The buying process is no longer a linear march to the cash register. Each customer now walks their own path to purchase.

For example, one customer might browse your in-store collection, then order via your website later, while another might peruse your catalogue on their smartphone, then visit your bricks-and-mortar store to make the purchase in person.

Some will demand hands-on customer support, while others will want to browse the resources in your help center. And while one customer will respond to an email promotion, another will only be found on social media.

The good news is that omnichannel marketing provides a blueprint – and a range of affordable tools – that you can use to improve the experience you deliver to these customers.

Here’s how you can use omnichannel marketing to build better customer relationships.

Increase Customer Engagement

Social media is an important aspect of your omnichannel mix, and social-media-focused analytics tools can help you measure and optimise your social media marketing. For example, Crowdbooster helps track how specific customer segments engage with your content so you can identify – and replicate – the content that creates the highest levels of engagement within each customer group.

Improve Customer Trust

Omnichannel marketing can be used to provide customer support across channels to improve customer trust. It can also complement resources such as how-to videos and troubleshooting e-books in your website help center with live chat software such as Userlike and instant SMS messaging with Smoope. In addition, it serves customers who prefer phone support with call center software, such as Talkdesk. For example, a customer might seek support via SMS, and then be directed to live chat support on your website if their problem is more complex. You might then choose to follow up by phone to confirm whether the customer’s problem has been solved.

Personalize Customer Communications

Personalization is at the heart of omnichannel marketing, and to create personalized customer experiences, you must be capable of delivering the right content to the right person at the right time via the right channel. Tools such as Sitecore can make this easy with automated omnichannel content delivery that customizes your marketing messages to specific buyer personas, thereby ensuring your message reaches the right audience every time.

Optimize the In-store Experience

Omnichannel marketing is not all about catering to the online audience. The in-store experience remains a key touch point with customers. However, that doesn’t mean it has to be outside the reach of digital tools. Bring online elements into your in-store experience with geo-fenced coupon delivery via location-based marketing tools such as xAd. Geo-fencing delivers relevant deals or other marketing messages to the smartphones of passing customers to entice them into your store where they can experience your brand in person.

Align Logistics Across Channels

We can talk about omnichannel strategies all day, but it will all fall apart if you can’t fulfill orders across channels. That is, your in-store product must match your online catalogue, and vice-a-versa. For example, if a customer picks out an item in-store only to find it is unavailable online when they go to order later, you’ll likely lose the sale.

The right omnichannel strategy can get your small business singing across all customer touch points to provide seamless customer experiences personalized to the individual consumer. So start thinking of ways to optimize your business’s omnichannel strategies now.