8 Common Misconceptions about Cross-Channel Selling (Part 2)

Cross-channel selling is often confused with multi-channel marketing and for good reason. When you consider all of the various terms out there, many of which are used interchangeably, it’s easy to feel a bit confused by it all.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, I pointed out an important distinction between these marketing strategies:

The focus of cross-channel selling is to provide a consistent customer experience across channels for the same purchase
The focus of multi-channel marketing is to engage customers to buy across multiple touch points

Nevertheless, here are some more common misconceptions about cross-channel selling:

5) The main focus is on how each individual channel works

Not really. In cross-channel selling, the focus is on the seamlessness of the message across channels.

“What we should really be concerning ourselves with,” notes marketing blogger Nicholas Moore, “is not how to make each individual channel work but, rather, how we interact with each individual regardless of channel.”

6) Customers get the feeling of being “sold to”

In fact, the reverse is true. As a result of the seamless and consistent message across sales channels, a marketer can communicate with an individual customer in a way that speaks directly to them.

When done right, selling across channels can bring customers closer to a brand.

7) Having an active presence on a multitude of channels

The question to ask is: Are these channels working together?

Moore explains why this is so significant:

“Having a Facebook page, PPC campaigns and an extensive email strategy does not mean that those channels are working together. It may be that the same messages are going out on each channel as part of the same campaign, but unless those channels are communicating with each other and affecting each other’s activity it’s a multi-channel campaign, not a cross-channel campaign.”

8) The primary goal is to increase customer reach

Cross-channel selling is not about adding as many marketing channels as possible or to be everywhere the customer is. That’s what multi-channel marketing campaigns are designed for.

Rather, the primary goal of cross-channel selling is to achieve one-to-one personalization by focusing on each customer’s unique behaviors and preferences.

And it doesn’t get much more personal than that.