A recent statement from Gartner on Multi-Channel Campaigns states:

"The key to multichannel success is in aligning your product and service with the correct channel using the correct point of interaction for the correct customer life cycle phase. Missing one of these three variables could mean overspending or poor alignment with what your customers actually want." -- Gartner Summit 2009

SAP CRM Marketing supports multi-channel campaigns in different manners based on your business scenario and/or your marketing strategies.

One option for running a multi-channel campaign with SAP CRM Marketing is using the customer-preferred contact channel. The system can capture the preferred communication channel for every customer. This information can be used by marketing campaigns via the "Customer-preferred-Channel" as the campaign execution channel. During campaign execution the system will determine for every customer of the target group what the preferred channel is and will send the campaign message across that channel.

Another option to run a multi-channel campaign could be to use Campaign Optimization. Campaign Optimization divides up an initial target group into tailored target groups for each relevant channel appropriately by maximizing the anticipated success of the campaign. The campaign success can be optimized either from the profit perspective or also from the response perspective. Basis for the optimization could be:

• Response prediction models, like RFM, to make predictions specific to the customers, 
• Informed assumptions on costs, response rates etc. based on experience
• Conditions, such as budget or product availability restrictions, limits on the number of contacts for a certain channel, etc.

By running a simulation the user can analyze the predicted ROI for each channel and could do necessary adjustments.

No matter which strategy is used for running a multi-channel campaign - a consistent product offer across all channels will be assured.

Have a look at this video clip to see an example of how to run an end-to-end sales campaign through various channels, where campaign optimization determines the optimal contact channel for every customer.