CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

October 13, 2020

Customer engagement is an important part of building your presence online and the key to building a long-term relationship with your customers. It helps customers feel as though you care about their experience with your brand and their overall satisfaction.

It’s especially important to connect with your audience during times of difficulty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may want to let your customers know you are aware of the struggles they are having, but be sensitive to their needs and keep your messages relevant. Adjust your messaging and engagement tactics to suit your audience where appropriate.

WHAT IS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT?

Customer engagement is simply a measure of your company’s interactions across all touchpoints during your customer’s lifecycle.

These can include:

• Social media
• Email
• Social media chats
• Comments on your website

Customers expect brands to provide a “human” touch to their interactions. Creating a customer-centric engagement strategy is key for success with your online store. A research study conducted by Bain & Company shows that a small 5% increase in customer retention results in a 25% increase in overall revenue. Customers continue to tell brands they are more likely to remain loyal to an engaged brand.

HOW DO I DRIVE ENGAGEMENT?

Effectively driving engagement requires you to know your audience well. You know who they are, what they are looking for, and what content resonates with them the best. If you don’t know your audience, it will be difficult to provide valuable, engaging content. Take the time to research your target audience to develop the best strategy for your business.

Part of knowing your audience also means understanding what platforms they engage with the most. The best engagement strategies target the platforms and content where your audience is already engaged.

Email

Email is still an important part of customer engagement and gives you plenty of opportunities to meet them in their inbox. Provide value with discounts, sales, or even surveys for feedback. Some of the emails you need to include in your email strategy are:

• Welcome emails
• Transactional emails
• Newsletters
• New products and designs available
• Shopping cart abandonment emails
• Sales or discounts

Creating your email strategy is only one part of encouraging engagement. Your emails don’t help your business if customers don’t open them! For the best emails, you also need:

• Persuasive subject lines
• Mobile-friendly emails
• Engaging content
• Attractive design

If you are struggling with your emails, consider signing up for a few of your competitor’s emails. Study their strategy and keep a file of the emails you like the best. Use them as inspiration when you are creating your own email content and design.

Social Media

Social Media is a fantastic opportunity for your brand or business to engage with your audience. Most of your customers enjoy social media and are already looking for awesome brands to connect with online. Take some time to research your audience so you don’t waste your efforts on the wrong platform.

Then, try some of these engagement tactics:

• Ask relevant questions.
• Have a strong CTA like “Tag a friend”
• Post consistently
• Consider posting customer reviews
• Create interactive content such as polls or quizzes
• Host giveaways
• Respond to comments or chats

Any type of content that requires your customer’s feedback will help your presence online. There is a ton of information online about this tactic and many other social media trends to help you with your marketing.

Conclusion:

It’s important for businesses to develop customer-centric strategies for the best success online. Customers expect businesses to be responsive and engaged. Remember, your messages should also be sensitive to current world events and also relevant to your audience. The best way to create engagement is to study your audience and understand their needs.

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