Customers today have more ways than ever to connect with your brand, and they’ll likely interact with you through many different channels before they convert. Social media, blog posts, TV ads, online ads… the list goes on.

To succeed in today’s market, you need to meet customers at the right times on whichever channels they’re using. Otherwise, your competitors might beat you to it. Plus, you want your marketing communications across all channels to work together to facilitate a seamless customer journey.

How can you meet these needs and create an effective marketing strategy that reaches across channels? The answer is cross-channel marketing.

In this post, we’ll discuss what cross-channel marketing is and give you some cross-channel marketing examples to help you create more cohesive marketing strategies.

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What is cross-channel marketing?

Cross-channel marketing is a marketing strategy that involves using multiple channels in a coordinated manner to reach and convert leads.

With cross-channel marketing, also called multi-channel marketing, several methods work together to create a path through the buyer’s journey.

The combinations of channels used vary widely and can include both digital and traditional methods.

Cross-channel marketing examples

Let’s look at some multi-channel marketing examples to give you a better idea of how this strategy works. These cross-channel marketing campaigns will provide you with ideas for your marketing and demonstrate how marketing across channels works.

M&M’s — Combining traditional and digital channels for improved reach and engagement

The first multi-channel marketing example we’ll look at comes from M&M’s. The candy brand aired a TV ad during Super Bowl LV and continued the campaign on social media, combining traditional and digital channels.

The ad, titled “Come Together,” shows people apologizing for their social faux pas with M&M’s and features ‘Schitt’s Creek’ star Dan Levy. Check it out here:

The Super Bowl ad was popular, but M&M’s was also quite busy on social media before, during, and after the game.

The brand shared a teaser for the ad on its socials and even offered followers a chance to hop on a Zoom call with one of its characters, Yellow, to watch the ad several days before the big event.

M&M’s also created several hashtags associated with the ad, #MMSTogether and #BetterWithMMS. It encouraged its followers to use the hashtags, and it included them in posts related to the campaign and the Super Bowl.

M&M’s posted on social throughout the game, keeping followers engaged. After the event, it kept the campaign going by sharing scenes from the ad, reactions to the ad, and launching an #MMSTogether sweepstakes.

Using a traditional TV ad allowed M&M’s to reach a broad audience, especially since it aired during the biggest TV ad event of the year. The company also used the ad to foster engagement on its social channels.

These cross-channel marketing ideas allowed M&M’s to leverage the strengths of both TV ads and social media.

Bones Coffee — Meeting users throughout the buyer’s journey with online ads

Another type of cross-channel marketing example involves advertising to users across multiple digital channels. These campaigns may use ad tracking or remarketing, enabling you to target ads to individual users who visited your website.

Bones Coffee has been targeting me on social media for some time with ads like this one:

Social media isn’t the only place I see their ads, though. I’ve also gotten display ads from Bones Coffee. Noticing a theme? They really want me to try their bourbon barrel aged coffee, and to be honest, it does sound delicious.

If I search “order coffee” on Google, Bones Coffee makes sure it’s one of the first things I see with a Google search ad. The type of coffee the Facebook ad focused on is also mentioned in the search ad.

If I Google “barrel aged coffee,” I get an ad with even more specific copy.

These types of multi-channel marketing campaigns work by connecting with users wherever they go online, helping move the user from brand awareness to conversion.

The first few social media ads I saw from Bones Coffee made me aware of the company and got me familiar with the brand. Ads featuring special deals give me extra incentive to order from them.

Later, when I go to Google to find coffee to order online, Bones Coffee meets me close to the point where I’m going to make a purchase decision.

Since I’m already familiar with Bones Coffee’s products, brand, and special deals, I’m more likely to click on their ad over other paid or organic results.

State Farm — From star-studded commercials to engaging social media personalities

State Farm gives us another cross-channel marketing example in which traditional and digital methods work together. The insurance company combined TV advertising, online advertising, and social media to create an impactful campaign.

The cornerstone of the campaign is a star-studded Super Bowl commercial featuring Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Paul Rudd, and Drake. Plus, Jake from State Farm has become something of a star in his own right.

State Farm had already featured football stars in numerous ads, so it was perfectly positioned to drop a killer Super Bowl commercial. The company built up the hype leading up to the game with football-related social media posts and teasers for its ads on its State Farm and Jake from State Farm social accounts.

During the game, State Farm stayed active on social media, tweeting about the game and tagging other Super Bowl advertisers in posts.

After the game, State Farm continued the campaign with short follow-up videos to the ad and by sharing commentary and reactions to the ad.

It also used the ad as an online video ad on streaming websites, enabling the company to reach more users who perhaps didn’t watch the game on TV.

Rebecca Minkoff — Connecting physical and digital shopping experiences

Fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff provides an excellent example of meeting shoppers where they are to enhance the user experience and maximize conversions. They used cross-channel marketing ideas to connect various channels seamlessly and even integrate their in-store and online shopping experiences.

The brand offers multiple ways for customers to shop — in store, on their website, and in their app. Rebecca Minkoff noticed that shoppers in its stores used their phones to learn more about products and purchase online if the store didn’t have their size.

So, the company added interactive screens to its stores where shoppers can learn more about products and send information to their phones to complete purchases. It also lets shoppers save the clothes they tried on to their online accounts so they can easily purchase them later.

This cross-channel marketing example shows how brands can reach shoppers both in person and through digital channels and create a seamless experience. This integrated approach lets customers choose how they want to interact and convert.

As a result of this cross-channel marketing campaign, Rebecca Minkoff saw a 6-7x increase in its ready-to-wear sales in 5-6 months.

If you want to learn more about this campaign, check out this video from Think with Google highlighting it:

Use these multi-channel marketing examples to inspire your own campaigns

Coordinating your marketing across multiple channels is essential for reaching and converting your future customers. Hopefully, these cross-channel marketing examples have given you ideas and inspiration for your marketing campaigns.

Cross-channel marketing can be a bit overwhelming, so if you want help creating and implementing your marketing strategy, let us know.

We have a team of more than 300 digital marketing experts, and we’re a full-service digital marketing company. That means we have experience in numerous online marketing channels, and we can help you develop and implement strategies that seamlessly incorporate these various methods.

Request a free quote online or call us at 888-601-5359 to learn more.