Why should SMBs care? Because today’s consumers move fluidly across devices and platforms. By some estimates, 75% of purchasing journeys now take place in omnichannel environments, with shoppers often using six or more touchpoints on average before buying. If your marketing isn’t keeping up with this behavior, you risk losing business to competitors who are present (and consistent) on every channel.

Here are a few big benefits of embracing omnichannel marketing as a smaller business:

• Improved Customer Experience When your marketing is connected, your customers don’t have to piece things together. They can click an Instagram ad, browse your site, visit your store, or see your brand on TV — and the experience feels familiar and consistent every time. It’s easier for them to understand what you offer and why it matters. That kind of clarity builds trust and keeps people coming back.

• Higher Engagement & Conversion: An integrated approach keeps customers more deeply involved. Shoppers engaged across multiple touchpoints tend to do more business with you. In fact, marketers running campaigns on 3+ channels have seen 287% higher purchase rates than those using a single channel.

• Better Retention & Loyalty: Omnichannel customers often become your best customers. Consistent, personalized experiences make people feel connected to your brand. They’re more likely to stick around and choose you over competitors. One analysis found omnichannel campaigns boosted customer retention rates by around 90% compared to single-channel efforts. That kind of loyalty is gold for an SMB looking to build a reliable customer base.

• Greater ROI on Marketing Spend: By unifying your strategy, you avoid redundant efforts and can attribute results more accurately. Each channel can play to its strength in the funnel – for example, maybe social media drives awareness, email drives repeat purchases, and Connected TV drives a mix of both. When all channels work together, you squeeze more value from every marketing dollar. (Omnichannel shoppers also have larger basket sizes on average – Target famously found that multichannel customers spent 4× more than store-only shoppers)

In short, omnichannel marketing helps level the playing field for small businesses. You don’t need a Super Bowl budget to create a cohesive brand presence across touchpoints. Strategic coordination and the right tools (more on those soon) can make even a modest marketing budget punch above its weight.

Why TV Belongs in Your Omnichannel Mix

When planning omnichannel campaigns, many SMBs naturally think of digital channels like search, social media, email, and website chatbots. But there’s one powerful channel that often gets overlooked by smaller businesses: television advertising – and more specifically, streaming TV (also known as Connected TV or CTV). Traditionally, TV was seen as a “big brand” channel with high costs and little targeting. Not anymore. In 2025, streaming TV advertising has become accessible, affordable, and laser-targeted, making it an ideal addition to an SMB’s omnichannel toolkit.

Streaming TV reaches your audience in a way that only a few channels can: the big screen. Americans now spend over 2 hours a day watching CTV content on services like Hulu, Roku, Peacock, and more. Importantly, streaming has opened up TV to precise audience targeting just like digital. Instead of broadcasting to everyone in a city, an SMB can target, say, “fitness enthusiasts in the Dallas area, ages 25-40” or “suburban homeowners in certain ZIP codes” with a TV commercial on streaming apps. This is a game-changer for using TV in a multichannel strategy. You get TV’s unbeatable storytelling and household reach combined with digital-style precision and data.

Costs have come down, too. Streaming ad inventory has grown with more ad-supported platforms (Netflix, Disney+, and others launched ad tiers recently), driving down prices. Streaming TV CPMs have dropped into the ~$40 range (from around $60 on premium platforms a couple of years ago), making CTV viable for many SMB advertisers.

In fact, many local businesses are reallocating 15–20% of their ad budgets from traditional linear TV into CTV to get more granular targeting for the same spend. The local CTV/OTT ad market is surging – it’s expected to grow about 20% from 2023 to 2025, reaching $2.8 billion in spend. That growth is largely coming from smaller advertisers jumping in as streaming makes TV more accessible.

What role can TV play in omnichannel marketing? Think of TV (especially streaming) as the big awareness and engagement driver that supercharges your other channels:

• Top-of-Funnel Brand Awareness: TV ads, whether on traditional broadcast or streaming apps, are fantastic for introducing your brand story to a broad audience. A 30-second CTV spot can captivate viewers in a way a tiny mobile ad might not. This builds brand recall so that when the customer later sees your Facebook ad or Google result, they recognize you. TV is often the spark that lights the fire. For instance, at the awareness stage, a streaming TV ad can convey your brand’s personality and value proposition to kick off the customer journey.

• Mid-Funnel Consideration and Retargeting: With CTV’s targeting abilities, you can serve more detailed ads to specific audience segments, reinforcing why your product is great. Got someone who visited your website? You can retarget them with a streaming ad on Hulu to keep your brand in mind. At the consideration stage, TV ads can emphasize competitive advantages and testimonials, strengthening the viewer’s intent to choose you. This works hand-in-hand with your email campaigns and social content that provides additional info.

• Lower-Funnel Conversions: Yes, TV can drive direct action too! Interactive CTV ads now allow features like QR codes or on-screen calls-to-action that viewers can act on immediately. In fact, 72% of CTV viewers in a recent survey said they would scan a QR code in a TV ad to make a purchase. That’s a huge opportunity to convert couch surfers into customers. For example, you run a streaming ad for a limited-time offer and display a QR code – interested viewers scan and land straight on your product page to buy. TV can be the catalyst that pushes someone over the finish line, especially when combined with a seamless online path (like a mobile-friendly site to complete the purchase). In omnichannel campaigns, we even see TV ads that include promo codes or special URLs, effectively bridging offline and online to attribute responses.

Another big advantage is that using TV in omnichannel yields incremental results beyond what other channels achieve alone. Marketers report that adding Connected TV to the mix significantly boosts overall campaign lift – one survey found 72% of marketers include CTV in their holiday campaigns because it drives measurable incremental lift alongside other channels. Essentially, TV amplifies the effectiveness of your social, search, and email efforts by reinforcing the message on a large screen. Consumers see your consistent message in multiple places – a phenomenon known as the halo effect. For SMBs, this means a relatively small investment in streaming ads can make all your other marketing more productive.

Finally, modern TV advertising is now as easy to execute as a Facebook campaign. You don’t need to produce a fancy $100K commercial or navigate complex media buying. You can create simple video ads (even using AI tools or templates) and deploy them to streaming services locally or nationally, within the same kind of dashboard you use for Google or Facebook Ads. In short, TV has become a friendly and scalable tool for SMB marketers, not just the domain of Fortune 500 brands. Including it in your omnichannel strategy gives you a powerful edge – the credibility and impact of TV combined with the efficiency of digital.

Omnichannel Marketing Platforms and Solutions for SMBs

Executing an omnichannel strategy can be complex – but the good news is there are plenty of platforms and tools designed to help businesses (even small ones) manage and simplify multichannel marketing. The right software can act like the “brain” connecting all your marketing dots: centralizing customer data, automating campaigns across channels, and measuring results in one place. Here we highlight a few types of omnichannel marketing solutions and examples, with a special emphasis on Skybeam – a platform bringing TV into the mix for SMBs.

1. Marketing Automation & CRM Platforms

These platforms help you centralize your marketing efforts across email, social media, SMS, content, and more. They typically combine customer relationship management (CRM) with marketing automation, so you can segment your audience and deliver consistent, personalized campaigns on multiple channels. For example, HubSpot is a popular all-in-one omnichannel marketing platform that offers tools for email marketing, social scheduling, blogging, ad tracking, and a CRM database for personalization. Using a platform like HubSpot lets an SMB plan an email blast, social posts, and even ad retargeting from one dashboard – ensuring the messaging is coordinated. These platforms excel at lead nurturing and aligning marketing with sales, which is crucial for providing a cohesive experience throughout the buyer’s journey. In short, they help deliver consistent messages and campaigns no matter which channel you’re using. Many are affordable for SMB tiers or even have free versions to get started.

2. Cross-Channel Advertising Management

Another challenge in omnichannel marketing is running ads on multiple platforms (think Google, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) and tracking everything together. Cross-channel ad management tools (sometimes called advertising management software or demand-side platforms) simplify this by giving you one interface to create, target, and optimize ads across various networks.

3. TV Advertising Platforms

As we discussed, TV is a potent channel for an omnichannel strategy – and Skybeam is a prime example of a solution making TV ads easy for businesses of all sizes. Skybeam is a self-serve platform specifically designed for SMBs and agencies to plan, buy, and measure TV ad campaigns with the ease of digital tools. In other words, Skybeam brings the scale and influence of TV within reach – no complex tech or giant budgets required. It’s built on Simulmedia’s long-time expertise in TV advertising, but packaged in a user-friendly way for someone who might also be running search or social ads.

What can Skybeam do? Think of it as a one-stop TV advertising solution that fits into your omnichannel mix:

• It offers advanced targeting so you can pinpoint the exact audience for your TV ads – by demographics, interests, location (down to specific zip codes or DMAs for local campaigns), and even behaviors. This ensures your TV ads reach the right viewers, complementing your targeted efforts on other channels.

• It has a TV Impact Forecaster and real-time analytics, letting you predict outcomes and then track impressions, website visits, ROAS, and more from your TV campaigns. This data-driven approach means you can measure TV’s impact alongside your digital channels – crucial for omnichannel attribution.

• Skybeam allows campaigns to scale nationally or locally with ease. So whether you’re a local retailer wanting to hit nearby streaming viewers or an e-commerce brand going nationwide, you can dial your geo-targeting accordingly, much like you do on digital platforms.

• Perhaps most importantly, Skybeam is designed for marketers who are familiar with digital ads. The platform feels intuitive if you’ve used online ad tools – it combines the flexibility and real-time control of digital with the massive reach of TV. They’ve effectively eliminated the usual barriers (no need for a media broker or months-long TV contracts).

By making high-impact TV campaigns accessible to everyone, Skybeam lets an SMB include streaming TV in its omnichannel plan without breaking a sweat. It’s a unique platform in that it unifies what used to be a fragmented process – instead of having to separately buy ads on Hulu, Peacock, Discovery+, etc., Skybeam’s unified approach lets you reach across many streaming services in one go. No more choosing one publisher at a time; you can connect with viewers wherever they are in one seamless solution. In a crowded ad-tech market, Skybeam sets itself apart by being powerful yet easy to navigate, built specifically for small and mid-sized businesses. If you’re an SMB marketer looking to level up, a tool like Skybeam can serve as a launchpad to drive real results through Streaming TV – making TV as straightforward to deploy as a Facebook ad.

Many SMBs will mix and match tools to build their ideal stack. The key takeaway is: you’re not alone in trying to coordinate all these channels. Modern marketing software is rising to the challenge, offering SMB-friendly platforms that tie everything together. Whether it’s a full-suite platform or a combination of specialized tools, investing in an “omnichannel marketing platform” (or ecosystem of platforms) will pay off in efficiency and better campaign performance.

Emerging Omnichannel Marketing Trends in 2025

Marketing is always evolving, and the omnichannel approach itself continues to mature. As we head through 2025, a few key omnichannel marketing trends are shaping how businesses engage their customers. Staying on top of these trends can give SMBs an edge in crafting campaigns that resonate. Let’s look at some of the top trends (and buzzwords) in omnichannel marketing this year:

1. Hyper-Personalization Powered by AI: Personalization isn’t new, but it’s reaching new heights thanks to better data and AI tools. Consumers now expect marketing to be tailored just for them – and brands that deliver reap rewards. 72% of consumers say they will only engage with personalized messaging (no more one-size-fits-all content). In practice, this means using your customer data to segment and customize everything: product recommendations, content, offers, timing of messages, etc. The rise of generative AI in marketing is making this easier for small teams. AI can help write individualized emails, generate ad variations for different audiences, or even dynamically change website content based on who’s visiting. The impact on business is significant: Deloitte finds that 75% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that deliver personalized content. And companies leading in personalization are far more likely to exceed their revenue goals. In 2025, we’re essentially seeing a “personalization renaissance” (as one industry report dubbed it) – AI allows even SMBs to treat customers like known individuals across channels. From an omnichannel perspective, ensure your platforms (CRM, website, ad tools) share data so that, for example, the product someone browsed on your site yesterday informs the streaming TV ad or the coupon email they see tomorrow. The tech may be advanced, but the goal is an old-fashioned one: making customers feel understood and special wherever they interact with your brand.

2. First-Party Data & Privacy-Focused Marketing: The marketing world is adjusting to major privacy shifts – notably the phase-out of third-party cookies and stricter data regulations. For businesses, this trend underscores the importance of building your own first-party data (like emails, purchase history, website behavior) and using it smartly across channels. An omnichannel strategy actually puts you in a good position here: by engaging customers directly on multiple channels (store, site, app, social), you can gather rich insights with their consent. Investing in customer data platforms and clean data practices is a big 2025 trend as brands try to unify their view of the customer without relying on rented data from ad networks. The flip side is that customers care about privacy – so transparency and trust are critical. Marketers are being more upfront about data use and offering clear value in exchange (like personalized discounts or useful content). As privacy regulations expand, those who “transform privacy into an opportunity” by leaning into first-party data will have a competitive edge. For SMBs, practical steps include: encouraging newsletter sign-ups or loyalty program enrollment (so you can stay in touch after cookie-based retargeting diminishes), using tools that match website visitors to TV or mobile users via privacy-safe methods (device graphs), and working with partners that uphold strong privacy standards. Remember, an omnichannel approach isn’t just about marketing to customers on many channels – it’s also about listening and learning about them across those channels in a compliant way.

3. Seamless Online-Offline Integration: The boundary between digital and physical channels keeps blurring. Even for small businesses with a physical presence, 2025’s consumer expects a seamless transition between online and offline experiences. This trend is huge in retail (think “buy online, pick up in store”), but it applies broadly: customers want to, say, browse inventory on their phone, ask a question via chatbot, then visit your store and not have to repeat themselves. Or they can attend a live event and then get relevant follow-up offers by email. Omnichannel leaders are finding creative ways to integrate channels – like using QR codes or AR in-store to link to online content, or retargeting someone with a streaming TV ad after they’ve visited a physical location. A striking stat: 75% of consumers want a seamless omnichannel experience while shopping and now use at least three channels in their buying journey. For SMBs, one actionable trend is ensuring consistent brand consistency and service across touchpoints. Online and offline can no longer be separate silos – they must complement each other as part of one continuous journey. Businesses that pull this off will win more loyalty. (And by the way, even if you’re online-only, this trend might mean integrating third-party channels like marketplaces or social commerce into your strategy, so customers get the same vibe and service wherever they buy your product.)

4. CTV and Video Marketing Surge: We’ve already covered the role of Connected TV, but it’s worth noting as a trend: 2025 is a year where streaming TV advertising goes fully mainstream for marketers. The continued cord-cutting and the addition of new ad-supported streaming options mean video is becoming a central pillar of omnichannel campaigns. Even small brands are investing in short-form video (TikTok, Instagram Reels) and longer-form video ads on CTV. The trend is fueled by better creative tools (many driven by AI) that lower the cost of producing video content. We’re also seeing innovation like shoppable videos – for instance, a viewer can click or scan from a video ad and instantly shop the featured product, blending content and commerce. Interactive video ads on CTV with QR codes, as mentioned, are driving high engagement and even direct sales. Marketers should treat CTV as not just an awareness channel but as an interactive, measurable part of the funnel. And beyond pure advertising, brands are using video content strategically across channels – from explainer videos on their website to live video events on social media – to create a richer omnichannel narrative. If you haven’t yet explored how streaming or video fit into your 2025 marketing plan, now’s the time; your competitors likely are.

5. Omnichannel for B2B and Niche Industries: (We’ll dive deeper into B2B next, but it’s worth noting as a trend.) Omnichannel isn’t just for retail and direct-to-consumer brands. B2B companies are embracing omnichannel sales and marketing in a big way, spurred by changes in buyer behavior. From virtual events and webinars to account-based marketing across email, LinkedIn, and yes, even CTV or digital out-of-home ads targeted at key accounts – B2B marketers are expanding their channel mix. The trend here is recognizing that B2B buyers want the same convenient, multichannel experience that consumers do. Post-2020, many B2B buyers have grown comfortable doing large transactions online or via self-service platforms. Leading B2B firms provide a mix of in-person, remote (e.g., Zoom/phone), and digital self-serve options, letting the customer seamlessly switch as needed. We’re also seeing more B2B marketplaces and online portals that need integration with traditional sales outreach. All told, omnichannel is becoming the norm in B2B as well, which brings us to our next section.

B2B Omnichannel Marketing: Reaching Business Buyers Everywhere

If your business sells to other businesses (B2B), you might be thinking, “Do I really need omnichannel, or is that just a B2C thing?” The answer: B2B buyers in 2025 absolutely expect an omnichannel experience. In fact, the line between B2C and B2B expectations has blurred – business buyers are acting more like consumers, researching and engaging across many channels and expecting convenience at every step. Here’s what B2B omnichannel marketing means today, and why it’s critical even for SMBs serving business clients.

B2B customers use a lot of channels. Recent research shows that on average, B2B buyers utilize about 10 different interaction channels in their purchase journey – double the number from just a few years ago. Think about it: a prospective client might discover your product via a LinkedIn post, then attend a webinar, read an email newsletter, compare solutions on a review site, perhaps see a targeted industry ad (even possibly a CTV ad during a business news show), and finally talk to a sales rep or chatbot on your site. If any one of those touchpoints is disconnected or inconsistent, it can derail the deal. More than half of B2B decision-makers now want a truly seamless omnichannel experience where they can move from channel to channel without friction – and they’re quick to switch suppliers if you don’t deliver that ease. The old days of relying only on trade shows and sales calls are fading; today’s B2B winners are present everywhere their buyers research.

Omnichannel in B2B involves both digital and human touches. A popular concept is the “rule of thirds” – roughly one-third of B2B buyers prefer in-person interactions, one-third prefer remote human interactions (like phone or video calls), and one-third prefer digital self-service at any given stage. And most buyers want all three options available so they can choose what suits them at the moment. This means B2B marketing and sales need to be tightly aligned, and your messaging should carry through from your online content to your sales deck to your follow-up emails. For example, if a potential client downloads a whitepaper (digital channel), that action should trigger a coherent follow-up sequence: maybe an email drip campaign with related case studies, a custom audience for your LinkedIn ads, and a note to your sales team to mention that whitepaper’s topic on the next call. It’s all connected.

Data and personalization are just as important for B2B. Successful B2B marketers are leveraging account-based marketing (ABM) techniques, which is essentially an omnichannel approach targeted to specific high-value accounts. You might tailor web content, ads, and emails specifically to a single account or industry. Tools that integrate CRM data with ad platforms (for instance, uploading a list of target companies or job titles to a platform for targeting) enable this multichannel precision. The use of AI is rising here too, helping to personalize outreach at scale. For instance, AI can draft individualized emails for different stakeholders at a target account, reflecting their industry or role. Remember that in B2B, purchase decisions often involve multiple stakeholders, each possibly responding to different channels (an engineer might prefer technical documentation on your website, while a CFO might react to a thought leadership article in an industry publication). An omnichannel strategy makes sure you’re covering all bases and sharing insights across your team. If the engineer clicks on a LinkedIn ad for a free trial, your sales team should know that when talking to the CFO, your subsequent marketing touches should adapt accordingly.

One compelling stat: a McKinsey B2B survey found that B2B buyers now regularly use a dozen or more channels during their decision process, up from just five a few years ago. And importantly, they are comfortable making large purchases online. Over one-third of B2B customers are willing to spend $500,000 or more via online/remote channels in a single transaction, given the right information and trust in place. This was almost unthinkable a decade ago, but it shows how a robust omnichannel presence (including a strong e-commerce or digital purchase capability) can directly drive big revenue in B2B.

Practical tips for B2B omnichannel (SMB edition): Ensure your website is a rich resource (with product info, demos, FAQs) because it’s often the hub that other channels feed into. Utilize LinkedIn and industry-specific forums for content marketing – and have a system to capture those leads into your CRM. Nurture leads with email workflows that adapt to their engagement. Consider retargeting ads or even direct mail for high-value prospects to keep your brand top-of-mind. If budget allows, sponsoring a segment on a business podcast or placing CTV ads on streaming business news or sports (many decision-makers, after all, watch the same streaming content as everyone else) can be an awareness play that complements your direct outreach. The key is consistency: the message a prospect gets in a LinkedIn ad should match what they later hear from your sales rep on a Zoom call. B2B sales cycles can be long, but an omnichannel approach increases touchpoint frequency without annoying the buyer, because you’re diversifying how you reach them. It’s orchestrated and often subtle.

Ultimately, B2B omnichannel marketing is about being flexible and buyer-centric. Let the buyer guide the journey – give them options to self-serve information, and options to speak to a human when they want. By meeting business buyers wherever they prefer, and keeping your story straight across those interactions, your SMB can punch above its weight against larger competitors. In 2025, this omnichannel agility is what separates the B2B vendors who keep growing from those that get left behind.

Wrapping Up: Take Your Marketing Everywhere (Without Losing Your Mind)

Omnichannel marketing may sound complex, but it boils down to a simple principle: be there for your customers – everywhere, in a connected way. For small and mid-sized businesses in the U.S., the playing field is more level than ever. Consumers don’t care if a message comes from a two-person startup or a Fortune 500 brand; they care that it’s relevant, consistent, and convenient for them. With the right strategy and tools, SMBs can deliver that unified experience across channels and reap outsized rewards in loyalty and sales.

To recap, start by ensuring you have a clear brand story and customer journey mapped out. Then, we leverage modern omnichannel marketing platforms and solutions to execute that story cohesively on each channel. Don’t be afraid to include channels like streaming TV or new social platforms in your mix; they’re more accessible than ever and can amplify your impact when integrated with other tactics. Keep an eye on emerging trends: personalize wherever you can (responsibly), invest in your own customer data, blend online with offline experiences, and remember that business buyers are people too, craving the same seamless approach.

Above all, think like your customer. They don’t say, “Now I’m in Channel X, so I expect a different experience.” They see one brand, your brand, across it all. If you use the tools and strategies outlined here, you’ll be well on your way to delivering the kind of omnichannel marketing that makes customers feel understood and valued at every touch. And when customers feel that, they stick around.

So, whether someone encounters your business on a TV screen, a smartphone, a laptop, or in person, make it count – and make it connected. Omnichannel marketing isn’t a luxury for big companies anymore; it’s the secret weapon for SMB growth. With a bit of creativity and the help of platforms like Skybeam (to take your message to the big screen) alongside your other marketing tools, you can truly be everywhere your customers are, all at once – and win their business for the long haul.