Over 50% of consumers say they would switch to a competitor after just one poor customer experience. That puts your customer journey in the spotlight.Being on multiple platforms is not enough anymore. You might have email, live chat, social media, and a phone line, but if those different channels don’t sync, your customers feel it.This is where the confusion between multichannel marketing and omnichannel strategy begins. The terms sound similar, but the key differences show up when you look at the actual experience.In this article, you will see what each approach looks like, how they perform, and how to decide which marketing strategy makes sense for your business.
A multichannel approach includes platforms like email, SMS, social media, and phone support, but each channel is managed separately. Your support team on email can’t see what happens in a phone call. The chat agent has no record of the conversation that started on Instagram.For example, a customer places an order through your app, gets a confirmation email, and later calls support about a delivery issue. The phone representative has no access to app activity or the email exchange. Therefore, the customer has to explain everything from the beginning.Multichannel marketing gives customers more ways to contact you, but it often leads to disjointed conversations and longer resolution times.It can also make your marketing efforts harder to coordinate since each channel runs separately and lacks visibility into what’s happening elsewhere.
Omnichannel strategy connects all your communication tools (email, phone, live chat, social, SMS) into a single system. When a customer contacts your business, their entire interaction history is available in real time.Let’s say a customer starts a return request through a website chat, gets a follow-up SMS with instructions, and replies via email. With omnichannel, every agent they interact with sees the full thread. They don’t have to repeat themselves. The support team picks up exactly where the last conversation ended.This comparison highlights the core of omnichannel vs multichannel: one connects the dots across channels, while the other keeps each one separate.Omnichannel is built to support a seamless customer journey. It leads to quicker answers, fewer errors, and a more human interaction across every touchpoint.
Let’s put this into a real-world situation. This example shows how omnichannel and multichannel setups create very different experiences for the same customer.
Ms. Adams needs help with a product she just ordered. She opens a live chat on your website and explains the issue to an agent named Alison. After 15 minutes, Alison says the issue needs to go to a specialist and gives Ms. Adams a phone number to call.Ms. Adams calls the number and reaches Richard. But Richard doesn’t know about the chat. He asks her to explain the situation all over again. The call takes another 20 minutes, and Ms. Adams feels like she’s doing all the work just to get help.
Picture the same scenario with an omnichannel setup. Ms. Adams opens a live chat with Alison, who documents the issue and escalates it internally.When Ms. Adams calls the support line, Richard answers and sees the full chat history on his screen. He knows who Ms. Adams is, what the problem is, and what has already been discussed. There’s no repetition. He picks up the conversation right where it left off.In this version, Ms. Adams feels taken care of. She spends less time explaining and gets help faster.This screenshot of our analytics dashboard should further illustrate how omnichannel engagement can provide valuable information about every customer:
Multichannel setups had their moment. But today’s customer behavior requires more context, speed, and clarity.Here’s what can happen when businesses rely only on multichannel marketing.
In a multichannel setup, support agents only see what happens in their specific channel. That means your email team does not know what happened on chat. Your phone team has no clue what was said over SMS.Without shared context, your team cannot respond with clarity. Customers end up repeating themselves and waiting longer for help.
Customers don't like to explain their issues multiple times across three marketing channels. Customer retention will drop because buyers will feel like no one is listening.This doesn’t happen because your team is careless but because your systems are not connected.
Disconnected tools create more manual work. Agents dig through inboxes, teams forward tickets, and managers try to track performance with partial data.This slows everything down and makes it harder to spot patterns or prevent issues before they spread.
Customers expect service that feels personal, quick, and consistent. An omnichannel strategy helps businesses meet those expectations by connecting conversations across all channels.More companies are moving in this direction, and the data supports the shift. In a recent report, companies using connected communication systems kept 89% of their customers, while those using disconnected setups kept only 33%.
With omnichannel systems, your team accesses a customer's complete interaction history. This means no repetitive questions, leading to quicker resolutions and a more personalized experience.Customers respond well to this kind of approach. In fact, 91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that send relevant offers and messages.
Customers value effortless support experiences. When they can transition between channels without repeating themselves, satisfaction increases.A successful omnichannel marketing strategy keeps that experience consistent. That consistency has real outcomes. In 2025, companies using this kind of system were able to keep up to 90% of their customers.
Omnichannel platforms provide agents with a unified view of customer interactions across different channels. When agents can see the full conversation in one place, they spend less time switching tools or looking for past messages. This also contributes to stronger business results. Companies that focus on keeping customers are 60% more profitable than those focused mainly on acquiring new ones.
Helping customers across multiple channels is harder when those channels operate in isolation. Twilio gives businesses a way to bring conversations together so teams can respond clearly and quickly.Many support systems are scattered. One tool handles SMS, another tracks calls, and a third manages a chat. Twilio combines all of that into a single workspace so agents see what happened and where the customer left off.Twilio’s communication tools include:
Everything runs through one interface, and you can connect it to your customer relationship management system. This keeps customer profiles and communication history in one place. Teams can follow the full conversation without repeating steps or missing context.As your customer channels shift, you can add new ones using Twilio’s APIs without disrupting your support process. This flexibility keeps your setup useful as customer habits change.If your current tools are scattered or hard to manage, Twilio helps bring your customer communication together so your team can respond with clarity and care.
Kaptea helps companies connect their communication channels using Twilio, whether the goal is to launch something new or improve an existing setup. Twilio deployments are configured to fit how teams already work without disrupting what is already in place.Tomo Mortgage is one example. After working with Kaptea, their team gained a unified view across SMS, voice, email, and chat. That change allowed them to respond faster, reduce customer handoffs, and simplify support operations.Kaptea handles the setup, connects Twilio with the customer relationship management system, and provides training and guidance for ongoing use. Support continues long after launch to keep everything running as expected.Ready to unify support channels and track results across the full customer experience? Book a call with a Kaptea expert to get started.
Multichannel strategy involves using several platforms like email, social media, and phone to connect with customers, but each platform operates separately. Omnichannel connects those platforms so that customer data, conversations, and actions are shared across all touchpoints, creating a single experience no matter where the interaction starts.
Amazon is omnichannel. A customer can add a product to their cart on a laptop, complete the purchase on the mobile app, receive order updates by email or text, and manage returns through the website or physical Amazon Hub.
Here is an example of omnichannel: A customer buys a jacket on a clothing brand’s website. They receive shipping updates through SMS. Later, they contact support using live chat to ask about sizing.The support agent already sees the order details and tracking status, so the customer does not need to explain. This is a connected experience that moves between channels without losing context.
Starbucks is omnichannel. A customer can order a drink in the mobile app, pay with a stored card, pick it up in-store, and earn rewards within the same system. Order history, payment, and loyalty points are synced across every channel the customer uses.
Yes, a multichannel marketing strategy can work for physical retail stores, but it has limits. For example, a store might use social media to promote sales, email to send coupons, and in-store signage for promotions. While each channel reaches customers, they often operate independently. If a customer sees an ad on Instagram and walks into the store, the staff might have no knowledge of that promotion unless everything is manually synced. This can lead to confusion or missed opportunities.To avoid those gaps, many physical retailers are moving toward an omnichannel setup, where digital tools and in-store systems are connected. That way, the in-store team knows what customers have seen online and can provide a more consistent experience.