Launching a cross-channel marketing campaign takes strategic planning – starting with the right technology and a clear understanding of your customers, teams, and channels. Here’s how to build a strong foundation:
1. Evaluate the current technology stack
To get started, a marketing team needs to assess its technology stack. It’s not unusual to find marketers still relying on decades-old technology to communicate with customers. For example, one team might use a platform to send mobile messages, while another uses a separate system for email, and so on. This approach often falls short because marketing messages become inconsistent, off-brand, or fragmented. On top of that, customer data remains siloed across these different systems.
2. Map technologies across all channels
The first step for marketing teams is understanding which technology they’re using for each channel. They also need to review team structures, as separate teams may handle email, mobile, and direct mail – and these internal teams often don’t communicate with each other.
3. Analyse customer data
Companies need to rethink how they approach their customer data. A customer might respond better to a direct mail campaign than an email campaign, but if the company’s technology is siloed, that preference simply won’t be captured. Cross-channel marketers need to understand not only who their customers are, but also where they sit in the journey and which channels they use. Marketers should ask: What channel will generate the highest conversion rate for a given customer segment?
4. Build a phased rollout approach
Companies should tackle cross-channel marketing in phases. Start by identifying a few channels to improve or focus on. If the goal is to lift email campaign performance, begin by tailoring content to where the customer sits in the journey. Once that’s bedded in, add further channels that make the most sense for the audience as marketing maturity grows.
Cross-channel marketing examples
Here’s how different industries can use cross-channel marketing to deliver cohesive customer experiences that drive results:
- Telecommunications: A telecom company sends an SMS inviting users to enter an online competition for free data. The link directs them to a landing page, followed by a personalised email with exclusive offers based on their browsing activity.
- Ecommerce: An online fashion retailer targets Instagram users with ads for a new collection. Shoppers who click are retargeted via email with cart reminders and a discount code, then receive in-app push notifications about similar items.
- B2B: A software company promotes a new whitepaper via LinkedIn ads. Once downloaded, the lead enters a nurture flow that includes email follow-ups, a personalised webinar invite, and an outreach call from the sales team – with each touchpoint reinforcing the same message.
- Healthcare: A healthcare provider emails patients about flu shot availability, follows up with SMS reminders to book appointments through its patient portal, and shares educational content on its mobile app and social channels.
- Retail: A department store sends loyalty members an in-app push notification for an exclusive in-store sale, follows up with an email coupon, and shares real-time updates via social media.
- Technology: A tech company announces a product launch via email, shares feature teasers on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn, delivers an in-app walkthrough for current users, and posts support articles for further education.
These cross-channel strategies deliver consistent, personalised experiences that lift engagement, loyalty, and performance across the customer journey.
