How Multichannel Marketing and AI Elevate the Customer Experience

When we think of AI, our minds might drift to sophisticated robotics, self-driving cars, or the AI application du jour, ChatGPT. But, AI technology has also been making a big splash when it comes to marketing orchestration. From elevating the customer journey to powering personalization to transforming the customer experience, AI has given marketers the tools to start with the customer. Now marketers can cultivate meaningful connections that drive long-term loyalty and power growth through multichannel marketing and AI. 

Multichannel marketing and AI drive personalization 

Every marketer today knows that they’re operating on a fiercely competitive playing field. Consumers can easily be lured over to a competitor in the blink of an eye. This is thanks to a smartly crafted message, a pitch-perfect offer, or a well-timed and valuable piece of content. The ability to personalize at a granular level has never been more important.

Today, brands need to create and deliver personalized content to numerous customers across multiple touch points. The average adult uses four-and-a-half connected devices to access the internet. So it’s imperative that we understand the impact of the multichannel customer experience and tailor our approach to marketing accordingly. Why? Because:

• Customers who engage with brands through multiple channels have a 30% higher lifetime value compared to those who use only one channel. (Source: Clerk.io)
• 72% of consumers say they prefer to connect with brands through multiple channels, such as through a website, mobile app, social media, and/or in-store. (Source: Lead Forensics)

Given that reality, marketers are struggling with multichannel marketing and AI. The reason why is that they are attempting to market across multiple channels with siloed data and disparate systems. That makes it challenging to get a unified view of the customer. As a result, marketers are delivering inconsistent messaging across channels, creating a frustratingly disconnected and impersonal customer experience. In a scenario like this, adapting and scaling in real-time is almost impossible. 

Adding AI to your multichannel marketing strategy 

Multichannel marketing platforms have typically provided the functionality to segment audiences, manage and execute marketing campaigns across various channels, and create, schedule, and track campaigns. While these platforms offer valuable marketing capabilities, they often rely on labor-intensive manual input and predefined rules for campaign execution. This makes true personalization at scale a challenge. That’s changing, however, thanks to AI.

How AI drives multichannel personalization

From automatically segmenting customers, determining the most effective channels for campaigns, and delivering pitch-perfect content at the perfect moment, an AI-powered customer-led marketing platform makes personalization across the channels so much easier.

• AI can analyze vast amounts of customer data, including demographic data, purchase history, browsing behavior, and interactions across all channels. This quickly uncovers rich actionable insights about customer preferences, interests, and behaviors—something that could never be done without AI.  Once you’ve got your hands on that invaluable intelligence, you’ll be in a far better position to personalize to a level that your customers demand.
• AI algorithms can continuously monitor and analyze real-time data (zero and first-party) and we want to make the most of that data to optimize marketing campaigns across channels. By analyzing customer behavior, engagement, and channel performance in real-time, AI will dynamically adjust targeting, messaging, and the channel itself, to optimize campaigns on an ongoing basis. 
• AI will determine the most effective channels for reaching your customers. By analyzing historical data and performance metrics , AI can identify the channels that drive the highest engagement, conversions, and ROI, enabling teams to allocate resources far more effectively and optimize their channel mix for better results. And of course, it continuously learns and adapts in real-time as your campaigns scale, meaning you’re always leveraging the latest insights and trends to refine your marketing strategies.
• AI-powered multichannel orchestration allows for the seamless integration of touch points along the customer journey. AI algorithms can identify the most relevant and timely interactions across channels based on a customer’s stage in their journey. This ensures that customers receive consistent, personalized experiences.
• AI algorithms will analyze historical data and patterns to make predictions and forecasts about future customer behavior which allows you to make informed decisions about campaign strategies, budget allocation, and resource planning.

Importantly, all of the above increase efficiency, so you’re freed up to do what you do best – creating brilliant campaigns and building customer relationships.

AI-powered multichannel marketing in action

What does AI multichannel orchestration look like in the realm of practical implementation? Let’s say a retail brand wants to launch a campaign to promote a new line of sneakers: 

• Email: The platform uses AI algorithms to analyze customer data, including past purchases, browsing behavior, and engagement history, segments customers based on their fitness interests, then sends personalized emails featuring the new sneakers. Each email is tailored to the customer’s preferences and includes dynamic content based on their preferred fitness activities.
• Social Media: Leveraging AI-powered algorithms, the platform identifies customers who are active on social media platforms and interested in fitness-related content. It delivers targeted ads showcasing the new sneakers on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 
• Web: When customers visit the brand’s website, the platform dynamically personalizes the website experience based on their browsing history and preferences, showcasing relevant content such as personalized product recommendations, and highlighting special offers related to the new sneaker line.
• Mobile: The platform uses AI-driven predictive analytics to identify customers who are most likely to be interested in the new sneaker range based on their behavior and purchase history. It sends a push campaign, notifying them about the new product release, exclusive discounts, and nearby store locations.
• SMS: For customers who have provided their phone numbers, the platform sends targeted SMS messages with personalized sneaker offers and incentives, optimized based on customer segmentation and preferences.

A final word on multichannel marketing and AI 

So there you have it. By harnessing the power of AI, marketers can confidently leverage data-driven insights to optimize their multichannel campaigns and create meaningful connections that resonate with customers on a far richer, deeper level. 

But, of course, the trick with AI-driven marketing is learning how best to take advantage of it. Marketers need to embrace a mindset of continuous learning and experimentation. Team should explore the full potential of AI technology as a key element of their multichannel marketing strategy. AI isn’t a silver bullet. We’ll always need the human touch to create human connections. But, it is a powerful tool. When wielded effectively, AI can propel multichannel marketing efforts to new heights and lay the foundations for long-term growth.