As content marketers, we work a lot: we write, we design, we create content in loads of different mediums to be consumed. There's an easier way with omni channel marketing. 

What Is Omnichannel Content Marketing?

From Emarsys, "Omnichannel refers to the multichannel sales approach that provides the customer with an integrated shopping experience. The customer can be shopping online from a desktop or mobile device, via phone, or in a brick-and-mortar store, and the experience will be seamless." Basically, it's the thought that content along multiple channels should be orchestrated to guide customers through an experience, not expecting them to use your content to create their own experience.

What does Omnichannel Marketing look like?

Organizations do omnichannel content marketing differently. But with a growing number of screens, devices, operating systems, and customer touchpoints, it's important to create content that can be repurposed for delivery to any device or touchpoint. 

Write Once, Publish Anywhere

Once the marketing department has created the right content strategy, they have to make sure that they have the right technology to support their initiatives. Part of the challenge in executing omnichannel marketing strategies is that legacy technologies and content management systems force teams to work in silos. This makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to effectively deliver content in real-time, to the right destinations, in the right formats. 

We hear you. This is part of the rise of headless content management systems, which are built to make it much easier for teams to send their content anywhere it needs to go. 

Using Content on Multiple Sites

Omnichannel marketing means that multiple sites (campaign sites, product sites, etc.) often share a lot of the same content. Syndicating content across those sites poses a challenge on legacy CMSes. With a headless CMS, marketers can focus on building the content and figuring out where that will go. All that's needed is a front end developer to make sure that those sites have endpoints (XML, JSON, HTTP, etc.) to accept content feeds. Once that's hooked up, the marketing team is good to go, and teams can push content out to any website it needs to go to. 

PRO TIP: Some branded sites have feeds that will accept content. Say there's a forum that you don't own, but have a page on it... sometimes they'll accept content feeds, so you don't have to log into that forum to manage your page. 

Using Content on Multiple Platforms

Native Apps

Apps are written much differently than websites. However, it's just as easy to connect content feeds in-app. That means if you have an iOS app, Android app, Web App, and more, if those feeds are built, content can automatically be sent to them from a headless CMS, saving your team time and resources managing multiple applications. 

By sending the content in a machine readable format, such as a JSON API, applications are able to consume that content with minimal development work and virtually no developer maintenance.

Be cautioned, though: some headless CMS are more efficient and cost-effective at generating these feeds than others. To learn more about different efficiencies, check out this article. 

Amazon Alexa and Voice Devices

The very cool thing about headless CMSes is that because they generate feeds such as a JSON API, you can send content to virtually any device, regardless of if there's a screen to consume that content. Voice activated speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home are no exception. Many brands, publishers, and media organizations are figuring out how to create content that works in a voice format.

PS: our webinar on voice discusses this at length!

IoT Devices

As discussed, the feeds generated by a headless CMS makes omnichannel marketing not only possible, but significantly easier. Content can be sent to screens, technology without screens, and even devices that haven't been invented yet.

Omnichannel Headless CMS is the Way to Go

The right technology can significantly reduce your work, so you don't have to reformat the same content in many different ways. A headless content management system will empower you and your team to get what you need done, and send it everywhere it needs to go. While it may be true that you won't need endpoints everywhere as not every destination is right for your audience, doesn't it make sense to be prepared in case the opportunity arises?