We now live in this digital age where the average consumer habitually shops for and purchases products and services via computers or portable electronic devices. Because of this trend, retailers understood that they had to improve on their e-commerce and retailing strategies. The big retail chains like Costco, Target and Wal-Mart have devised a number of strategies to leverage the interest of those shopping online and to give their store sales a much-needed boost.

Marketing is now going through quick and significant changes. Current campaigns are steering away from full-scale “push”-based marketing, and gravitating to more customizable 1 on 1 communication between buyers via their electronic devices and channels like blogs and social media. The Return On Advertising Spend (ROAS) and the efficiency of blast e-mail campaigns, television ads and print media is on the decline because of multi-device, omni-channel marketing.

What is this omni-channel marketing about?

The term “omnichannel” is a marketing axiom that refers to a momentous shift where marketers have to offer a continuous experience, regardless of the device or channel that is used. Thanks to rapid advancements in technology, consumers now have the power to transact with a business via social media, a catalog or a mobile application or e-commerce site aside from the usual physical store.

All they have to do to get information on products and services is get in touch with a company by using their desktop or laptop computers, tablets, an app on their smartphones, or a phone call. The goal of multi-channel marketing is for a brand to consistently offer the best complementary experiences for their customers via various platforms.

#Omnichannel #marketing delivers consistent, uninterrupted #brand experience across channels & devices to customers http://t.co/Yj1ZKMlCxR

— Rajesh Kumar Jindal (@rajeshkjindal) September 22, 2015

How can your brand effectively manage this?

The first thing your marketers have to do is adapt a multi-device, omnichannel point of view with the following recommendations:

Be a Customer Yourself

Schedule some time a look at the process that your consumers go through to be able to connect with, research on, or purchase your services and products. Regularly test the UX (User Experience) by filling up the necessary submission forms, interacting with the channels that your brand provides, placing orders and more. This recommendation works best when there are internal as well as external testers working on this. Did all the testers have an easy time with your system, or were there issues that could be avoided? You will now know what to improve on next time after collecting data about the tests.

Segment Your Target Market

Once you have all the test data that you need, study them and select the data you find most useful so that you can categorize your audience appropriately. As you continue on your multi-channel marketing campaign, the data you have accumulated will turn into information that can help your business create detailed profiles of the consumer journey and the consumers themselves.

These rich profiles can eventually be utilized for forming a buyer persona. An example of this involves users who prefer to use Android-powered devices and are within 25 to 35 years of age. If they work in an IT industry or are fond of technology in general, these individuals might only make a purchase after looking at detailed technical specifications. If your products and services are built to cater to this market via an omnichannel campaign, consider placing all of the technical data in your packaging or catalogs to help them with their purchasing decision.

Create Messages or Content That Covers Usage Behaviors and Cases

In any multi-channel marketing plan, the messages and content will always be king. Think about this well, especially if your customers have already looked at or bought a product or service from your business. If that buyer has placed an order in the shopping cart but has not made a purchase yet, the content that you will curate should save the day and reference the intent to buy.

Learn to “Listen and Respond”

Keep in mind that your marketing campaign would not be possible without help from the customer service and support departments, merchandising team and the product team. Learn to listen and respond to any concerns that your teammates may have.

This should also be applied to how you deal with your buyers. There are some customers who may be using more than one device to conduct a single business transaction on your channel. It is your responsibility to listen and respond to these actions. For instance, your e-commerce website must have the ability to save any ordered items that are inside the shopping cart regardless of what channel the user is in. So if the customer preserved his or her orders in the shopping cart of your mobile app, the items should still be there when he or she comes home and logs in via a computer.

Here is an infographic for more information about Omnichannel Marketing.

by MakeMark.

Start applying these recommendations into your omnichannel campaign now so that your marketers can catch up with their target audience.

When it comes to website design and development, planning is crucial to ensure an effective and efficient website. A well-thought website scope makes all the difference in creating a website you can certainly be proud of.

But why is it that we rarely find website scope as part of a site development project? Three of the most common reasons are time, knowledge and process.

Time

Preparing a website scope is not a quick-fix process. You need to devote time and resources in order to create a scope that meets the requirements of the website and the client.

Knowledge

Since not many people make website scope an integral part of their project, there aren’t a lot of information that will help developers and campaign managers get started. This lack of knowledge is what impedes businesses and website developers from creating a website scope.

Process

What constitutes a good plan or scope? What information should be included and what can be omitted? These questions are often what lead most people to shy away from pushing forward with a plan.

These reasons then lead to the next question: How important is a website scope? Here’s why.

• It helps set clear expectations on the goals of the website as well as the key metrics and milestones that need to be met.
• It helps developers choose the right platform for you depending on your needs and preferences.
• It offers a realistic perspective of the requirements and processes needed to achieve website goals.
• Clear guidelines allow task-holders make better decisions.

When the requirements, processes and goals are clearly illustrated, it’s easy to see whether your goals are met or not. This makes the process of website development seamless and easy to follow-through. In addition, it helps avoid mistakes that may cause delays.

Mistakes to Avoid When Defining a Website Scope

Now that we’ve establish the “Whys” of defining a project scope, it’s now time to look into the common pitfalls to avoid.

Not putting the agreement in writing

In any agreement, it’s a must to always put everything in writing. The agreement should be reviewed and signed by every party involved. This is to ensure that everyone understands the project requirements.

Not asking the right questions

A website scope is highly dependent on the information that you can get from the client. Without the right or incomplete information, your plan may not completely address the needs of the clients. Hence, it’s important to ask enough questions and make sure that you’re asking the right ones.

Making too many assumptions

Avoid making assumptions on the various elements of a website scope. Facts and not guesses or hypothesis will help you create an objective and realistic plan.

It is understandable that mistakes do happen due to various reasons. The key to a good website scope is to ask the right questions to determine the goals, the processes and requirements. Before we go into the key questions you need to ask, let us look at the benefits of these questions:

• Allows you to understand the business, their audience and preferences of the client.
• Offer clients a quote that meets the needs and expectations of the clients.
• Create a website that showcases the business’ mission and vision.

Key Questions That Will Define Website Scope

Now, let’s get down to the essentials. Here are the some of the key questions you need to ask to create a solid project scope:

What type of website will I build?

What kind of website do you need? Is it a blog, an e-commerce site or a landing page? All of these sites require good web design but the production process, strategy and timeframe differs.

When do you need the website to be completed?

Deadlines can be tricky and can sometimes cause misunderstanding between the client and the web development company. Asking this question will allow you to set realistic expectations on the completion of the site.

What is your budget?

Budget will determine the features and scope of the project. This is why it’s important to determine the project’s budget ahead of time, which can be done during website scope planning.

Who is your website audience?

Knowing who the website is for will help you plan the website’s architecture to meet the audience’s needs and preferences.

What are your website goals?

What is the website for? Is it for sales or for building an online community? Or is it for generating publicity? Whatever the goals are, you need to make sure that you are aware of them so you can create a website that’s tailor-fit to such needs.

What is the content type and message of the website?

Determining the website’s message and content type will help you plan how the said content will be shown on the website.

These are just some of the key questions but they are enough to get you started on the right path towards creating a website scope and a website that’s tailor-fit to your client’s needs and preferences.