Top 4 Software for Multichannel Marketing Automation and What to do With Them
Here we discuss the top-ranked multichannel marketing software, and how you can integrate it into your business.
Section
n the past few years, we’ve seen customer journeys increasingly blend offline and online touchpoints. Savvy marketers know that it’s not about being everywhere at once – it’s about focusing on the channels your customers are most active on.
A multichannel marketing solution can help with this endeavor, blending data collection and automation to help businesses scale their campaigns and understand which channels are the most cost-effective.
What is multichannel marketing software?
Multichannel marketing software is a platform or tool that helps businesses implement marketing campaigns across multiple channels (such as email, SMS, social media, push notifications, and more).
This type of software often has features like the ability to segment audiences for personalization, dashboards to track campaign performance and engagement, and APIs or integrations so teams can connect this software to third-party tools for further analysis, reporting, or activation.
3 reasons to use multichannel marketing software
With so many ways to reach customers, marketing has gotten much more complex. Multichannel marketing software enables teams to build consistent brand experiences, even as channels proliferate and tactics evolve.
1. Frees up time
Multichannel marketing software can streamline processes and reduce repetitive tasks since you don’t have to manually manage each channel. When it comes time to review how your campaigns are doing, you can view real-time analytics to identify what’s working and what isn’t, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
2. Cost-effective
Any tool that helps automate time-consuming or repetitive tasks offers cost-savings benefits for your team. It allows people to spin up campaigns at a faster rate, and more quickly identify which channels have the biggest (or lowest) ROI. Many solutions also come with native channels like email or SMS, which makes campaign creation even simpler.
3. Greater marketing impact
Multichannel marketing software allows teams to scale their efforts, and create more impactful campaigns. From automating certain tasks, to accessing analytics in real time, marketing teams can have more confidence in the channels they’re focusing on and the tailored messages they're sending.
3 things to look for in multichannel marketing software
The marketing automation software space has exploded over the past decade, with dozens of vendors to choose from. Consider how the options stack up in the following areas.
1. Cost
While most solutions can bring enhanced ROI, they still need to fit into your budget. Does the vendor you’re looking at price monthly or annually? Can you scale up or down as needed? Some companies offer à la carte pricing, so you only buy the features you'll actually use.
2. Integrations
A multichannel solution is only as good as the channels it supports. Data integrations should be seamless and easy to implement. Look for vendors that offer out-of-the-box integrations for your existing data sources, and regularly add new partners to their list. Also ask if there is the ability to create custom integrations if needed.
3. Reviews
User testimonies can help you understand different use cases, and gain honest insight into the effectiveness and usability of different tools. Look for reviews that haven’t been sponsored by the software company, like those aggregated on software review sites.
4 steps to effectively use marketing tools into your multichannel strategy
Launching a new multichannel marketing solution can be exciting, but you’ll get the best ROI with a steady, measured approach toward implementation.
1. Set clear goals
You likely had an idea of what you wanted your marketing software to do before you purchased it. Are those still your top objectives? Outline measurable milestones for your campaigns, whether they’re related to traffic, sales, or customer sentiment. You’ll use these goals to reverse engineer your marketing campaigns and set up the right integrations and analytics from the get-go.
2. Collect and analyze data
Data is a pivotal part of understanding the customer experience and campaign performance. Be sure to have a clear understanding of your metrics for success, like engagement, conversion rates, and cost of acquisition across channels. Also think about how you’ll make this data accessible to the larger team, to help hone larger business strategies and avoid siloed workflows.
3. Segment your customers
Segmenting your customers allows you to create tailored messaging that resonates with your target audience. Consider what drives different purchasing behaviors among your customers or different personas. For example, you might create segments based on age, geographic location, or business size.
Top 4 multichannel marketing tools
What software solutions are most talked-about today? Here are some of the top multichannel marketing software solutions on the market.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo is a software solution used by brand marketers and retailers around the globe. It offers support for SMS, email, and mobile app push, plus collects and displays customer reviews.
Salesforce
Salesforce Marketing Cloud allows companies to track customer behavior, create emails, and schedule campaign updates from inside the platform. It supports easy integration with its own family of data apps but also comes with access to the AppExchange, a marketplace for 1000s of additional, compatible integrations.
Hubspot
The Hubspot Marketing Hub is designed for B2B, inbound marketing professionals who want a customer relationship management (CRM) with advanced prospecting and lead generation tools. It lets you track email sends and opens, create enhanced customer views, and follow customers through an end-to-end funnel.
Twilio Engage
Twilio Engage is a powerful multichannel marketing platform that offers a single, real-time view of your customers and the ability to scale personalized interactions. With native email, SMS, and WhatsApp, and the ability to connect with over 450 pre-built integrations, Twilio Engage allows teams to orchestrate multi-step customer experiences that evolve and adapt with people’s real-time behavior. Customer profiles are also built with privacy in mind, ensuring businesses always remain compliant with privacy laws and regulations.
And with Journey Analytics you can set custom conversion goals for the performance of each channel.
Interested in hearing more about how Segment can help you?
Connect with a Segment expert who can share more about what Segment can do for you.
Thank you, you’re all set!
We'll get back to you shortly. For now, you can create your workspace by clicking below.
Frequently asked questions
Multichannel marketing refers to engaging customers through more than one channel, such as social media, SMS, and email.
Twilio Engage combines the best of a composable CDP and digital marketing channel management into one, fully scalable solution. Companies of all sizes get access to end-to-end marketing campaign tools, automation, analytics, and 360-degree customer profiles to engage audiences with one-to-one messaging on more channels with less work.
By unifying data from all marketing channels, including email, texts, and social media, marketers can see where customers prefer to engage and respond appropriately through easy-to-manage automations and custom analytics. It connects to over 400 integrations from day one, with no additional programming needed to get started.
Though each solution has its own pricing model, multichannel marketing software is typically priced according to the unique needs of the organization using it. The number of channels, users, and features being used will determine the price. The price may fluctuate as you use more or fewer features over time, so be sure you understand if pricing is locked or if it can be modified as your business evolves.