Omnichannel and Multichannel Marketing: What's the Difference

As technology advances, the number of channels for promoting products and services increases. Brands are actively expanding their offline and online presence, choosing suitable strategies to achieve results. Among these strategies, multichannel and omnichannel marketing stand out.

These terms may seem like the same thing, referring to promoting a brand on several platforms. However, despite their similarities, they are different approaches with unique features, advantages, and disadvantages.

In this article, we’ll explore what omnichannel and multichannel marketing are, so you won't confuse them anymore. We’ll also look at the pros and cons of each strategy and help you understand which one to choose to achieve your business goals.

Omnichannel marketing

An omnichannel strategy refers to marketing communications with customers through different but interconnected channels. The user can easily switch between online platforms and even offline locations, with information about their actions being retained, so there is no need to restart the interaction. In other words, the principle of omnichannel marketing is a seamless transition between digital channels for the user.

For example, a customer places an order on an online store but doesn't complete the purchase. After some time, they receive an email about the abandoned cart, using the email address provided during registration.

Or, a person visits a physical store, scans a QR code to learn more about a product, and later adds it to their cart in the mobile app. They then receive a notification about the purchase via push notifications.

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Omnichannel marketing works by collecting data on the customer: their activities, orders, characteristics, and even the devices they use. Information from websites, social media, email, marketplaces, and other resources is gathered on a unified platform. This could be a CDP, where customer profiles with full data sets are created. From there, businesses can send email campaigns, SMS, push notifications, and other forms of user engagement.

For more details on omnichannel marketing, see our article "Omnichannel, Its Benefits for Businesses & Implementation."

Multichannel marketing

Multichannel marketing is the communication with an audience through multiple channels at once: email, push notifications, SMS, social media, traditional media, and others. The key feature of this strategy is that the messages received by the customer on different platforms may not overlap and convey unrelated information.

For example, a user might see an ad on social media about a discount on home goods in an online store. Meanwhile, an email marketing campaign announces the start of a brand contest, and an SMS informs them of a new store opening nearby.

Multichannel marketing is used to reach a broad audience, and this strategy is not focused on an individualized approach but works with specific audience segments.

Omnichannel vs multichannel marketing: the difference

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The goal of both strategies is to lead the customer to a purchase or another action. However, omnichannel and multichannel marketing differ in several key aspects.

Omnichannel and multichannel: pros and cons

There is no perfect approach between the two. Each has its strengths and weaknesses that must be considered when working and choosing a strategy.

Multichannel marketing

Advantages:

• High audience reach in a short period. The idea of multichannel marketing is to be everywhere — engaging as many channels as possible. Content is posted on various platforms, increasing the chances of reaching the target audience.

• Increased brand recognition. When a brand is present everywhere, it becomes noticeable to the audience. On a larger scale, it can even become a household name, as happened with Xerox and Pampers. Multichannel marketing, paired with the right strategy, can elevate a brand to this level.

• Simplicity of implementation. Many communication services are intuitive and don’t require special knowledge. Therefore, a small team or even a single marketer (depending on the scale) can launch and maintain the process.

Disadvantages:

• Lack of personalization. This means the brand is essentially guessing whether it will meet the client's needs or not. There's a risk that all promotional efforts will be in vain. Additionally, inconsistency between channels can sometimes frustrate customers, complicating communication.

• Unpredictable results. Without personalization, it's unclear if the offer will appeal to the client. The company then operates on guesswork, trying to find the right communication approach, which costs time and money.

Omnichannel marketing

Advantages:

• Trust and high loyalty. This type of marketing is customer-focused and takes into account their needs for products/services. Users respond better when they feel cared for, and they trust the brand more. Trust is also reinforced by the consistency of visual and communication styles across different channels. Users recognize and remember them, helping the brand maintain its reputation.

• Improved customer experience. Seamless communication and the preservation of customer activity history make purchasing and interaction with the company easier. This creates a positive experience and encourages customers to return again and again.

• Increased sales. Personalization combined with convenient communication simplifies the conversion process. The customer is more likely to make repeat purchases and become a loyal client, resulting in stable revenue for the company.

Disadvantages:

• Implementation complexity. To make omnichannel marketing work, multiple communication channels must be coordinated, large amounts of data collected, and content adapted for each platform. This requires highly skilled professionals and enough time to set up and maintain the strategy. While omnichannel marketing demands more effort, the results justify the time and financial investment. Convenient CDP systems, such as Altcraft Platform, help simplify omnichannel marketing by gathering customer data from various sources into a unified profile. Based on this information, communication across multiple channels can be personalized. With Altcraft Platform, omnichannel marketing becomes easier.

• Cost. Implementing omnichannel marketing requires more tools and possibly hiring a team of employees, significantly increasing the budget for marketing and technical specialists who ensure the system's stability.

Omnichannel and multichannel marketing: which to choose

When analyzing the pros and cons of both approaches, it may seem like omnichannel is always the better choice, but that’s not necessarily true. Depending on business goals and budgets, different options can be suitable.

Multichannel marketing is ideal for companies with limited resources and is beneficial at the start of a business or a new product/service launch. In such cases, customer data is either lacking or very minimal. To achieve quick results, a strategy of fast messaging across all marketing platforms is chosen.

Multichannel marketing is also used for specific advertising campaigns and testing hypotheses about the effectiveness of different channels and content.

Omnichannel marketing is the path for customer-centric brands that prioritize user needs and build their strategies around them. This approach is also useful for companies ready to grow and develop, while wanting to control and predict that growth through data collection, integration, and analysis.

Omnichannel marketing benefits brands that need to connect offline and online sales points into a single, transparent system. This allows them to see the entire customer journey and improve their experience at each stage.

Summary

Multichannel and omnichannel marketing are similar concepts that are often confused. In both cases, communication happens across multiple channels, but there are differences. Multichannel marketing involves the uncoordinated use of platforms for promotion. Messages do not consider the customer’s previous experience, and this strategy is aimed at quick sales. In omnichannel marketing, all channels are aligned, the transition between them is seamless, and personalization is present. However, this approach requires more investment and effort.

Multichannel marketing is suitable for businesses with limited budgets and those in the early stages. Omnichannel marketing is chosen by customer-focused companies that want to improve their service and connect all channels into a unified profile. Both strategies are versatile and can help boost business performance.