Omnichannel vs multichannel: What are the key differences?

Multichannel is any strategy that uses two or more channels to reach and engage customers. It could be two channels, like a website and mobile app, or many channels like email, social media, website, mobile, direct mail, in-product applications, and physical stores.

The thing that separates multichannel from omnichannel is that in multichannel marketing, the various channels operate independently. The focus is usually on pushing product-centric messaging out. Marketers might understand that customers engage differently on various channels, but a multichannel approach fails to connect those multiple touchpoints to create a seamless customer experience.

For example, I see an ad on TV for pumpkin spice coffee at my favorite breakfast shop. Excited that fall flavors are back, I open my app to order one and instead see a two-for-one donut special. I’ve never even ordered donuts here.

Now I have to search through the app for the pumpkin spice coffee. I’m already feeling annoyed when I get to the breakfast shop and find out they don’t have the fall coffee flavors yet. Since I paid on the app, they can’t refund my money so they offer me a free donut. This disjointed experience is so frustrating that I delete the app and start searching for another breakfast shop.

Multichannel strategy pros and cons

• Pros: You can reach customers on many channels and start learning what content works best on each channel.

• Cons: Marketers can’t easily understand the end-to-end customer journey or connect and personalize messaging across touchpoints. This results in inconsistencies between channels; content that feels repetitive across channels; and messaging that fails to align customer expectations on different channels.

Omnichannel is a customer-centric strategy that uses multiple channels in coordination. It meets customers on their preferred channels and provides cohesive, seamless experiences as they move from one channel to the next.

Omnichannel marketing doesn’t mean pushing the same content out across every channel. A good omnichannel experience mirrors the way people naturally communicate and engage with each other. Think about how you would share a job promotion on LinkedIn vs. a text to your friend or telling your family in person. The information is the same, but you would explain it differently depending on the audience.

This is what a good omnichannel experience feels like. Every touchpoint is tailored to the customer, rooted in context, and authentic to the channel. An omnichannel strategy rewards people who engage on more channels with a richer experience (not annoying inconsistencies).

Multichannel and omnichannel marketing are similar. Both use more than one channel, but omnichannel puts the customer at the center, meeting them on their preferred channel and providing a consistent experience throughout the customer journey.

For the iconic quick-service restaurant, KFC, meeting diners where they're at increasingly means serving up Finger Lickin' Good food and memorable experiences through digital channels.

In keeping with their brand's bold personality, they empowered marketers to unleash their creativity across channels and regions, all while keeping experiences on brand and cohesive.

See how Contentful is giving KFC the tools to unify its brand and support markets with very different needs and digital experiences.

An omnichannel approach has many benefits over a multichannel marketing strategy. Consider these recent omnichannel statistics from CapitalOne Shopping:

Connect with customers where they are in the moment

While harder to measure, your ability to meet customers where they are in the moment increases the likelihood that they’ll take the desired action. A customer walking around with their mobile phone might have a minute or two to interact with a text message, while someone opening an email at their desk could spend their lunch reading a newsletter.

Instead of shouting across every channel, an omnichannel approach encourages you to think about where the customer is and tailor experiences to meet their needs in that moment.

For example, to reach gamers, KFC created a menu of food that gamers could eat with one hand and enabled them to place an order without leaving their game console.

Omnichannel is clearly a winning strategy and an almost universal expectation among consumers. Brands like KFC, Disney, Starbucks, and Sephora set the bar and leave customers wondering why their favorite brands can’t provide that kind of experience.

Why brands struggle to make omnichannel marketing work

Brands know customers want seamless omnichannel experiences, but it's hard to deliver on that demand when preferred channels and customer behavior keep changing. To deliver seamless experiences, brands need:

• To connect customer data across channels and understand customer preferences, how customers like to engage with your brand on each channel, and how those channels work together to build customer experiences. This enables data-driven decisions, personalization, and sets a foundation for AI tools.

• A mindset shift around how content is distributed. Not all content fits well on every channel. Teams need the flexibility to pick and choose which parts of the overall story fit on each channel.

• The right technology. Pulling together data and content to support omnichannel requires tools with strong integration to connect silos. Companies that rely on legacy tools are falling behind. Out-dated technology makes it hard to unify data and content across channels so they can build omnichannel experiences at scale.

Up next: Omnichannel strategy

Learn what an omnichannel strategy is, how it delights customers and boosts sales, and the steps to develop a comprehensive content strategy.