3 Emerging Channels to Add to Your Cross-Channel Strategy

If you boil it down, the concept behind an effective messaging strategy is simple: Send customers the right message at the right time in the right channel. Of course, it’s executing on that strategy at scale that’s the challenge. While many brands master the first two pillars, it can be a struggle to provide a seamless experience as consumers jump from one platform or device to the next. Especially if your brand isn’t present in the places customers are looking.

While the classic messaging channels—email, SMS, and push—should still be at the core of your strategy, it’s important to assess new channels and gauge the right time to expand in order to keep up with customers. To help your team figure out where to go next, we’ve picked the top three up-and-coming channels you need to explore adding to your messaging strategy.

Content Cards

Sometimes, attempting to pull your customers away from what they’re doing isn’t the right approach. Don’t get us wrong, we love a good attention-grabbing push, but many messages pack more punch when your consumer is already engaged.

Enter Content Cards. Also known as “News Feed Messages,” this flexible channel allows brands to create customized, persistent content within your brand’s app or website. Due to the flexibility of its design, brands can choose any kind of content to highlight a brand experience, whether it’s a welcome flow or any current marketing campaign.

AMP for Email

First announced by Google back in 2016, AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for Email has gone through a few iterations before becoming the innovative channel it is today. AMP for Email creates richer, interactive experiences right in a user’s inbox—essentially, you’re not just talking at your consumers, but having a conversation with them.

While AMP for Email enables highly-sophisticated and memorable experiences, it requires the ability to use HTML and related code to build each email. It’s also currently only available on Gmail, Mail.ru, and Microsoft Outlook. That doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be part of your marketing mix—but you will need to ensure you have the right resources and strategy before you can see the full benefit of this innovative new tool.

OTT Media Platforms

You want to meet your consumers where they are, and right now, that’s Netflix. 2020 is poised to be the biggest year for streaming yet, meaning if your brand isn’t talking about expanding to connected TV, you’re thinking about it. And for those that already have, they may not be thinking of Over-The-Top (OTT) as a valuable messaging channel.

For this channel, it’s not about your brand popping up with a promo and ruining the suspense during Game of Thrones. It’s about collecting data from these devices to trigger relevant push notifications and emails on a second-screen. It’s all about amplifying your current strategy based on how your users are engaging.

Braze already provides Connected TV support for Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Kindle Fire, and FireTV, allowing our customers to gain a deeper understanding of their consumers and what they find valuable.

Final Thoughts

Even within specific industries, there’s no same recipe for the perfect mix of channels to use. Each brand has to experiment and iterate on their cross-channel strategy in order to find what works best for their customers.

For more on emerging channels or to discover deeper insights on the ones you’re currently using, check out the Braze Channel Guide.