SEOs Role in Omni Channel Marketing
Over the past few years, SEO has made a resurgence in the world of digital marketing. It’s not because SEO stopped working or was no longer relevant, but more so because it was previously ignored. After the major update known as Hummingbird, many companies that once outsourced their SEO to less than reputable companies, found that many of their “black hat” tactics no longer worked. As Google and the other major search engines have evolved, so has the role of SEO. SEO can no longer be done in a silo. It must be integrated into the digital marketing strategy as a whole.
Today’s consumer is overwhelmed with messages. Whether it comes from traditional sources like radio and TV or the internet via social and search ads, marketing is everywhere. Because of this neverending marketing and sales cycle, people have generally become much better at ignoring the noise.
That’s why many in the industry say that a brand needs 6-8 touches before they become a viable sales lead. In an article from SalesForce, they explain, “Today’s consumers are also increasingly immune to traditional advertising and sales methodologies, meaning they conduct more independent research and take more convincing before they’re sold on making a purchase.’
In order to reach customers more effectively, many brands today are opting for an omni-channel marketing strategy. This is not to be confused with multi-channel marketing. John Bowden, Senior VP of Customer Care at Time Warner Cable put it this way
“Multi-channel is an operational view – how you allow the customer to complete transactions in each channel. Omni-channel, however, is viewing the experience through the eyes of your customer, orchestrating the customer experience across all channels so that it is seamless, integrated, and consistent. Omni-channel anticipates that customers may start in one channel and move to another as they progress to a resolution. Making these complex ‘hand-offs’ between channels must be fluid for the customer. Simply put, omni-channel is multi-channel done right!”
While many brands use multiple channels to reach out, very few ensure that the hand-off and interactions between the channels are fluid. This results in a disjointed experience and engagement drop off. So you may be asking, what does SEO have to do with all this?
