By now, most marketing professionals know the importance of understanding their customer, and providing personalized and localized user journeys that enhance the customer experience. The challenge, however, lies in the fact that visitors are no longer accessing a site from a single device or platform, making it increasingly difficult for marketers to get a holistic view of their customer’s behaviour.

For visitors, access to a site is based on their immediate need and context. Are they casually browsing on the couch via their tablet?  Are they looking for the nearest restaurant on their smartphone? Are they using in-store coupons via a mobile app? Modern marketers must understand that different channels mean not only different devices, but different context too. But with users accessing a site across channels, how can marketers provide a personalized journey for an individual, while at the same time connecting the experiences of the same visitor?

Oftentimes, the technology behind understanding user behaviour goes beyond the familiarity of modern marketers. While they may be savvy from a strategy standpoint, they may not know the ins and outs of smartphone, tablet and PC cookies, or how to correlate visits on different devices. To that end, visitors sometimes identify themselves differently, using personal and work emails at different times when using a site, making it even more difficult to understand their entire journey.

But all hope is not lost for marketers. Below are three easy ways to connect the user journey across platforms and provide personal, consistent experiences in an increasingly multi-channel world:

Give them a reason to log in

Giving customers a reason to log in with a single set of credentials is the easiest way for marketers to track user behaviour across channels. Most marketers get a dreamy look in their eye when they consider how many Amazon visitors have taken this step. But how do you convince someone to take that extra step to log in, especially when they may only have a low level of interest in the site to begin with? One way is by providing incentives like premium content and convenience. It’s also useful to assure the visitor what won’t happen by logging in. You need to promise no merciless marketing or email spamming (and keep that promise).

Alternatively, if you don’t feel you have the right incentive to create an identity on your site, promote social login, where the visitor can use their social network credentials to identify themselves on your site. Once again, explain the reasons and how their identity information will be used to get the most traction.

Provide a mobile link

 Many people check their email from their smartphones these days, giving marketers an extra opportunity to connect the user journey. By providing a link to the mobile version of an email, marketers will be able to see which visitors are using their smartphone. In this way, you can enrich the profile of that visitor and adjust the journey for greater engagement.

Just ask them

It sounds simple enough, but when someone visits your site from an unrecognized source, ask them if they’ve been to your site before. A simple question like that can provide you with the insight you need to provide the personalized experience your customer is looking for.

Bob Egner is VP of product management and global marketing at EPiServer