Multichannel Marketing—
Bridging the Gap Between Online and Offline

DDM Journal editors recently conducted an interview with author and data-driven marketing expert Akin Arikan to explore the growing challenges of measuring marketing behavior across multiple channels.

Arikan's book, Multichannel Marketing, has become a useful resource for marketing professionals interested in maximizing the effectiveness of offline and online efforts by more accurately measuring and analyzing results.

Today, we recognize the value of offline and online worlds working as one, sharing metrics and methodologies for the common goal. Among the ongoing challenges, however, is how to most accurately measure the impact of multichannel marketing efforts. Additional challenges and action items include:

Cross channel behavior

Advances in analytics make it easier to track results through individual channels, but today most marketing impulses come from multiple response channels. Measurement needs to include all offline and online channels where activity has increased. At the same time, we want to know when there is a drop in activity on some channels while users switch among the many available avenues, from social media, to online searches, to email.

Measuring social media

We acknowledge the fact that as many as 90% of multichannel campaigns include some level of social media. One effective analytic tool is benchmark measurement of traffic to a site, showing us:

• Volume of traffic to the site
• Percentage of traffic coming from social media
• Conversion rates of various traffic sources

This way we can track the conversion rates of customers coming to us from social media sources. In fact, we often find that customers coming from social media sites are more engaged in the sales process.

Arikan reminds us, however, that while social media plays a significant role in the customer decision making process, it does not necessarily dominate or serve as the primary determinant.

Helping clients get the best of both worlds

One of the biggest problems at larger companies, Arikan points out, is that offline and online marketing teams are not connected when it comes to analytics. Different tools are needed to measure specific tactics, such as a direct marketing promotion versus advertising that contributes to a longer sales cycle.

Measuring a multichannel marketing campaign means recognizing there aren't any shortcuts to matching a sale to a specific tactic.

"The validity and value of a customer establishes itself over time," states Arikan. "Analytics has to track the entire process…finding which channel gets interest versus which channel gets the more serious inquiry or sale."

Among the effective early tactics, says Arikan, is pay per click because it can capture a prospect during the early research process. He points out that among the companies doing this well is Citrix, delivering online collaboration, selling to partners and recruiting attendees to events. He also mentions National Instruments for using multichannel analytics, not just for campaign reporting but as a source for lead behavior and nurturing.

The bottom line is: the more accurate the metrics, the more effective your multichannel marketing can be. You can purchase your own copy of Multichannel Marketing, or find out more about Arikan's work at www.multichannelmetrics.com.