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As any business knows, keeping a customer engaged is very important for growth and customer loyalty. This is especially true for online activities. People have shorter attention spans on the internet, are constantly bombarded with messages from you and your competition, and easily change their commitments when something new comes along.
Let’s look at how you can keep your customers engaged by incorporating these 4 key tools into your customer engagement strategy.
What is customer engagement?
Customer engagement is all about interacting with your customer. You build a customer relationship that keeps them coming back for more, increases awareness about your brand, and encourages customer loyalty through satisfaction. Keeping your customer engaged encourages a two-way conversation and helps you build a long-lasting and sustainable relationship with them.
4 keys ways to improve customer engagement include:
#1 Social media
With billions of users across the world using social media platforms on a daily basis, this is definitely the top way to engage your customers and keep them interested in what you have to say. Customers interact with brands on social media the same way they would with their family, friends, celebrities, and acquaintances. Social media removes certain barriers that exist between brand and client and makes the relationship more casual and conversational.
The first thing you need to do as a business on social media is to know who your audience is and which social media platform you’ll find them on. Tailor your tone to fit your audience and the platform you are interacting with them on. If you are on Instagram or TikTok, use a casual and informal voice. On LinkedIn, you’ll need to adopt a more formal language. Post regularly and encourage your customers to interact with you by liking, tagging, commenting on, and sharing your posts.
Stay relevant to what’s trending so you can be on top of whatever conversation is taking place. Research what time your audience is most likely to take notice of your social media activity and post when you know they are watching. Engaging customers on social media is not hard to do, but takes a bit of practice to build up your momentum.
#2 Chatbots & live chat
According to a HubSpot study, 71% of customers are eager to use web messaging apps to get assistance. Businesses across the world are using chatbots to save on customer service costs and many say that it speeds up response times of routine questions by up to 80%. Chatbots are a useful way to keep your customer engaged as they are available 24/7, can be programmed to answer almost every frequently asked question, and provide customers with solutions during peak times.
The use of chatbots provides quick answers to impatient customers and offers a smooth interaction in the customer journey – it’s a win-win situation. Another tool many businesses are adopting is live chats on their webpages and apps. This is similar to chatbots, but is controlled by humans.
By connecting with your customers in real-time you show that you care about their query and are willing to keep them engaged whenever they need you. Personalise your live chat and chatbot experience to make each customer special by using their name, knowing the details of their order and what they are looking for.
#3 Emails
Email marketing is an old, but still highly effective, way to keep your customer engaged for the long-term. It is cost-effective and great for your ROI and can be used at all stages of your customer’s buying cycle.
More than 50% of email recipients make a monthly purchase through email marketing and almost 60% say that emails influence their buying decisions. With the right email strategy in place, you can keep your customers engaged and loyal for years to come.
Personalise all emails to include your customer’s details and interests. Email them at different stages of their journey from welcoming them, showcasing new product launches, announcing competitions, wishing them a happy birthday, and thanking them for their patronage.
#4 Push notifications
Push notifications are a creative way to grab the attention of your customer and remind them of your existence. They allow you to stay in touch with your users, engage them during times, and they offer a unique customer experience as they already have your app on their device.
With so many apps on their mobile device, it’s important to think-out-of-box when it comes to push notifications. Be relevant and special without being annoying. Monitor their activity to gently nudge them on what else they’re missing out on to get them to engage with your content.
Which tool is right for you?
Whatever customer engagement tool you choose to incorporate for your business, remember to be responsive at all times. It’s all about interacting with your customer and encouraging them to be open and honest with you and providing them with an authentic experience.
Use a mix of these tools and see what works best for your business. Show the customer that their experience is of utmost importance to you and monitor which tool yields the best results for you and which ones meet your goals. You should aim to take charge of the conversation and keep the exchange going until it produces the result you’re looking for.