Tips for Executing Multi-Channel, Multi-Cycle Marketing Campaigns

Today’s marketing communications teams are challenged to find new ways to reach and engage their target audiences. With independent research showing that using 4 or more channels can increase the effectiveness of outreach by 300%, the value of multi-channel marketing campaigns is clear. But what exactly does a good multi-channel marketing campaign look like, and what channels should you use?

Here are answers to some of the most common questions our engagement experts get asked about executing multi-channel, multi-cycle campaigns.

What is a multi-channel marketing campaign?

A multi-channel marketing campaign uses several different communications channels for inbound and outbound messages. This might involve using a direct mail postcard to increase awareness for a program, an email to provide additional, longer-form content and/or to invite someone to make an appointment, and a text message to remind the person about their upcoming visit. The channels to use will depend on the campaign and the target audience.

Why is it important to use multiple marketing channels?

There are several benefits for conducing multi-channel marketing campaigns:

• Not everyone prefers the same channels, so diversifying channels increases the probability your messages will be seen
• Similarly, driving multiple touches with the same, relevant messages and calls to action across more than one channel will improve campaign reach and action
• Multi-channel campaigns also make your information more accessible to all people. For example, some people don’t have time to check email during the workday, so sending them a text is a faster, more efficient way to reach them
• People also engage in channels differently. A text message is for quick consumption and immediate action/verification, whereas an email is better for long-form, informative content.

How do you know which marketing channels to use?

There are best practices for when to use different channels, but a lot depends on what your marketing campaign strategy is (who you are targeting, what the goals are, how long it will run, what your budget looks like, etc.). Virgin Pulse helps clients starts with data (predictive analytics, to be exact) to recommend the best channels to use for each campaign. Here are examples of marketing channels we suggest using at the same time to supercharge your outreach:

Outbound Marketing – Email, Text (SMS), IVR (automated voice calls), direct mail, social media, push notifications, and web landing pages

Inbound Marketing – Interactive conversations, smart texting, concierge, and more

Looking for a multi-channel marketing vendor?

While you could hire staff and contract one-on-one with email, text, automated calls (IVR) and/or social media vendors, which is expensive, time consuming and requires lot of resources, you could instead partner with a single, integrated vendor will give you the ability to execute quickly, as well as the flexibility to add additional channels as campaigns require.

Virgin Pulse’s SmartReach™ offers the capabilities to execute, track and report on multi-channel, multi-cycle marketing campaigns—and we also pair you with a single point of contact to streamline things even more.