Mastering the Complexities of Multichannel Digital Marketing

Integration is like the Holy Grail of marketing. Connecting the dots at the customer level, across channels, devices and owned and non-owned properties is hard, but not impossible. Multichannel marketers must commit to meeting the customer along a matrixed journey.

In a session I led at DMA2014 in San Diego last month, we discussed the types of lifecycle marketing, automation and buyer-centric programs that are most effective for drawing marketers out of silos and into a collaborative multichannel approach.

Andrew "Drew" Bailey, marketing principal at FedEx, said that the most important thing is to have a roadmap that is blessed by the executive team. "We're mapping out a 3-year roadmap for our strategic objectives, now branded 'Purple Journey' (color selected from the brand logo). We try not to be paralyzed by our own processes. We still have to keep the lights on while we move things forward."

Customers don't think about channels, so why are marketers still clinging to our silos? Silos occur for a very valid, if not a very good reason, said Staples Director of Analytics and Customer Insight James (Jim) Foreman. "You solve a single need, and then new needs are solved by bolting on something to the original solution and you end up with a lot of things duct-taped together," he said. "To emerge out of the rut, you need to prioritize with people, upgrade your specifications and budget based on the benefits you will earn from the change."

There is certainly a people-process-technology synergy that has to happen for great customer experience. "It's a three-legged stool," Jim said, "But the glue and power comes from data." Technology has surpassed our ability to use it well, so a key aspect of your IMM and CRM planning has to be that terrible "P" word that all marketers hate because we really want to do it all, "Prioritization."