Omni Channel

Omnichannel explained to small businesses

January 26, 2022

Omnichannel is a communication strategy that allows businesses to be in contact with their customers through different interconnected channels: email, social networks, website, etc. In this way, by using different channels under the same strategy, each client can be reached at the right time.

Omnichannel channels can be physical (offline) or online, with the physical store being the offline channel par excellence. The main online channels, although not the only ones, are the website and the online store or ecommerce. Regarding the online modality, although its unstoppable progress is unquestionable, that does not mean that they are a threat to physical stores and that they are going to disappear.

The reason is simple: the customer appreciates being offered all the possible options for both purchase and communication. And that is achieved with omnichannel.

 

 

 

Applying omnichannel to small businesses

 

As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown, many small businesses have survived thanks to online channels, or have seriously considered adopting one. Because currently, regardless of the size of the business, it is important to integrate online channels in it to be able to continue selling and communicate with your customers at all times, no matter what.

 

The most popular online channels to integrate into a physical store are the following: 

 

  • Google Maps: Allows you to add the address and description of the business, so that it appears in the searches carried out by potential customers from their devices. You can add opening hours to the public, telephone, email, images of the business, the link to the website (if available) and the possibility for your customers to leave their evaluations.

 

  • Social networks: It is convenient to create a store or brand account on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin or Pinterest. It is not necessary to have an account in all social networks: your choice will depend on the type of business or the profile of potential customers.

 

Social networks in omnichannel

 

  • Facebook: one of the main social networks where customers or people interested in the business can find out about their products or services, promotions, hours, telephone number, location and other data. They will also be able to communicate through chat and messaging. To highlight from Facebook the importance of the ratings and recommendations that customers leave on the page. 

 

  • Instagram: the social network par excellence for images and creativity. Instagram acts as a true online showcase for a business, in addition to having a chat from which customers or people interested in the products on display can make inquiries or arrange a purchase. It is important to tag products in photos that are posted on Instagram.

 

  • Twitter: a very suitable channel to express yourself and highlight the most outstanding details and values ​​of your business. Like Facebook, Twitter is a good channel for spreading blog posts (if you have one), using key hashtags.

 

  • LinkedIn It is the channel where some businesses sell products or services to other companies. It is also the preferred channel for headhunters or recruiters. 

 

  • Pinterest: a very suitable visual channel for businesses related to fashion, decoration, design, crafts, art, photography, beauty and food. Its main advantage is that Pinterest posts or pins remain visible for longer.  

 

  • YouTube: specific to general or publish videos that can later be shared on social networks, web page and mailing. In addition to its usefulness to present products or services, it helps to position itself in Google. 

 

 

 

Email Marketing

 

From a customer database that complies with the LPD regulations, email campaigns can be created offering products or services, and launch offers and promotions. Email Marketing campaigns are a very useful resource, as well as cheap, that helps both advertise the business and increase sales.

 

The Marketplace

 

A marketplace, as its name suggests, is a kind of Online Market as a digital platform. There, numerous sellers offer their products or services through a famous brand that covers all of them, providing them with technical and logistical infrastructure. This implies that, without having to have an online store or lacking a large logistics infrastructure, you can sell to the whole world from a marketplace.

However, and as is obvious, the Marketplace is not a free service, and before being part of one of them, you must know its commission and possible payment delays to its suppliers. Some of the best-known marketplaces are Amazon, eBay, AliExpress or El Corte Inglés, Fruugo and Privalia, among others. 

 

A Web page

 

When it comes to getting potential customers to find a business through their Google searches, it's best to create a website. This will have to be designed based on the type of business and the main message that the brand wants to convey. It is convenient to leave this task to professionals in the sector, so that they design the website in such a way that it correctly conveys what it offers, what sets it apart from the competition, its features and how to buy. Of course, the technical part is essential, and it must provide the user with a good browsing experience from any device.

The online store

By the time a web page has a shopping cart and payment platform, it is already an ecommerce or online store. Before creating the page, you have to assess which is the highest priority: publicize the business so that potential customers visit the physical store, or simply sell online. If the latter is the priority, then the website must contain the ecommerce platform.

 

In short: the most important thing is that the user perceives that the different channels offered by a business are well connected. Thus, according to his preferences, he will be able to search, find, consult, buy and even make returns through any of them. This is true omnichannel applied to a business, no matter how small.