Achieving Meaningful Multichannel Engagement? - Journal

Here are some questions you need to ask when you want to achieve immediate multichannel engagement, but also implement steps for continuous future improvement.

What are the key enablers in successful digital transformation?

Successful transformation is a 3 legged stool. People, process and technology. I would summarize as follows:
People: The right people starting with leaders that are able to envision and create the future for themselves. Leaders, need to see and evangelize the case for change and mobilize the Marketing community to get on board. A job of a leader, in any transformation effort, is to highlight why the status quo is not sustainable and why a new model is needed. Secondly, you need to identify or recruit early adopters as change agents. These people see the need and are willing to be pioneers or better still are people that have been on a digital
transformation journey before. Third, you need to develop a people strategy to develop, hire or acquire new skills or a combination of both.
Process: You need to answer the question…”How do we systematize digital engagement so that it is not individual dependent?” What processes, procedures, roles & responsibilities need to be clarified to make digital engagement fit within the organization? By way of example: What is the approach you will take to segmenting customers based on behaviour and beliefs? Is the process to the highest standard, externally benchmarked, understood and consistent across the business, be it business units or geographies? What is the process for review and approval of content to allow for rapid development & deployment? All in all, process is either an enabler or barrier to operating at scale.
Technology: Too often companies become enamoured with the new technology and fail to address the people and process aspects first putting the whole transformation initiative at risk. While there is an interplay between process and technology, it is important not to start with technology. Rather assemble the right people who have insight into what technology can do, clarify process, roles and responsibilities and then partner with IT who will identify
the best suite of technology the business problem you aim to address.

What are the key steps in becoming more customer-centric?

Organizationally, employees need a feeling of shared accountability for the customer. Customer centricity does not belong to one function or group, but to everyone within the organization. The C-Suite need to live this mantra and set the expectation that customer centricity belongs to all. Second, you need a way to uncover deep functional and emotional customer insights, both stated and unstated. Ethnographies, quant and qual Market Research, End to End Journey Mapping, Customer Journey’s, and a 360 degree view of the customer, are helpful techniques and tools to identify and uncover insights..
Third you need a planning process that connects customer understanding to major solutions with a feedback loop allowing you to iterate and improve in the moment.

How to achieve meaningful multichannel engagement?

Key questions I would ask include:

Do you have a standard and consistent approach to Multi-Channel-Engagement i.e. what are the key steps to developing and deploying a MCE campaign?
Most important to understand is: Can you identify customers that display similar behaviors for similar reasons? What are their current attitudes and beliefs that drive current behavior? What future attitudes and beliefs do you need to create, change or reinforce to drive the desired behavior? Last, what are your customers’ current media/channel consumption habits?
Where (what mix of channels) do you deploy your messages/engagement campaigns so as to be in your customers’ natural workflow?
Have you mapped out content in a story with triggers (if this, then that) to create an orchestrated and integrated campaign? Are you able to automate creation of content (assembling of content pieces based on customer behaviors & assumed beliefs)?
Are you able automate campaign delivery/execution based on observed changes in behaviors and implied changes in beliefs?
Do you have a mechanism to continually learn and adjust by monitoring customer engagement metrics (open rates, click through rates, downloads etc) and customer behavior (changes in prescribing behavior)?
Do you have a mechanism to change, update or develop new content as customers’ needs & behaviors progress and as you learn from in-market campaigns (i.e. AB testing).

Carl SMITH is a Sr. Director Lilly Marketing Institute and Customer Experience at Eli Lilly. Carl grew up in Port Elizabeth South Africa, where he received a Bachelors’ Degree in Marketing from the Nelson Mandela University in 1997 (Cum Laude). He has broad experience in developing and commercializing global brands and has a passion for the discipline of marketing and leading teams. He has worked for Eli Lilly on 4 different continents (Africa, Australia, UK and US) and has demonstrated an ability to deliver results individually and through teams, prioritizing that which is critical and mobilizing stakeholders towards a common goal. He possesses deep pharmaceutical and healthcare experience with consistent top performance at country, region and global levels. In his current role as Sr. Director for Lilly’s Marketing Institute, Carl and his team are responsible for advancing the practice of Marketing across the enterprise to meet evolving customer and business needs.