How to Create a Powerful and Unified Multichannel Message

Expert integration among your various sales channels can elevate your brand above its competitors, noted Carol Worthington-Levy, director of creative services for LENSER, a San Rafael, Calif.-based catalog consultancy and list brokerage and management firm. Your creative team plays a crucial role in that effort.

To generate a unified voice and appearance among your channels, follow these three creative strategies offered by Worthington-Levy during the session “Integrating Your Catalog Channels Into Your Overall Marketing Strategy” held at The Direct Marketing Association’s annual conference in New Orleans last month.

1. Provide templates to your creative personnel. Your Web, retail and catalog creative teams should have brand standards they use that signal a unified tone and feel among all channels, said Worthington-Levy. Think Sharper Image or Williams-Sonoma.

2. Unify your purpose. How do you get customers to visit your retail store and Web site and respond to catalog offers? “Offer clear parameters for a contact strategy that works together from lead generation through long-term relationships,” she advised.

3. Try for unity within your messaging. “Leverage your branding across all sales media to create a unity of message, and to help customers feel comfortable shopping from you in alternate venues.” Worthington-Levy offered Pottery Barn as a good example. “They sometimes set up their store windows to match their most recent catalog covers.” That jogs customers’ memories and helps the company unify the message across channels. “Through multiple channels that are visually and verbally linked together, customers visit all channels more often, and purchases increase,” she noted.

To reach Worthington-Levy, e-mail her at carol@lenser.com.