The Difference Between Multichannel And Omnichannel Customer Engagement

Times are changing. And fast! With consumers now looking for companies to communicate across every platform imaginable, it can be tough for any business to keep pace.

To help, in this article, we compare the key differences between multichannel and omnichannel customer engagement to help you get clarity around the solutions that will keep your company ahead of the curve.

It’s not uncommon for marketers, business owners and service agents alike to confuse the two and use the terms interchangeably, but in reality, they are very different.

The rising demand for multichannel and omnichannel customer experience

The world has changed drastically over the past few years, and so too have our methods of communication. There is no longer just one channel through which brands can connect with customers — it’s now possible to reach them over many different digital channels.

However, customers now expect a connected customer service approach and a seamless experience across the board. They don’t want to have to repeat themselves over and over again to get their issues resolved.

In order to deliver on this expectation, it’s essential that businesses truly understand the difference between a multichannel and an omnichannel approach.

What is multichannel customer engagement?

Multichannel engagement is where a brand uses diversified mediums such as text, email, WhatsApp, Messenger, web chat, voice, and video to engage with customers, but without an integrated approach.

Each channel operates independently, meaning that the customer often needs to explain their situation all over again from one channel to the next. This is because agents don’t have access to previous conversations the customer has had, limiting the level of service they can provide.

For example, have you ever been on the phone with a customer support agent for 45 minutes, only to be told to send an email to a specific department to proceed further? Then once you do, they ask for a complete rundown of the entire situation from scratch.

It’s infuriating, right?!

What is omnichannel customer engagement?

Omnichannel engagement also uses multiple channels to communicate with customers, but with a fully integrated approach.

All the channels are connected, allowing support agents to see the history of previous interactions and provide a seamless customer experience from start to finish.

Multichannel vs omnichannel customer engagement

Both multichannel and omnichannel approaches use a variety of channels to communicate with customers, but the key difference is integration. Omnichannel customer service allows for a consistent customer experience across different channels because they are all connected.

With an omnichannel approach, teams across the organisation have access to a centralised data hub that consolidates customer data from different sources in real time.

It also offers a single source of truth on customers’ history across channels, which is not the case with a multichannel approach.

The benefits of omnichannel customer engagement

Omnichannel customer engagement can elevate your customer service, allowing for a much higher level of personalisation than a multichannel approach can provide.

According to Twilio’s 2021 State of Personalization report, 60% of consumers say they’re more likely to become repeat customers after a personalised shopping experience, well no stretch of the imagination to consider the same is true for their customer support experience!

Here is a practical example to illustrate the differences between multichannel and omnichannel customer engagement:

• Ms Adams reaches out to a company via the live chat feature on your website. She chats with a customer support agent named Alison, who decides it would be more efficient to transfer Ms Adams to a voice call with her colleague, Richard.
• With a multichannel strategy, Richard wouldn’t have access to information about Ms Adams’ history on different channels, including the conversation she just had with Alison. This limits the level of service Richard can provide as he has to ask Ms Adams to repeat the problem, which is frustrating for both parties. However, with an omnichannel strategy, Richard can see the previous chat conversation and can jump straight into helping to resolve Ms Adams’ issue.
• If Ms Adams gets in touch with the company again, the agent that is dealing with her query will have access to her customer history and can provide a much more personalised customer service experience.

The following screenshot of our analytics dashboard should further illustrate how omnichannel engagement can provide a wealth of information about every customer:

 

 

Omnichannel customer engagement is the way forward

A truly personalised omnichannel approach requires technological and cultural change, but there is no doubt that it is the future for companies who want to build brand loyalty and retain more of their customers.

The following statistics would certainly indicate that the future of customer engagement strategies is omnichannel:

• Brands with strong omnichannel engagement have a customer retention rate of around 89%, while those with weak multichannel strategies retain just a third of their customers.
• 76% of customers prefer different channels for different types of interactions and messages, up from 71% before the pandemic.
• Customer-centric brands can take in six times more revenue than competitors that lag in optimising the customer experience. That’s probably why the number of companies investing in omnichannel strategy is quadrupling year on year.
• Standards of customer engagement are changing, and engagement is about creating seamless experiences that build trust. 95% of customers say their trust in a company makes them more likely to remain loyal to that brand.

How Twilio improves omnichannel customer engagement

Being truly successful in omnichannel engagement lies in developing personal connections with customers.

This is not simple for companies that have many channels, large numbers of service agents, and a wide range of products and services. It involves designing conversations, coaching agents on how to listen, make promises, and deliver on those promises, as well as ensuring consistency across all of your customer touchpoints.

Integrating your communication channels and providing a seamless experience for your customers requires the right infrastructure, and that is exactly what Twilio offers. It provides a single interface for all of your communications channels, as well as the ability to add new channels to your contact centre as those channels become popular with your customers.

In addition, it gives you complete ownership of your customer interaction data across all channels through a single dashboard.

Twilio Conversations APIs – such as Programmable Voice, Programmable SMS, Programmable Video, Programmable Chat, and WhatsApp Business – are designed to help you deliver an exceptional omnichannel customer experience from start to finish.

And what’s more, is that it can integrate directly with your existing CRM system!

Elevate your customer service with Twilio implementation from Kaptea

At Kaptea, we’ve helped some amazing businesses to implement Twilio and reap the benefits of omnichannel customer engagement, with Tomo Mortgage being one of our shining examples.

Our team works with all companies, from start-ups seeking to accelerate their time to market to larger enterprises, and we’re here to get your Twilio deployment up and running quickly, integrate it seamlessly with your existing CRM, and provide you with the ongoing training and support you need.

Our knowledge and experience of the Twilio platform will ensure that it is configured for your unique business needs, ensuring you can maximise productivity, efficiency and profitability.

If it’s time for your company to measure the impact of omnichannel customer engagement with meaningful analytics, take charge of your customer experience on every channel and get the metrics you need to drive bottom-line results, then book a 30-minute call with one of our team today.

Let us take care of your Twilio implementation so you can focus on growing your business!