Today’s consumers are more connected than ever before—checking their social media apps, emails, and text messages a whopping 96 times per day. And the expectations of the brands they do business with have never been higher.
For organizations big and small, this presents a unique challenge of cutting through the noise to successfully reach their customers at the right time on their preferred platform(s).
This is where cross-channel marketing technology comes in.
Today, we’re going to explore the top cross-channel marketing tools needed to streamline your best-performing digital media campaigns.
What We’ll Cover:
What is Cross Channel Marketing?
Imagine you’ve just launched a new product accompanied by a killer promotional video. After sending out an email with all the product details to your leads, days pass and crickets…
You expected to knock people’s socks off and instead, you’ve wasted time and money on a campaign with zero return.
By putting all your eggs in one basket and relying on a single marketing channel, you inevitably put your business at risk if that channel becomes ineffective. This is why it’s important to utilize everything from internet ads to viral content to get your message out.
Cross channel management involves managing your brand’s exposure across a variety of marketing channels to build a more cohesive customer journey for your core audience. These channels work together to create a unified message that leads from one channel to the other.
By interacting with your customers at different touchpoints, you can optimize your message along every step as the consumer engages with your brand.
With cross-channel marketing solutions, marketers can uncover deeper insights into customer behavior that result in increased engagement and more conversions.
In fact, 62% of survey respondents who engaged with retailers across 10 or more channels made weekly purchases. And according to Google, “About 85% of online shoppers start a purchase on one device and finish on another.”
Now that you have an understanding of just how valuable cross-channel marketing technology can be to your business, let’s dive into our favorite cross-channel tools to help you deliver a consistent experience across all channels.
Cross-Channel Marketing Tools
Monday
Founded in 2012, Monday is a cloud-based project management platform that allows teams to manage complex projects, streamline workflows, and collaborate more easily.
How to Use:
With Monday, sales and marketing teams are able to capture lead information and plan events, while software developers can use the tool for sprint planning and backlog prioritization. You can even connect your Monday.com account to other apps your team uses most often, including Slack, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Dropbox, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Mailchimp.
Popular Features:
- Customize fields, rules, and views.
- Automation of various tasks, including recurring tasks.
- Built-in time-tracking for projects and teams.
Pros:
- Easy to toggle between main, shareable, and private boards.
- Integrates with third-party apps like Slack, Jira, Google Drive, and Gitlab.
- Offers 14-day free trial (no credit card required).
Cons:
- No native integrations with third-party time trackers like Time Doctor or Toggl.
- Unable to assign comments to team members.
- No idea management features.
Kajabi
Kajabi is an all-in-one cross-channel marketing platform designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs sell content and products online.
How to Use:
From creating landing pages to hosting webinars and online courses, Kajabi makes it easy to build your entire sales funnel from scratch. You can access your website, products, marketing, and community and much more from a single dashboard for optimal convenience.
Popular Features:
- Built-in email management.
- Sales funnel builder.
- Marketing automations.
Pros:
- Payment integrations offered through Stripe and PayPal.
- Ability to set a custom domain.
- Choose from several customizable themes.
Cons:
- Third-party platform to provide completion certificates.
- No search functions through Kajabi course marketplace.
- No free plan available.
Salesforce
Originally called ExactTarget before being acquired by Salesforce, this email marketing platform enables the creation of tailored email content and transactional emails such as cart abandonment and shipping confirmations.
How to Use:
Salesforce delivers a unified view of your target customer by connecting their data across every device and channel. Using the Content Builder, marketers can easily build enterprise emails, segment and target their audience, and track customer behavior—all without any coding.
Popular Features:
- Integrates with other Salesforce solutions.
- Drag-and-drop tools.
- A/B testing capabilities.
Pros:
- Simple cloud integration and tracking.
- Personalizes and encrypts videos into emails.
- Customizable data extensions.
Cons:
- Higher learning curve.
- Limited functionality with mobile.
- No free trial available.
Zapier
With more than 2,000 integrations and 4 million customers, Zapier is one of the best cross-channel marketing tools on the market.
How to Use:
To get started with Zapier, you can create a workflow that connects 2 or more web apps and begin automating repetitive or time-consuming tasks. For example, the MobileMonkey Zapier integration allows you to perform tasks such as add new leads to your CRM, send SMS messages to new contacts, or subscribe to new MobileMonkey contacts to MailChimp.
Popular Features:
- Easy-to-use automation and integration.
- Data quality services.
- Pre-built connectors.
Pros:
- Accessible and clean dashboard.
- No coding experience needed to set up Zap.
- Includes advanced features like filtering and webhooks.
Cons:
- Poor error reporting.
- Difficult to work with JSON inputs.
- No free trial available.
Skai
Skai, formerly Kenshoo, is the leading cross-channel management platform for brands looking to scale their advertising efforts across Google, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and more.
How to Use:
Using machine-learning to determine intent while serving your target audience with ads, the tool can identify the high-value targets who are more likely to respond to your ads. You can then use this cross-channel data to target and bid more effectively, as well as set goals and track your progress across campaigns.
Popular Features:
- Visual/customizable dashboards.
- SEO integration.
- Advanced reporting and forecasting.
Pros:
- Clean user interface.
- Customized reporting.
- Optimizations across platforms.
Cons:
- Lag time in functionality.
- Support team is difficult to reach.
- No free trial available.
BuzzSumo
Founded in 2013, BuzzSumo is a popular cloud-based cross-channel marketing platform tailor-made for content research, where users can explore the best engagement, outreach, and content opportunities across social and search.
How to Use:
Depending on what you want to achieve, marketers can use BuzzSumo to build an organic content strategy, reduce digital ad spend, and monitor cross-channel performance. Since its launch, it has revolutionized how users create, share, and read content related to SEO, PPC, and internet marketing.
Popular Features:
- Customizable reports.
- Competitor monitoring.
- Audience targeting.
Pros:
- User-friendly.
- Enables segmentation of influencers.
- Offers free 30-day trial.
Cons:
- Expensive when compared to other similar platforms.
- Limited number of features.
- Occasionally brings up irrelevant articles.
SEMRush
SEMRush is one of the best-known SEO and cross-channel marketing tools out there, boasting more than 7 million users worldwide.
How to Use:
From streamlining your content marketing to improving SEO and creating PPC campaigns, SEMRush optimizes your brand’s visibility across channels. And with SEMRush’s suite of keyword and SEO tools, you can monitor site visits, identify link-building opportunities, and perform a complete site audit.
Popular Features:
- OnPage SEO checker.
- Organic traffic insights.
- Keyword research tool.
Pros:
- Easy to navigate.
- Fast exports.
- Consistently adding new features.
Cons:
- Offers only 1 user per subscription.
- Limited import features.
- Occasionally produces inaccurate data.
Agorapulse
Ideal for mid-sized businesses and agencies to better manage their social media accounts, AgoraPulse offers a range of publishing, reporting, monitoring, and collaboration tools.
How to Use:
With AgoraPulse, people who subscribe to your email list and follow your company on social media can see your messages on multiple platforms, which means you have a prime opportunity to convert the most engaged customers. Plus, by monitoring your business standing on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you can start accumulating crucial data insights and refine your social media campaigns accordingly.
Popular Features:
- Content planning and scheduling.
- Automated routing and prioritization.
- Real-time tracking.
Pros:
- Single, centralized dashboard.
- Integrations with Bitly and Google Analytics.
- Responsive customer support team.
Cons:
- Lack of open API.
- Not an enterprise-level tool.
- No unified feed.
MeetEdgar
As one of the leading cross-channel marketing tools in the industry, MeetEdgar provides small businesses and entrepreneurs with an effective way of scheduling and organizing content to automate the sharing of evergreen content across social media.
How to Use:
While AgoraPulse is renowned for its cross-channel social media analytics, MeetEdgar’s strength lies in its fully automated, cross-channel content scheduling capabilities. To get started, just add your social media accounts (up to 25), add your content, view your library, create a posting schedule.
Popular Features:
- Social media scheduler.
- Unlimited content library.
- Category-based scheduling.
Pros:
- Seamless scheduling.
- Constant stream of content for social media.
- Integrations with third-party apps like Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.
Cons:
- Only 3 supported social media accounts—Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
- Must login to each platform individually to respond to comments.
- Reporting and analytics are limited.
IFTTT
IFTTT stands for “if this, then that,” a name derived from a programming convention that sums up how a service works. The company offers a range of cross-channel marketing solutions that connects apps, devices, and services from different developers so tasks can be automatically triggered and completed.
How to Use:
If you want your blog posts to share on your social media pages automatically, IFTTT makes this easy. Automations are accomplished via applets, which you can choose from a pre-existing list or build from scratch. Once you’ve made your selections, you’ll be taken to a page that will explain the services that need to be activated in order for the applet to work.
Popular Features:
- Pre-built connectors.
- Support for real-time and batch integration.
- Data security features.
Pros:
- No coding experience necessary.
- Simplifies automation.
- Free to use.
Cons:
- No enterprise-level support available.
- Limited triggers and actions.
- Not open for full customization.
Wrapping Up
Every minute your message is not getting in front of the eyes of your target customer is a missed opportunity.
To ensure you’re nurturing your prospects all the way through the sales funnel and toward a purchase, cross-channel management is a no-brainer.
With the cross-channel marketing tools mentioned in this list, you’ll finally be able to offer the perfect user experience that your customers have been waiting for.
