Last Updated on September 1, 2023 by David
Guest Post by Katrina Hatchett
Customer engagement is perhaps the most important aspect of any business. Even if you have the best product or service in the world, if your customers aren’t interacting with your business and connecting with you on some level, you’re not going to be making sales, and your conversion rate will be practically nothing.
Of course, people are going to come and invest in what you have to offer to a degree, but the higher you can take your customer engagement rates, the more profitable you’ll become. That being said, today we’re going to explore 13 key strategies you can use to do just that!
1. Utilize Customer Reviews
When you look at any company, both big and small, you’ll see them using reviews from past customers everywhere. From social media and their websites to product pages, reviews are vital when it comes to drawing the attention of both new and existing customers.
When someone says they like what they see in your business, this attracts people to use you because it’s going along with the credibility of someone else. After all, would you ever spend money on a one-star Amazon product? That’s the power of reviews.
2. Use Reward Schemes
When asking your customers to do something, actually getting them to do it is tough, which is why using rewards can be such an effective approach. Whether you’re getting them to simply click a link or you want them to spend time filling out a survey, giving them a reward (such as a free product or a discount) can be a great incentive.
3. Engage with the “Engage-able”
“If you have loyal fans or customers that interact with your business a lot already, continue to engage with them and give them a priority experience, almost like a VIP service. This will keep them being engaged, and if other customers see you treating them in this way, they’re more likely to engage more so they can reach that level” shares Jason Turner, a marketer at Writemyx and Nextcoursework.
4. Communicate Effectively
Think about all the channels you currently use to communicate with your customers for any reason, both pre, and post-sales, and now think of ways you can make it better. From traditional email and phone call channels to live chat and social media messenger apps, the more channels you can cover, the more opportunities for engagement you’ll have.
5. Invest in Your Business
“There are new technologies coming out all the time that can help you better engage with your customers, and them with you, so research what’s out there and what could work for you. For example, AI chatbots are a hot trend right now well worth the attention of many businesses,” explains Bethany Pepper, a support manager at Britstudent and Australia2write.
6. Emphasis Community
Social media these days is all about community and making people feel as though they’re a part of something bigger, which is why it’s important for your business to promote this. Engage with people. Chat with people in comment sections and converse. Care about them in your posts. Encourage people to talk to one another. Get people interacting and becoming a part of what you have to offer.
7. Use Crowdsourcing Methods
While not suitable for every business, crowdsourcing can be a great way to get people really invested and engaged with your business, or at least a project of your business, from the start. Not only will they be financially invested in your company, but they’ll also have somewhat of a say in big decisions, which is a huge amount of commitment and engagement. A project they invest in will be one they’ll plan to stay loyal too.
8. Check-in with Customers
Sometimes, you’ll have customers go off the radar, so why not engage with them and see how they’re doing. Even if they’re busy, offer your services to see if you can do anything to help them out!
9. Surprise People!
Pleasantly surprising people is a fantastic approach to drawing attention to your brand and business and getting people excited about what you have to offer. Whether you’re bringing out a surprise product, perhaps to mark a special occasion, or out of the blue offering a sale, any kind of nice surprise will get people talking and those conversion rates soaring.
10. Work with Influencers
There are now influencers in pretty much every industry, and hand in hand with the consideration on social proof above, influencers have an authority in their niche, and what they spend their time on, their customers spend their time on, so interact with them and use them with your business as a way to draw in and engage new customers.
For example, getting an influencer to host a live session on Instagram where they can chat to people and answer questions can be a great engagement tool.
11. Work with Customers
Nobody knows your business better than your customers, so promote the opportunity for you to work with them. For example, running a campaign where you take the photos that customers have taken using your products and then share them on your social media profiles is a fantastic way to boost engagement. It’s basically your customers making free content for you as well!
12. Synchronize Your Departments
While you may have separate departments working on separate things, such as sales, marketing, and promotions, you need to ensure everyone is working on the same page. Make sure everyone’s targets and goals are synced up, and everyone is working towards a common objective!
13. Use Company Data and Analytics
I cannot stress this point enough. No matter what platforms or services you’re using, look at your data, and see what works and what doesn’t. What content is trending? Which posts are doing the best? Highlight this content and replicate it. It makes sense; it’s what people want!
About Katrina
Katrina Hatchett, a marketing blogger at Academic Brits and writer for Coursework Help. She works on connecting customers with businesses in the most creative way possible, aiming to outshine any and all competition. She also writes for PhD Kingdom blog.
About Re:amaze
Re:amaze is a modern helpdesk and customer messaging platform designed to help eCommerce businesses boost customer happiness and revenue. Re:amaze allows all customer-oriented teams to work together in a shared inbox through email, social, SMS, voice, and live chat. Re:amaze also comes packaged with automated messaging and chatbots so eCommerce brands can succeed at the front lines of conversational commerce.