• by Laurie Petersen , November 14, 2016

Success in cross-channel marketing is all about execution. We caught up with agency vet Paul Price to talk about how that’s easier said than done. Price is an industry leader with more than 20 years experience managing diversified marketing services agencies at the global and local level.

In your experience, where is the biggest challenge in executing effective cross-channel marketing campaigns?
Being clear about the role each channel plays in whatever outcome you're planning for. Not all channels are equal, so the content you create for them needs to reflect the channel's ability to influence your goal. The worst campaigns deploy content on channels that are incapable of engaging consumers.

How do you overcome this challenge?
Stay agnostic as to which channels play what roles depending on what you're selling and who you're selling to. We all have biases for lots of reasons so keeping an open mind — campaign by campaign — is really hard to do. In my experience, the best campaigns are planned and executed when bias is overcome by good strategy.

Who do you think is doing it right?
The movie studios are masters. They need to generate large audiences from scratch in short periods and typically those audiences come from the toughest-to-get, under-30 demographic. The diversity and range of channels they use across traditional and new media are always impressive.

What is the role of the agency?
They should be architect and general contractor — making the plan and then getting the right skills to execute it faithfully. It's getting incredibly complex to manage multi-channel marketing campaigns in the 21st century, so there's tremendous value for clients if agencies serve in this role.

How do you break down silos on the client side?
Use an inclusive process — starting with strategy — so all stakeholders get their say and get to shape how their respective goals are met from the outset. Imposing a plan is otherwise fraught with danger.

Is there any role for anything not visual?
We are wired to learn visually so its important to understand why visual content matters so much. I read recently one minute of video is equivalent to the brain processing 1.8 million words. It's equally important to understand that it's the experience of the content that matters the most — so getting the context right is as important as the content.

Can you give an example of that?
Receiving a text offering a discount on coffee from Starbucks while I'm watching my son play basketball is out of context. Getting one from a store I'm about to walk in front of is the perfect context.