Cross channel marketing is leveraging one marketing channel to support another marketing channel. A display ad created as part of a branding support campaign can be utilized to influence search behavior, benefiting paid search and search engine optimization efforts.
Essentially, cross channel marketing is an acknowledgement of events that occur along the entire marketing funnel.
The key to success is integration of the right channels while making the consumer’s experience appear seamless.
Though cross channel marketing involves multiple channels, it should not be confused for multi-channel marketing.
With so many channels available, consumers often move from one channel to another during the researching and purchasing process. Consumers live their media experiences holistically, but many agencies still cling to a misplaced and outdated silo approach to advertising. Each part of the campaign runs independently and only rarely are some elements integrated such as email and direct mail or follow up direct mail on display advertising.
If a website visitor entered through a search engine after viewing a display ad, a cross channel strategy enables all parties to receive appropriate attribution as well as the insight required to improve upon current and future campaigns.
One of the entry points to cross channel marketing for search marketers is display retargeting. With a cross channel
strategy, search marketers will rediscover display advertising’s value in branding and contextual targeting as well.
When channels work together, marketers can then test new campaigns on less expensive channels. This maximizes
the overall marketing budget while optimizing creative and strategy. While the results will not be precisely replicatedwhen launched in a different vertical, most marketers will enjoy having at least some insight into a new campaign early in the creative process.