The trick is to consider the journey that your audience could potentially make to eventually arrive at your destination landing page. This means, you have the opportunity to show off your ‘video’ in this case when they land in other sections of your website, and even at the bottom of the email newsletter they receive every month.

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However, unless you’re a Manager or Director of Marketing with sights of all happenings on each possible marketing channel it’s likely that you’ll be focussing on your own medium, pass it onto your colleague for them to do their bit, then it’s onto the next job.

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The journey of marketing

To get over this single way of thinking, it’s important to be aware of, not only the journey of the customer, but the journey of the work that you do and the different marketing funnels your efforts go through to influence that end product.

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Whether you take a day or two out to really understand the full life cycle of your brands’ marketing, or shadow your colleague in case they take leave or fall sick – it isn’t a bad idea to have a small insight in the other channels that your brand is visible on and how it all works.

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By doing so, you’re unlikely to be an expert, because it simply isn’t your day job, but you will have a better understanding of how you can make your brand more memorable.

The journey of your career growth

How is this beneficial? It gets you through (new) doors.

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Now you’re more aware that (i.e.) certain keywords in your blog helps it perform better in the adverts that Google shows, adding a carousel of ‘similar products’ to your website or even adding a banner to attract attention to your ‘Big Sale,’ it will transform the way you approach even just one channel.

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But more than this… as mentioned before it is the Marketing Managers and Directors that should have all sight of the full marketing plan your team contribute to. If these roles are what you’re aiming for, you’ll need to remove any barriers between what you do and look at the ‘bigger picture.’

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A willingness and interest in going above and beyond and passed a single channel view will help you grow your intelligence of marketing and your career success. Employers of marketing professionals are already seeing this as a requirement – so stretch your limbs a little more and reap in the benefits of multi-channel thinking.

The journey of talent acquisition

With this in mind, recruitment specialists and Talent Managers will have altered their way of thinking, making a massive impact on their selection process.

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Rather than searching for a ‘Master of Emails’ or a ‘Guru of Design’, there’s a greater need to look for candidates with a multitude of skills and most of all, adaptability to learn new skills along the way.

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This means that the pool of marketers consists of candidates from a range of backgrounds because it brings a fresh perspective to attract ‘customers.’ While this increases competition between candidates, it opens up many marketing possibilities too.