The benefits of multi-channel marketing cohesion and consistency!
We’ve all seen it! Businesses who use someone to do their social media, someone else to do their blogging, someone different to do their content writing (PR, adverts, brochures, websites. emailings etc.) and another person entirely to do their SEO or deliver sales function. And whilst it might make sense from a cost point of view and you feel amazing about your ability to share the work around, there is a bigger issue worth considering.
In today’s busy and competitive world, your customers are not just accessing information about your business using one channel. The latest research indicates that customers use three or more channels to connect with your business. This means you must make sure that each channel looks, sounds, feels and behaves in a similar way.
What I’m referring to here is the secret of good marketing. And that’s all down to your ability to deliver a consistent tone of voice, message and experience across every channel you use. Let’s deal with them one by one:
Tone of Voice
If you use different people to undertake your marketing, you run the risk of having several, often opposing, tones of voice. By tone of voice, I am referring to not what you say, but how you say it – in effect the order, rhythm and pace of your words. If they are different, your marketing can come across as disjointed when reviewed across different channels, which may risk turning off or alienating your audience.
Put simply, an inconsistent tone kills trust. If for example a customer’s first interaction with your brand is in a fun and friendly exchange on Twitter or Facebook, but your website and its weekly blog is dull and automated, they might start to doubt how much they can trust your brand. Having contrasting tones of voice will leave customers not knowing which voice is yours, leading them to no not trust anything you are communicating to them.
Messaging
If you use different people to work on your messaging i.e., strapline, headline, sales pitch, language, call to action, promotion or campaign across multiple channels, your customers will be confused. And because your customers aren’t getting the same impression of, or communication from, your business every time they touch your brand, they will be more likely to go elsewhere.
In a nutshell inconsistent messaging turns off buyers. If for example, your Instagram account contains images and stories of low-priced products with speedy delivery, whilst your company brochure highlights the benefits of quality, bespoke items that are individually sourced, customers will quickly see the gap between the two, decide that your company doesn’t stack up and may choose your competitors’ offering instead.
Experience
If you use different people to deliver your marketing experience, i.e., email, e-commerce, social media, sales calls etc, you cannot control how your customers will feel – delighted or disappointed. You need every touchpoint to be harmonised, so you can deepen the customer experience by providing opportunities for building relationships.
Having an inconsistent customer experience impacts loyalty. If for example your email promotion offers free delivery for orders over £50 together with a complimentary gift, but your LinkedIn campaign mentions a standard delivery charge of £3.95 and no free gift, your customers will not be impressed. Your customers expect a clear path to a successful and satisfying experience from pre-sale to post-sale service. Without it, they will just use another company that offers a better and more cohesive experience.
Our advice is to take your time to establish your businesses tone of voice, message and experience and try to work with as few people as possible. However, if you are working with different people across multiple channels, make sure they understand what you are trying to achieve and why. You will also need to point out to them the importance of being consistent.
If you would like help in getting the correct tone of voice for your business then give me a call on 07877760411 to find out how.