Quick definition: Cross-channel marketing is how brands connect with their customers across multiple communication channels, including email, social media, SMS, and mobile apps.
Key points to note:
- Cross-channel marketing helps brands reach customers on their preferred channels at every stage of the customer journey.
- Brands should avoid siloing their teams by channel to orchestrate cross-channel campaigns more effectively.
- Cross-channel marketing helps address inconsistent messaging across different channels and over- or under-communication
This post will cover:
- What is cross-channel marketing?
- What is the difference between cross-channel marketing and multichannel marketing?
- What problems can a cross-channel strategy solve?
- What are the benefits of cross-channel marketing?
- How does a company launch a cross-channel marketing campaign?
- How can companies better understand how to reach their customers?
- How will cross-channel marketing continue to improve in the future?
What is cross-channel marketing?
Cross-channel marketing gives marketers the ability to reach customers across multiple channels, including:
- Web
- Mobile
- Apps
- SMS
- Call centre
- In-store
- Direct mail
Cross-channel marketing isn’t just about winning new customers – it’s about keeping the conversation going across every channel they use throughout their entire lifecycle, from initial acquisition right through to loyalty and retention. Marketers need to deliver cross-channel experiences that are relevant to where each customer sits in the buying journey.
The difference between cross-channel marketing and multichannel marketing
Cross-channel marketing connects experiences across different channels within a single campaign. For instance, if you create an online account with a brand, the next step in a cross-channel strategy might be sending you a follow-up email. The campaign’s goal is to make your onboarding experience more successful.
Multichannel marketing, by contrast, is broader and less integrated. A company may use multiple channels to engage with its customers, but these efforts typically span more than one campaign.
What problems can a cross-channel strategy solve?
Companies can inadvertently send mixed messages to their customers. For example, sending a 50 per cent off coupon one day and a 20 per cent off coupon the next creates a confusing and inconsistent experience. A cross-channel strategy prevents this by keeping communication consistent across all channels.
Beyond mixed messaging, contact frequency can cause real problems when teams operate in silos. Without visibility into how each team handles customer communications, a company risks sending redundant or disjointed emails and SMS messages – frustrating customers and nudging them closer to unsubscribing.
What are the benefits of cross-channel marketing?
- Communicate on preferred channels with personalised offers.
- Increase conversions with engaging experiences.
- Deliver seamless interactions tailored to each stage of the journey.
- Differentiate messaging for new vs loyal customers.
- Gain deeper insights to respond in meaningful ways.
How does a company launch a cross-channel marketing campaign?
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.
How can companies better understand how to reach their customers?
Brands need to understand their customers thoroughly. That means knowing not just who they are and how they interact with the brand, but also their demographic background, where they live, and what language they speak. For example, brands can track when a customer opens an email or engages with a text notification, then use that data to identify patterns.
How will cross-channel marketing continue to improve in the future?
Cross-channel marketing is evolving rapidly, with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) at the centre of where it’s headed. As of June 2025, AI is increasingly embedded in marketing platforms, enabling brands to deliver smarter, faster, and more personalised experiences across every touchpoint.
In the years ahead, we’ll see significant improvements in:
- Real-time personalisation: AI will make it easier to deliver tailored messages instantly, based on a user’s behaviour, preferences, or location – whether they’re browsing a website, opening an email, or using an app.
- Predictive customer journeys: Machine learning models will anticipate what content or channel a customer is most likely to engage with next, allowing marketers to adjust their strategies proactively.
- Automated content generation and optimisation: Generative AI will assist in producing copy, images, and offers optimised for each channel and audience segment – saving time and improving performance.
- Unified customer profiles: Cross-channel data will be automatically consolidated and analysed to give marketers a clearer picture of each customer, enabling seamless experiences across marketing, sales, and support.
Ultimately, AI will help brands become more responsive, data-driven, and customer-centric – turning cross-channel marketing into a truly real-time, adaptive discipline.
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Other glossary terms:
Customer Journey Orchestration
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FAQs
What is cross-platform marketing?
What is a cross-marketing strategy?
A cross-marketing strategy is a collaborative approach where two or more businesses partner to promote each other’s products or services to their respective customer bases. This kind of partnership helps all participants expand their reach, build brand awareness, and drive increased sales by tapping into new and complementary audiences.
Example: A fitness apparel brand partners with a health supplement company to co-promote products through social media campaigns and email newsletters, reaching both brands’ customers with relevant offers.
What is a cross-channel sales strategy?
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