Almost every business now uses multiple channels to engage and convert its customers.

It’s not like they have a choice in the matter, either — 73% of shoppers use various channels throughout their buying journey. This new trend has given rise to two marketing buzzwords, which, despite being different, are often used interchangeably: omnichannel and multichannel marketing.

Multichannel marketing refers to using two or more channels to engage your customers with your campaigns. Omnichannel marketing goes one step further, ensuring that all channels are interconnected and work together to provide a seamless, unified customer experience. In that sense, every omnichannel strategy is multichannel, but not every multichannel strategy is omnichannel. This overlap is what confuses many marketers.

There are some key differences between both approaches that help remove confusion. Consider the following differentiators to determine if your marketing strategy is truly omnichannel or simply multichannel.

The focus of the strategy

One major distinction between an omnichannel strategy and a multichannel strategy is the prioritization of customer experience.

An omnichannel approach is customer centric. It focuses on making the journey as convenient as possible for the customers. They should be able to work toward a goal — such as learning about an offering or buying a product — while moving effortlessly between the different channels available to them. And they should be able to do so through any combination of channels and touchpoints they want.

Consider the following sample omnichannel customer journey:

• The customer receives an exclusive promotional discount code through SMS.

• They have the option of contacting your customer support through different channels to learn more about the offer. They select WhatsApp.

• The customer speaks to an agent on WhatsApp, who tries to redirect them to the check-out page on your eCommerce website. But they opt to use the code at one of your physical stores instead.

In the example above, the customer engaged with your omnichannel marketing campaign seamlessly through the channels of their choice. That’s the core essence of omnichannel.

A multichannel marketing strategy focuses on maximizing the number of ways you can engage with your customers. The focus is more on the quantity of channels, rather than the quality of the experiences they provide. Unlike omnichannel marketing, multichannel doesn’t promise a unified, end-to-end experience through different channels. Instead, it creates separate strategies for each one.

Suppose you offer a special promotional discount to your online customers, but there’s a catch: it can only be used on your eCommerce website. Although customers generally have the option to pick between additional sales channels, such as your mobile app and physical stores, they’re bound to only one in this example i.e. the website. As a result, fewer customers are incentivized to make a purchase, as it doesn’t cater to those who may prefer shopping in-person or using the mobile app.

This limiting characteristic of multichannel — which prioritizes one channel over customer preference — distinguishes it from omnichannel.

The interconnectivity of channels

Both omnichannel and multichannel approaches focus on marketing to customers through multiple channels. But the way those channels interact with each other is different in both approaches.

In an omnichannel marketing strategy, channels are integrated with one another. A customer can engage with your business through one platform and pick up from where they left off on a completely different one. They don’t need to restart the process to continue moving further down the journey.

Integrated channels also enable your business to deliver personalized experiences at every touchpoint, with the full context of your customer’s journey up until that moment. You have visibility on where each customer is in their buying journey, and what channels they use.

For instance, suppose a customer adds a product to their cart on your website, but they forget to checkout. This triggers a personalized cart abandonment message a few hours later and delivered through a channel like Messenger, reminding them to finish their purchase. Instead of going back to your website, they open your mobile app and complete the checkout there. The cart on the app is ready to go with all of the products they previously added, resulting in a seamless omnichannel experience for the customers.

By contrast, in a multichannel marketing approach, channels are not connected. Instead, channels are typically siloed and operate in their own vacuums, not allowing customers to seamlessly transition between the different stages of the buyer’s journey.

This makes it difficult to create and deliver personalized experiences at scale since there’s no streamlined way to communicate customer data between different channels. For instance, a customer’s behavior on your website will not result in personalized email offers since the channels are disconnected, and valuable context is lost.

Switching channels mid-journey is made inconvenient by a multichannel marketing strategy. Because tools and channels don’t speak to each other, if a customer decides to switch to a new channel, they’ll need to start their task from scratch. For example, if a customer adds items to their cart on a businesses’ website, but later switches to the app with the intention of completing their purchase, a multichannel strategy will force them to add every item again.

The brand consistency

Brand consistency is the cornerstone of an effective omnichannel marketing strategy. This approach strives to create user experiences that look and feel familiar everywhere. The end goal is to make your brand easy to recognize when customers jump from one channel to another, building trust and credibility on every platform..

This is made possible due to strong alignment between the internal marketing teams, including copywriters, visual designers, and UX designers — a key requirement of omnichannel marketing. They work together to ensure that all brand elements, from the color palette to the tone of voice, are the same everywhere. For instance, suppose your customers click on a link in one of your promotional emails, which redirects them to a sales landing page. With proper brand consistency, customers won’t notice any difference in the content, design, and tone when changing channels, provided that proper internal alignment is in place to empower your omnichannel marketing efforts.

In a multichannel approach, however, consistent experiences aren’t guaranteed. The inconsistency can result from a number of reasons, including, but not limited to manual processes slowing down campaign roll-outs, misalignment between teams, and overlooked channels.

For example, your eCommerce website may use completely different terminology than your mobile app, causing confusion around “shopping carts” and “baskets.” Or the tone of your email marketing campaigns is serious and informative, but your social media persona is casual and conversational. These inconsistencies add up to create disjointed experiences that can impact your brand’s credibility.

Omnichannel vs. multichannel: which is better?

At first, you may think that a multichannel approach would technically help you reach more people by using multiple channels. However, the long-term impact of that reach isn’t guaranteed since the approach lacks a strong strategic foundation. What’s more, the disconnect between the channels in a multichannel approach leads to a disjointed and an incoherent customer experience. 

The payoff of taking the omnichannel route is huge. Your business will seem more credible, deliver memorable experiences throughout the buying journey, and, ultimately, increase its revenue. Hence, you should strive for an omnichannel approach to gain a competitive edge.

Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day. You don’t need to build your omnichannel marketing engine overnight. First, understand the customers, the tech requirements, the unique structure of your internal teams, and the processes you’ll need to place to execute everything. Slow and steady wins the race!