You know your brand’s target audience; you know who they are, and you know their habits. You know all this because you’ve been studying them for years. You’ve seen success, and that’s important, but let me be the first to apologize for having to tell you that what you may know about your audience and their perspective on your brand may have changed without you realizing it.

Put your walking shoes on

Your customers can change as quickly as your employees leave the office on Friday afternoon. Whether your brand is a distinguished leader in your industry or has just opened up shop, it’s essential to step back and understand your evolving customers and their view of your brand. It’s never too early (or too late) to analyze your customers. Grab the shoe horn, lace up and walk a mile in their shoes. Is your ideal customer a woman, aged 35-50, married with two children, who works in the insurance industry and likes to ride Harleys on the weekend? You will never know until you step back and rediscover your customers. Recognize who your target customer is and where he or she would like to be reached, then interact.

An omni-present goal

Define your ideal customer and then communicate with them when and where they’re ready. It’s this 360°, omni-present brand influence on customers that ensures a successful marketing campaign with the widest influence. Truly being omni-present includes considering actions and opportunities the brand has long after the Facebook post or TV spot. Are your customers guided to a landing page with messaging they are ready to interact with based on where they are in their buyer journey? Is your brand re-targeting customers who are ready to buy, and after the purchase, do they have a positive image of the product to tell others about their experience? Only once a brand starts to acknowledge their customers’ expectations, thoughts and interests throughout the buyer’s journey can the brand accurately gain a holistic perspective in developing the strategy.

Managing the multi-channel strategy

Today, consumers are interacting with brands in a plethora of ways – accessing content, products and services via phone, in-store, on a website, on a smartphone, via social networks and beyond. The critical challenge for marketers is managing, optimizing and integrating the delivery of content across this staggering number of communication channels to the right audience when implementing an effective 360° marketing campaign.

But where should you start? We’ve created a one-page guide to help get the ball rolling.

About the Author

Alex Navarro is a California-native who currently lives in Dallas, Texas with his fantastic wife. In the past, he’s been responsible for creating, developing and executing national brand awareness campaigns and has enjoyed developing personalized marketing and promotional plans. Alex studied advertising and marketing at Pepperdine University and has enjoyed working in the field ever since. He also loves meeting new people – connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.