Getting There

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What do you see in the immediate future of brand marketing? What steps do you need to take to reach the interaction hypothesized in yesterday’s post – the interactive glasses, the mobile beaming or virtual/ in-store connections? Obviously, this evolution will consist of a series of smaller steps which brings up many of the points covered in an eMarketer article, Could Your Multichannel Marketing Do More?

Think back to a few years ago when online shopping was in its infancy, retailers were concerned that a website would harm their in-store sales and were reluctant to make the leap. This is similar to some of the resistance today with multi-channel integration… some marketers have concerns that social media will tarnish their brand, concerned that their customers won’t want mobile messaging or that they will be too pushy if they use the personalization points available.

Yet research has proven that the multi-channel consumer is more engaged, spends more, more often – Shop.org and Forrester Research report that multi-channel retailers saw more sales growth in 1Q09 than web-only retailers (as compared to the same time span in 2008.) Even in this down economy, 68% of multi-channel retailers reported web sales growth… only 39% of web-only retailers were able to make that claim. Although today’s consumer may still be a bit more conservative in their purchases, they still want convenience, flexible options and a personalized experience to help make their buying decision… like years before, marketers are moving toward new changes, slowly. Take the time to consider your future consumer interactions and be one of the companies setting customer expectations.