Consumers get better and better at tuning out the noise, so marketers should treat personalization as the ultimate goal for every campaign they launch.

Striking a Balance

Omni-channel approaches aren't about overwhelming a consumer with information overload, but about tailoring your messaging to add specific value to a customer's life. It's about understanding what they're currently doing and what they plan to do in the future.

There's an art to accomplishing this without coming across as desperate or intrusive. SMS may have a 98% open rate, but use it too often and your contacts will likely unsubscribe quickly. Marketers who use multiple touch points correctly can increase their ROI by stimulating a consumer to stay loyal to their brand.

First Impressions

It's so easy for consumers to sign up for something once and then forget about the company entirely. It happens more often than you think! To avoid this, marketers have to be willing to use different channels to pursue new customers.

These can include:

• First name personalization
• Recommendations based on pages visited 
• Sophisticated graphics
• Automation

These can all make a better impression on a first-time buyer. Start collecting data from customers immediately in the form of tailored preferences and short surveys so that messages come across as fresh and relevant even at the very beginning.

Chugging Along

Marketers should take advantage of every opportunity to communicate with prospects and leads. Letting a customer know when their shipment is coming or when their payment has gone through is a great way to both reinforce a customer's purchase and give them a reason to work with you again. Take advantage of the high open rates to upsell or suggest complementary items for every purchase.

You can also consider experimenting with different forms of communication.

1. Use a text message to give your audience a head's up about an upcoming sale, and then send a follow-up email that delves into the details of the sale.

2. Send out a mailer including the items a customer has already interacted with on your site, with sales and upcoming promotions to save them some cash.

No matter how you choose to communicate with your customers, make sure that the messaging is on-brand at all times. Text messages, email, voice, and direct mail should all have a similar tone to work. Marketers who use an omni-channel approach stand a far better chance at creating the presence they're hoping for in the eye of the customer. 

Looking for some new ideas for your outreach campaigns? Download the lead gen eBook below to see what you can do to communicate with prospects in new ways!