Omnichannel 101: Creating seamless customer experiences across channels

Omnichannel: the new necessity

Customer journeys now span multiple devices and channels. From using smartphones to check emails, to researching an item on a laptop before buying in-store, it’s become increasingly difficult for brands to maintain a single view of the customer. Without an integrated tech stack, and central source of truth for customer data, teams are often working with only a snapshot of the customer journey – resulting in a disjointed, unpersonalized customer experience.

This can have real consequences when it comes to conversion and retention rates (not to mention overall customer satisfaction). In fact, 45% of consumers say they’re unlikely to become repeat purchasers with a brand after just one unpersonalized experience. 

With an omnichannel approach, every channel a business operates on is connected. This means a consumer could switch between channels (whether it be email, in-app, live chat, etc.), without experiencing any friction.

But how do you actually put an omnichannel strategy into practice? 

Implementing omnichannel customer engagement at scale 

There’s a lot of confusion over how to implement an omnichannel strategy. In fact, 76% of businesses say they’re falling short.

To win when it comes to omnichannel, businesses need to have the right data infrastructure and the right technology. This includes:

1. A centralized data hub that easily integrates with new applications and platforms, and consolidates customer data from any source in real-time. 

2. The ability to merge the complete history of a customer into a single profile. 

3. The ability to orchestrate various actions across a set of customer engagement tools (like Twilio and Twilio SendGrid) to deliver personalized communications based on customer interactions and preferences.

In our latest guide with Twilio and SendGrid, we dive deeper into these “must-haves” for omnichannel engagement, while also covering: 

• How omnichannel differs from multichannel (and why these two strategies are often confused).

• The data foundation and technology needed to implement omnichannel customer engagement at scale. 

• Real-life case studies of how different brands have used omnichannel tactics to increase engagement and conversion rates. 

Download a copy of The Ultimate Guide to Omnichannel to learn more.