Losing Money With Multichannel Engagement? Here’s Why

TL;DR: Multichannel engagement involves connecting with customers across digital, traditional and emerging platforms. Many marketers miss the mark due to fragmented data, inconsistent messaging and poor campaign coordination. By integrating multiple channels effectively and measuring the right KPIs, markets can turn multichannel efforts into meaningful customer engagement and growth. 

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Many brands invest in multichannel engagement to connect with customers across channels, expecting stronger customer loyalty and growth. Yet marketers are still leaving money on the table. 

Isolated campaigns, data silos and inconsistent messaging create friction and blind spots for marketers. When combined with rising acquisition costs and ever-changing customer expectations, it’s easy to see why even seasoned marketers end up spending more for less. 

In this article, we’ll explain what multichannel customer engagement really means and how to make your efforts pay off for your business and customers. 

What Multichannel Engagement Really Means (And Why Most CMOs Miss the Mark)

Multichannel engagement is how brands connect with customers across multiple touchpoints: SMS, email, push notifications, web, in-app messaging and social media. Being present on multiple channels allows customers to engage where they prefer, but presence alone doesn’t guarantee better results.   

Many CMOs miss the mark with multichannel engagement for several reasons. Some of the common misconceptions about multichannel customer engagement are: 

• Assuming More Channels = Better Growth. Without coordination, too many touchpoints can overwhelm customers and dilute your messaging.
• Neglecting Data Integration. Fragmented customer data limits personalization and insights into behavior across channels.
• Focusing on Vanity Metrics. Clicks, impressions and open rates are easy to measure, but they don’t reflect real ROI, conversions or lifetime value. 
• Ignoring Customer Preferences. Timing, frequency and the right marketing channels matter. Meet your customers where they are. 
• Failing to Optimize Continuously. Customer expectations are constantly changing, and campaigns need to keep up. 

The cost of poor multichannel engagement is high, leading to frustrated customers, lower conversion rates, wasted marketing dollars and missed opportunities to build brand loyalty. 

The Current State of Customer Expectations 

The modern customer journey isn’t linear. For example, a customer might discover your brand on Instagram or TikTok, find your website through a paid advertising campaign, or complete a purchase in-app. Multichannel engagement gives customers more ways to connect with your brand, but 56% say they feel frustrated when they have to repeat themselves across channels. 

Customers want a seamless experience, no matter what channel they use. When engagement feels fragmented, customers notice. Understanding how your customers move between channels can help create a cohesive cross-channel experience and ensure every interaction feels personalized. 

How to Make Multichannel Engagement Pay Off

Effective multichannel customer engagement brings channels and data together to create hyper-personalized experiences across each touchpoint in the customer journey. When these components are aligned, you can improve customer relationships, increase engagement and get more value out of your marketing efforts. 

Here are the components you need to make your multichannel customer engagement efforts pay off.

Multiple Channel Integration

Seamless multichannel engagement starts with smooth integration. Combining various digital touchpoints, traditional channels and emerging platforms ensures every interaction supports the customer journey. These might include: 

• Digital Touchpoints: Using push notifications, SMS, email and in-app messaging effectively can create a cohesive experience for your customers. 
• Traditional Channels: Physical storefronts, direct mail, radio and billboard ads can reinforce your message and bridge the gap between physical and digital experiences. 
• Emerging Platforms: Rich communication services, AI-powered personalization and social commerce create new opportunities to connect with customers where they’re already spending their time. 

When channels are connected and coordinated, every interaction adds value rather than diluting your message. 

Create a Unified Experience

Once multiple channels are integrated, the next step is to create a unified user experience through customer data integration and consistent brand messaging. Customers notice when the same message conflicts between email, push notifications or in-app messaging, which can weaken engagement and trust. By aligning your messaging across channels and leveraging a unified view of customer data, you can deliver personalized, relevant experiences to your customers. 

Use a Customer-Centric Approach

Customers should be the focal point of your multichannel engagement efforts. Use strategies like dynamic personalization and customer behavior tracking across channels to figure out what resonates with them most. You can also ask customers what their preferences are through in-app prompts or surveys. 

Real-World Implementation Strategies for Multichannel Engagement

Putting multichannel engagement into practice requires careful planning, data-driven insights and a strong content approach. By focusing on these core strategies, you can turn integrated channels into meaningful customer experiences and drive growth. 

Assessment and Planning

Audit your existing channels and campaigns to see how your multichannel engagement strategy is performing. If there are gaps, allocate your resources and figure out what technology might be required to ensure your multichannel efforts are coordinated, measurable and scalable. 

Data Integration and Analytics

Connect and track data across all touchpoints to fully understand customer behavior. Use performance metrics like ROI, customer lifetime value, conversions and open rates to make informed decisions and optimize your campaigns. 

Content Strategy

Optimize content for each touchpoint to ensure it’s relevant and consistent for your customers. For example, suppose a customer abandons their shopping cart online. In that case, you might follow up with a personalized email spotlighting the items they left behind, while also reinforcing the same messaging through an SMS or in-app notification. 

Like with any content strategy, track engagement metrics such as click-through, open and conversion rates to see what resonates with your customers. 

Measuring Success: KPIs That Turn Engagement Into Earnings 

Tracking the proper metrics is key to turning engagement into earnings. Here are the most important KPIs to track to measure your success:

• Customer Satisfaction: Net promoter scores, post-interaction feedback and other measures can determine how customers feel about your service.
• Conversion Rates: The percentage of customers who took action. (Ex: Signed up for a newsletter, completed a purchase, made an appointment.)
• Channel Performance: Insights into which channels deliver the strongest ROI.
• Customer Lifetime Value: The long-term revenue impact of your engagement efforts.

Monitoring these KPIs allows you to keep optimizing campaigns and maximize the value of every customer interaction. 

Future-Proof Your Multichannel Strategy

As technologies and customer expectations continue to evolve, you must stay ahead of the competition with your multichannel strategy. Continuously evaluate what channels deliver the most impact, while remaining flexible enough to adopt new methods. By monitoring changes in customer behavior and adjusting your engagement tactics accordingly, you can welcome new customers and ensure every interaction remains relevant and meaningful.

Ready to future-proof your multichannel engagement strategy and deliver results? Contact Airship today for a consultation. 

Key Takeaways

• Presence alone isn’t enough. Being on multiple channels doesn’t guarantee results; smooth integration does.
• Customers want a unified experience. Fragmented messaging across channels frustrates customers and weakens trust.
• Data and analytics guide smarter decisions. Tracking the right KPIs, like customer satisfaction, conversion rates and ROI, helps optimize campaigns and maximize your impact.
• Adopt emerging technologies. Staying aware and testing new technologies can help you boost your multichannel engagement efforts.