Could your marketing communications mix be working harder?

It’s an omnichannel world 

 

In 2024, having a brand presence on multiple channels should be a no-brainer for any business.    

Different customers have different communication preferences at different stages of their journey.   

Leveraging multiple channels allows you to cater to these preferences, making it more convenient for customers to access your communications and reach out to you in the way that suits them, when it suits them.  

And you can’t afford to disappoint. 

Our latest research report, The art and heart of meaningful customer connections, based on a survey conducted with over 500 consumers and more than 400 businesses in the U.S.,  shows that every communication channel has a role to play in the customer journey, but expectations are high:  

• Up to 43% of consumers prefer mobile messaging channels for business communications 

• 85% check their email inboxes at least twice a day 

• Over 23% say phone calls is their favorite way to reach out to companies 

• More than 54% say convenience is what makes the biggest impact to their first interaction with a company 

• Over 35% would consider ending their relationship with a business that doesn’t get communication frequency right 

In other words, consumers are everywhere, and they expect businesses to meet them where they’re at. Smart cross-channel engagement is the way forward to build and maintain strong customer connections, and if your company isn’t delivering on this, you’ll risk losing your customers to a competitor who is.  

But there are many more reasons why you should consider incorporating new channels into your marketing communications mix. 

First things first: What is a marketing communications mix?  

In customer communications, the marketing communications mix encompasses the tools, channels, and strategies businesses can use to engage and build connections with their customers. This mix includes advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing, personal selling, and digital marketing. 

Public relations  

Public relations shape the perception of a business, indirectly reinforcing trust and loyalty.  

Advertising and sales promotions  

Advertising and sales promotions keep customers informed about products and services, but also time-limited offers, discounts, and loyalty programs.  

Direct marketing  

Direct marketing refers to marketing efforts targeted directly at specific customer segments to boost sales and engagement through personalized communication. 

Personal selling 

Personal selling is about driving sales through direct interactions (in-person meetings, phone calls, video calls, or live chats).   

Digital marketing 

Digital marketing utilizes digital channels and platforms to reach and engage with customers, build brand awareness, and drive conversions. 

What are the main marketing communication tools?   

To build a strong marketing communications mix and effectively engage with their audience, businesses can use a variety of channels, including: 

• email marketing

• mobile messaging channels like SMS, MMS, RCS, WhatsApp, and more 

• social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn 

• customer service channels, including phone support, live chat, and AI-driven chatbots 

• content marketing (blogs, articles, videos, infographics, and more) 

• webinars and online events 

• press releases, media kits, statements, interviews, and influencer collaborations

The benefits of adding new channels to your marketing communications mix

 

Adopting an omnichannel marketing communications mix pays off in many ways and can help your business stay ahead and build stronger customer connections in today's hyper-competitive environment.   

Let’s take a closer look at the benefits you can expect from this approach:

 

Improve customer experience:  

Providing multiple, connected communication options to meet customers on their own terms contributes to a positive, seamless experience, setting you apart from competitors who offer limited options or fragmented experiences. 

 

Expand your reach:  

By offering a variety of communication options, you can engage with a broader audience. This is particularly important for businesses targeting diverse demographics or operating in different regions where certain channels may be more popular. 

 

Enhance data collection and analytics:  

Different channels offer unique customer insights. With an omnichannel strategy, you’ll get a deeper understanding of your customer base and unlock new personalization opportunities (think online behavioral data and conversation history), resulting in more impactful campaigns. 

 

Increase customer engagement: 

Giving your audience more options and opportunities to interact with your brand encourages them to engage more and take action and can help you increase engagement across the board.  

Take Maaco Midwest, a Sinch MessageMedia customer, for instance: By combining phone calls, email, and SMS, the auto repair franchise saw an increase in customer engagement on all channels!  

 

Send conversion rates through the roof: 

Research conducted by Braze found that combining email and messaging leads to a 6.6-time increase in purchases per user and a 46% increase in repeat buyers.  

A combined marketing strategy can also help you get customers who are disengaged on one channel to convert on another one. 

If this doesn't convince you of the importance of a cross-channel marketing communications mix, maybe the results one of our largest customers achieved will. By strategically leveraging multiple communication channels, a leading U.S. telecom provider saw:  

• a 400% increase in conversion rates when adding email to their existing SMS strategy   

• a 260% increase in conversion rates when adding MMS (multimedia messaging service)  

• a 20% decrease in opt-outs  

Talk about impact!  

Now this isn’t to say that you should blast every single message to everyone on every channel. So how do you build a strong marketing communications mix?   

Which marketing communications mix is right for your business?  

 

Deciding which marketing communications mix is right for your business can be tricky. At Sinch, we’ve spent the past 15 years helping businesses across all industries build meaningful customer connections through innovative communication — and we’re here to help you make the right choice.

 

1. Assess your existing marketing communications mix 

Is your current strategy hitting the mark with customers and driving maximum value for your business? Figuring this out should be your first step when developing your omnichannel strategy.  

We’ve created a handy channel assessment tool to help you understand what you might be missing out on and what you could do differently to build a more effective channel mix.  

Just answer a few questions and we’ll share personalized channel recommendations tailored to your industry! 

2. Pick the right channels for your use cases 

Different channels provide unique opportunities at different stages of the customer journey. You already know this, but let’s take a closer look at the strengths of the key communication channels we think every business should incorporate into its marketing communications mix. 

 

Email or the cornerstone of the customer experience

Email is one of the most effective and popular channels for marketing communications, but not only. According to our latest consumer research, email provides the biggest benefits to their experience when used for:   

• sending transactional communications like invoices and receipts 

• collecting feedback or sending a survey 

• enabling consumer-initiated conversations 

• sending promotions or personalized product recommendations and offers based on purchase history 

Performance metrics for email campaigns speak for themselves — how does $41 ROI for every dollar spent sound? 

But remember: It doesn’t matter how engaging your emails are if they don’t make it to the inbox. So stay on top on deliverability best practices: 

• Protect your email sender reputation by keeping your contact lists clean and segmenting them by engagement 

• Provide an easy way for subscribers to adjust their preferences 

• Don’t mess with email compliance and security standards 

Check out our dedicated blog post to learn more about how email deliverability works. 

 

Consumers love the speed and immediacy of messaging channels and phone calls

Urgent matters are best managed through direct, reliable channels that most people already use and trust like a phone call or a two-way SMS. (That’s if you work with a communications provider with a robust network infrastructure that connects you with your customers reliably.) 

For time-limited offers and promotional campaigns, rich messaging channels like MMS, RCS (Rich Communication Services), or WhatsApp will be the smarter choice to get instant customer attention and boost engagement by showcasing your products directly within the channel. These channels also allow for real-time conversations with chatbots or live assistants.  

Need proof of the potential of rich messaging channels? 

• AT&T increased NPS by 114% after running a personalized MMS campaign 

• Frozen food company Picard saw a 42% increase in customer engagement and tripled CTRs with RCS  

• Macif, an insurance company, increased click rates by 100% compared to SMS and 200% compared to email with RCS 

• Retail giant Cdiscount increased revenue by 4% and average basket size by 9% with RCS 

• Micromania-Zing, part of the gaming retail giant Game Stop, achieved a read rate 86% higher than that of newsletters and 120% more redirections to their website with RCS 

And there’s good news: Apple revealed that RCS messaging will be supported in iOS 18, which opens exciting opportunities for rich conversational business messaging. 

Of course, traditional SMS still has a role to play in your marketing strategy.  

“Remember that RCS can be complementary — you can use it alongside other channels. For some of your goals, RCS will excel, but for others, SMS will be more efficient. Adapt your strategy based on your customers’ expectations and behavior, keeping your broader customer experience and omnichannel strategy in mind,” says Emeline Desmots, Head of Customer Experience EMEA at Sinch. 

And remember that channel usage widely differs from one market to another, so do your research to pick the right ones for your different audiences! Check out our guide to conversational messaging channels for more information.  

 

3. Test, monitor, and fine-tune your strategy  

Once you’ve identified potential channels, pick one key use case and a (combination of) channel(s) to try it out on.   

Put the use case to work and track success with metrics like open rates, click-through rates, response times, opt-out rates, conversions, reduction of contact center calls, and customer feedback to understand what works best, and adjust accordingly.  

Once you’re done trialing your first use case, move on to the next, test other channels if needed, and pick the options that worked best for you!  

While adding new channels to your marketing communications mix is a great starting point, it won't yield the best results if you aren't orchestrating channels effectively and delivering a cohesive experience.    

Best practices for building an integrated marketing communications mix 

 

A solid omnichannel strategy isn’t only about having a presence on multiple channels.

It’s also about integrating and leveraging channels strategically to maximize the impact and ROI of your efforts and maintain a seamless experience for customers as they jump from one channel to another.   

Here are our top tips to help you build a strong omnichannel marketing communications mix and get the most out of your campaigns:  

 

Create smart omnichannel customer journeys 

Understand how your customers want to interact with your brand at each step of their journey. For instance, they might want to receive transactional messages and weekly newsletters via email, get notified about promotional offers via SMS, and seek support on WhatsApp. 

By analyzing behavioral data across channels, you’ll get a clearer picture of where your audience engages or converts more in various situations and be able to adjust your strategy accordingly.  

If you need help figuring out which channels customers prefer at each step of their journey, dive into the findings of our latest research. We’ve asked over 500 of them about their preferences so you don’t have to.  

Maintain a consistent branding and storytelling

Ensure that your brand's tone of voice, visual identity, and messaging remain consistent across all channels. Consistency helps reinforce brand identity and build deeper connections with customers. 

 

Make transitions seamless

Sinch research conducted with 3,000 consumers worldwide found that 95% of them want to be able to switch instantly from messaging to voice. The right tools can help you deliver on this type of expectations. (Like Sinch’s omnichannel contact center!)

 

Use data from cross-channel interactions to personalize your communications

Use technology that allows you to leverage data from previous interactions with your brand across different channels.  

If a customer initiated a conversation via email and later continued it on social media, make sure your responses demonstrate continuity and understanding of the context.  

 

Be strategic about timing and orchestration

Leverage the strengths of each channel at the right time to maximize the impact of your campaigns. 

For instance, you can announce new product launches via SMS to instantly grab attention, follow up with an email that explains the concept behind your collection and showcases your new products, and use RCS or MMS for abandoned cart reminders to show customers the items left in their carts. 

And remember: Be mindful of frequency! Over 26% of the consumers we surveyed said that receiving communications too frequently could discourage them from buying from a company, and for nearly 10%, not sending enough communications could also be a dealbreaker. 

So if you’re not seeing satisfying results with a specific channel for some of your customer segments, consider adjusting the frequency of your communications on that channel or only focusing on the ones where they’re more engaged. 

 

Get opt-in right for each channel and offer easy options to manage communication preferences

Obtaining explicit opt-in isn’t only best practice, it’s a must. Make sure you clearly communicate how customers can opt in or opt out of different communication channels and provide easy ways for them to do so and update their communication settings.  

 

Stay on top of channel requirements and trends

Each channel has different rules — and for some channels, it goes beyond opt-in. Checking the regulations applicable to each channel is crucial. (We can help with this!)   

And make sure to keep an eye on emerging trends in communication channels. Stay informed about new features, tools, and best practices to ensure that your communication strategy remains current and effective. 

 

Build slowly

Start simple and gradually build up more complex strategies across multiple channels.   

Ready to enhance your marketing communications mix? 

 

By incorporating the right channels into your marketing communications mix, you can leverage their unique strengths to build meaningful customer connections while maximizing engagement, revenue, and ROI throughout the entire customer journey.   

If you need help creating an effective omnichannel strategy, take our channel test to get personalized recommendations from our experts, or in touch with our team! We work with tons of businesses starting out on their omnichannel journey.