{"id":57574,"date":"2024-08-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sinchbogdanimport.local\/blog\/omnichannel-personalization\/"},"modified":"2025-02-27T11:46:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T11:46:34","slug":"omnichannel-personalization","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/sinch.com\/blog\/omnichannel-personalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Using omnichannel personalization to connect with consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here\u2019s an effective way to connect with your customers: Make them feel seen.<\/strong> Prove you understand their needs and preferences. Show your customers you get them. It sounds a little fluffy, but that\u2019s the kind of experience you can create with omnichannel personalization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personalized communications make your brand\u2019s interactions with customers more authentic, relevant, and memorable. But are you connecting everything in a consistent experience that flows seamlessly from channel to channel? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get answers as we dive into what you need to know about personalization in an omnichannel communication strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is omnichannel personalization?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Omnichannel messaging<\/a> involves connected communication with contacts across all the touchpoints where they could interact with your organization. An omnichannel approach includes mobile messaging, email, voice, direct messaging on social media, in-app notifications, live chat, and more.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key difference between omnichannel and multichannel<\/a> is that, rather than simply picking multiple channels for messaging, omnichannel takes a very customer-centric approach. With omnichannel, you connect with people through the methods they prefer using, and conversations that start on one channel continue when someone switches to another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omnichannel personalization is the process of delivering personalized messages to an individual throughout a cohesive customer experience.<\/strong> It dials up your communication strategy in a targeted way that increases relevancy and consistency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omnichannel marketing<\/a> could also include in-store experiences and offline marketing efforts such as traditional advertising. In this article, we\u2019re keeping the focus on digital touchpoints used in a personalization strategy that boosts customer engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n

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How important is personalization?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Sinch surveyed U.S. consumers for our report, The art and heart of meaningful customer connections<\/em><\/a>, we found only 2% of respondents felt personalized offers were most important when a brand welcomes them as a new customer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unsurprisingly, consumers were more likely to view the ability to track an order (32%) and the protection of their personal data (29%) as more important factors. But let\u2019s not jump to conclusions just yet \u2013 that’s only part of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Customers answered what is most important to them when a company first welcomes them as a customer. Source: Sinch Customer Connections Report<\/a>, 2024.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Reliable transactional messages and security are vital to a strong B2C customer experience, especially in the beginning as trust is established. However, none of this reduces the importance of personalization in the customer journey. That\u2019s not only because it helps you stand out. Personalization has become yet another consumer expectation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago, McKinsey & Company research<\/a> revealed that 71% of consumers expect personalization and 76% are frustrated by the lack of it. The same research found over 75% of consumers said they\u2019re more likely to purchase from, recommend, and repurchase from brands that use personalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, McKinsey also says companies that focus on impactful personalization tend to outperform their competitors. The fastest growing companies surveyed (in terms of revenue growth) generated 40% more of their revenue from personalization than those with slower revenue growth. This suggests that B2C personalization is a significant differentiator that increases revenue while strengthening customer retention and loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why brands need personalized omnichannel communications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next logical question to ask is where should this personalization take place? Are consumers partial to personalized experiences<\/a> on certain communication channels?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinch asked U.S. consumers to select the channels on which they prefer receiving personalized recommendations and offers. Results showed that 39% of consumers prefer email while 18% selected SMS and another 11% chose MMS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when you combine SMS and MMS<\/a> with other mobile\/social options like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, the total for all these messaging channels is in a dead heat with email.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Chart shows which channels U.S. consumers prefer to receive personalized recommendations and offers.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

What does this mean? Clearly, there is no ideal channel for personalized marketing. Consumers have varying opinions on the channels they prefer for brand communications, and it\u2019s likely they regularly use more than just one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s exactly<\/em> why omnichannel personalization is needed. Not only do your customers have personal preferences, but they also move from one channel to the next. In an omnichannel approach, your personalized experiences move with them, increasing customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power of personalized conversations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Conversational marketing<\/a> involves two-way, real-time interactions between brands and consumers. What better way to support an authentic and relevant conversation than by personalizing these customer interactions? After all, conversations are already personal by nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With omnichannel personalization, the website chatbot and the SMS chatbot<\/a> both know your customer\u2019s name. The personalized recommendations delivered to the email inbox can also appear in mobile messaging campaigns<\/a>. Programmable voice can even produce personalized experiences on phone calls. That\u2019s the power of omnichannel messaging, and that kind of consistency is what your customers deserve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine being at a party where you introduce yourself to someone and strike up a conversation. How would you feel if you ran into the same person later that night and they acted as if you\u2019d never met? You end up repeating yourself, providing information you\u2019ve already explained. It\u2019d feel strange, and you\u2019d probably be offended or annoyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, if your customers encounter inconsistent experiences across communication channels, it could negatively impact how they view your brand. Consumer expectations are high. Omnichannel personalization enables powerful connections everywhere your customers communicate with you because all that customer data is connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integration: The key to omnichannel personalization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The million-dollar question is how do you make omnichannel personalization a reality? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To say there is a lot to connect would be an understatement. For starters, you\u2019ve got to connect different communication channels. Those channels need to connect to your MarTech solutions such as a customer data platform (CDP). Those platforms may be the source of data you\u2019ll use to build personalized experiences. In the end… it all needs to connect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottom line? When you\u2019re truly omnichannel, there are no communication silos. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinch excels at simplifying the process of making these connections, giving you more ways to reach your customer base. While we do provide standalone messaging APIs<\/a> for integrating individual channels with your application, we also empower you to go further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Conversation API<\/a> provides a gateway to omnichannel engagement with a single API. This solution also makes it easy to scale, letting developers quickly integrate new channels as needs arise. That helps you build a seamless experience based on key customer data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CPaaS solution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS<\/a>) solution is the foundation of an agile omnichannel strategy. These cloud-based platforms give enterprise organizations the power to integrate real-time communication capabilities into existing applications using helpful SDKs<\/a> and flexible APIs. For example, here\u2019s what you can take advantage of when partnering with Sinch as a CPaaS provider: <\/p>\n\n\n\n