Omnichannel Considerations for Media Organizations

The media industry is at an inflection point. The emergence of digital distribution and the shift in consumer behavior away from traditional media outlets like broadcasting, cable, and print publishers has brought many challenges to the industry. On top of that, today’s digital-savvy customer has higher expectations than ever before. Customers want to be able to engage with their favorite shows, periodicals, and artists anytime, anywhere, across multiple devices and channels. But many media companies have been slow to adopt a comprehensive digital transformation strategy, instead focusing their efforts on new channels and platforms that are often not integrated with existing systems or processes.

In this customer-centric era, media organizations need to rethink their strategies to successfully compete in a rapidly evolving market. To stay competitive in this changing landscape, they need to shift from content centricity to customer centricity—a difficult task especially when legacy systems make it hard to harness data and drive meaningful, personalized experiences. A successful strategy for media companies can be summarized with one word: omnichannel. If you’re interested in omnichannel, read our overview.

Omnichannel as a strategy

Omnichannel is a cross-channel strategy that seeks to provide the user with an integrated user experience regardless of channel. It puts the user at the center of all business processes and helps build trust and loyalty between brands and their customers. A beginning to an omnichannel strategy is to recognize and understand that “omnichannel” has been around for years. For example, Netflix’s multi-device access for its streaming platform was launched in 2008, and Amazon Prime Video and Hulu were launched in 2007. Even before that, people have always found ways to watch video on any screen they could get their hands on – whether it was on a VHS tape while traveling or on the overhead screen while on an airplane.

Implementing an omnichannel experience

So how can media organizations begin to implement an effective omnichannel solution?

Here are five considerations to getting started:

1. Start with a documented strategy that outlines where you will deliver your content, when and how you will deliver it, and what that might look like for your customers. You’ll also need to consider data: what to capture and how it will be used; where it will be stored; and how it needs to move from consumer to organization and back.
2. Establish an integrated platform that can manage all your assets in one place. This will not only free up resources from managing multiple systems but also simplify the production process so you can get content to market faster.
3. Make sure you have the technology, technical staff, and other resources needed to deliver and maintain your omnichannel strategy. The resources may not need to be strictly internal; 3Pillar Global has the expertise to help deliver on these promises. You need a robust architecture that can handle the increased traffic and data generated by multiple channels—everything from mobile apps to video streaming services—and ensure that content is delivered when it’s supposed to be delivered, securely, reliably and at scale. This may include upgrading or implementing new technologies, such as mobile-friendly websites that make it easier for people to access your content on smartphones and tablets; appointing staff members with specific responsibilities for developing and maintaining omnichannel strategies; training employees who will work with these new channels; etc.
4. Create a seamless, brand-centered experience across all devices and platforms so that customers can consume content anywhere, on any device, with formats optimized for the specific characteristics of the device. With the right strategy in place, these experiences can help media organizations attract new customers and diversify revenue.
5. Invest in data-driven insights that help you understand consumer behavior and react quickly to changes. Machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, when thoughtfully deployed, can predict customer churn and allow for proactive mitigation to retain audiences and revenue streams.

Today, media companies must sometimes feel like the Wright Brothers trying to invent the plane. It seems the ground is moving beneath their feet—but they can’t keep up. Becoming customer-centric isn’t easy when legacy systems make it hard to harness data and drive personalized experiences. An omnichannel strategy and targeted execution will help media organizations take flight.

Contact 3Pillar Global to help develop and execute your omnichannel strategy.