For the vast majority of brands and businesses in Australia, gone are the days of the “spray-and-pray” marketing campaigns that became ubiquitous with the rise of consumerism in the second half of the twentieth century. Compared with today’s more sophisticated digital marketing techniques, that old approach required a much higher level of financial investment for far less impact in terms of sales attribution and return on investment.

The average person is exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 marketing messages each day, and the B2B or B2C path to purchase today is nothing but linear, with around 80% of consumers revisiting each stage of the buying journey more than once according to research from Gartner. Moreover, customers use both digital and in-person channels across the buying journey, and with so many emerging channels to navigate, 90% prefer personalized communications from brands—provided they have either bought from them previously and/or are willing to provide their personal details.

Ideally, brands would have at their fingertips enough of the right kind of data to deliver relevant messages that break through the clutter and make each consumer touchpoint deeply personal and relatable. In this way, they could demonstrate they truly know the individual at the segment-of-one level, strengthen the customer relationship, and drive conversion and ultimately customer loyalty.

With the rapid advancement and the widespread adoption of digital technology over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of online media and digital channels including websites, blogs, social media, digital assistants, QR codes, apps, and more. There has also been the prolific growth of digital companies across the marketing and technology landscape with thousands of new vendors offering point solutions for email, mobile, social media, website development, SEO, SEM, apps, and artificial intelligence.

New technologies have allowed brands to create more products and content faster and at a lower cost, opening up a whole new world of opportunities for marketers to grow their businesses. However, many face the challenge of managing customer engagement across multiple isolated marketing channels and trying to piece together siloed data from various devices, platforms, and business units.

This has further complicated the already challenging task of marketing attribution, thereby thwarting efforts to nurture customers with individualized journeys on the path from awareness to purchase. Thus, in recent years, we have seen a shift with Australian businesses looking to successfully implement omnichannel marketing to deliver a seamless experience for each customer.

Omnichannel marketing allows businesses to interact with their customers as they move across channels and devices of their choice. Furthermore, it enables brands to engage in real-time conversations with customers that evolve with their individual needs and facilitate a seamless, contextually relevant journey, boosting top-line growth and consumer delight alike—a win-win.