Not too long ago, marketing was a little simpler. A well-placed email, a billboard ad, or even a single blog post was often enough to capture attention and connect with an audience. The path from brand to consumer was clear and straightforward.
Fast forward to today, and the road to audiences has become an endless zigzag between search engines, social media, email, review sites, web, mobile and in-store visits. What was once a pretty linear funnel has become a complex network of touchpoints, weaving together digital and physical channels making it very difficult for marketers to map out, and to determine which channel works best.
The Challenges of the Modern Customer Journey
According to a study by eMarketer and impact.com, 69.3% of consumers discover new products at least once a week—but turning that discovery into a sale is a whole other ball game. This complexity presents both a challenge and an opportunity for brands and retailers. The research, which surveyed more than 1000 US adults, details a few of the business implications that are resulting from this multichannel reality.
1- The Discovery-to-Purchase Gap
While consumers might discover new products often, converting these discoveries to sales requires navigating an increasingly complex path. In fact, consumers typically engage with a brand at least three times across different channels before making a purchase decision. For marketers, this multi-touch landscape requires sophisticated cross-channel strategies.
2- The Attribution Challenge
With over 80% of retail spending still happening in physical stores, yet much of the research occurring online, traditional attribution models struggle to reflect the complete customer journey. This gap leads to missed insights and inefficient marketing spend. Research shows that 22.8% of consumers research a product five or more times before purchasing, underscoring the need for more precise attribution.
3- The Channel Effectiveness Paradox
Although Amazon is the top destination for product searches, product discovery and research extend far beyond a single platform. Consumers explore a wide range of channels, including search engines, retailer websites, and social media, during the early stages of their buying journey. This fragmented landscape challenges marketers to maintain visibility across multiple touchpoints while strategically leveraging each channel’s distinct role in the path to purchase.
4- The Demographic Divide
Consumer behavior varies significantly by age and income, especially in research habits. Higher-income shoppers are far more thorough in their decision-making, with 60.2% researching products five or more times before purchasing—well above other income groups. Additionally, people aged 44-59 are particularly likely (67.3%) to discover high-consideration products, highlighting the importance of tailored segmentation strategies to engage different audiences effectively.
Developing a Multichannel Marketing Strategy is No Longer “Optional”
Given these challenges, modern marketers must maintain a presence across multiple channels and strategically manage various touchpoints at once. This is where multichannel marketing comes into play.
Multichannel marketing is the strategy of engaging customers through a mix of direct and indirect communication channels—such as websites, retail stores, catalogs, email, podcasts, mobile, and more—allowing them to interact and make purchases on their preferred platform. At its core, multichannel marketing is about giving customers the freedom to choose how and where they engage with a brand. A buyer might discover the brand on Instagram and then go and buy in-store, for example.
There are different types of multichannel strategy. For example, one approach is the multichannel blast campaign, where a single promotion is sent across multiple channels simultaneously to maximize reach and re-engage customers. Another method which is more like a long journey, starts with an initial message, such as email, followed by performance analysis. Non-responders then receive follow-ups through more engaging channels, like text or social ads, to increase the chances of conversion after the initial exposure to the product.
Bridging the Gap: How HubSpot Enhances Multichannel Marketing
Executing a successful multichannel marketing strategy requires more than just being present on multiple platforms—it demands seamless integration, data-driven insights, and personalized engagement. This is where HubSpot comes in. With its powerful automation, CRM, and analytics tools, HubSpot helps businesses streamline campaigns, track customer interactions across channels, and optimize their marketing efforts for better conversions. Let’s explore how HubSpot can enhance your multichannel strategy and drive real results.
Marketing Automation & Lead Nurturing
In today’s fragmented customer journey, marketing automation and lead nurturing play a crucial role in keeping potential buyers engaged across multiple touchpoints. Since consumers research products multiple times before making a purchase, businesses need a way to stay top-of-mind without overwhelming them. Automated workflows help deliver the right message at the right time—whether through personalized emails, targeted ads, or SMS reminders—guiding prospects through the decision-making process. HubSpot streamlines this process by integrating customer data, automating follow-ups, and enabling businesses to nurture leads effectively across channels, ensuring no opportunity falls through the cracks.
Personalization
Personalization is a key component in multichannel marketing automation. It enables businesses to craft messages and offers that hit home with a customers' preferences and behaviors.
Main personalization techniques include:
- Dynamic Content – Tailor website experiences, email messaging, and ad copy based on a customer’s demographics, interests, or previous interactions with the brand.
- Behavioral Targeting – Leverage insights from browsing behavior and purchase history to deliver highly relevant recommendations and offers.
- Predictive Analytics – Utilize machine learning to forecast customer preferences and needs, allowing for proactive and data-driven personalization.
Given that different demographics have unique research behaviors, HubSpot’s CRM allows businesses to segment audiences and personalize their interactions based on purchase intent, engagement history, and preferences.
This level of personalization not only enhances customer engagement but also increases conversion rates by delivering relevant content at the right moment. By integrating automation with real-time data, businesses can create seamless experiences across channels, ensuring that prospects and customers receive messages that align with their journey. HubSpot’s CRM goes a step further by enabling advanced segmentation, tracking interactions across multiple touchpoints, and automating follow-ups, helping businesses nurture leads more effectively and build long-term relationships.
Analytics and Reporting
Analytics and reporting are critical elements of multichannel marketing automation, enabling marketers to track performance, measure ROI, and refine their strategies based on real data. Mapping the customer journey is an essential step in understanding how customers interact across different touchpoints, helping businesses make informed decisions about their multichannel strategy. By monitoring engagement across multiple touchpoints, businesses gain deeper insights into customer behavior, content effectiveness, and conversion drivers.
Advanced attribution models help brands understand which channels contribute the most to conversions, allowing for smarter budget allocation and campaign optimization. Real-time analytics enable businesses to identify trends, adjust messaging, and personalize outreach based on customer interactions.
HubSpot’s all-in-one marketing, sales, and customer service platform offers robust analytics tools to track campaign performance across channels. Its attribution reporting highlights which touchpoints influence conversions, while its custom dashboards provide a clear view of key metrics like traffic sources, lead engagement, and revenue impact. This way marketers can understand which channels work better than others
While HubSpot doesn’t natively track age or gender demographics, it allows businesses to segment customers based on collected data, such as location, industry, and job title. Marketers can also gain demographic insights through integrations with Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads, or by enriching their CRM data with tools like Breeze Intelligence. By leveraging HubSpot’s analytics and integrations, businesses can gain a more complete picture of their audience and optimize their multichannel marketing efforts accordingly.
Final Thoughts
A successful multichannel marketing strategy isn’t just about being present on multiple platforms—it’s about creating a seamless, data-driven experience that meets customers where they are. With the right tools, like HubSpot, businesses can automate workflows, track performance, and personalize engagement across channels, ensuring every touchpoint contributes to conversion. The key is not just reaching your audience but understanding their journey, optimizing each interaction, and continuously refining your approach based on real insights. By leveraging analytics, automation, and smart segmentation, brands can turn multichannel complexity into a competitive advantage—driving stronger relationships, higher engagement, and ultimately, more revenue.
