10 Proven Ways to Increase Customer Engagement

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10 Proven Ways to Increase Customer Engagement

In today's business world, customer engagement is more important than ever. The rise of digital platforms has made it easier for customers to connect with brands and voice their opinions. As a result, brands need to be proactive in engaging with their customers to build a loyal following and stay ahead of the competition. In this blog post, We will explore the top 10 customer engagement strategies that will help you connect with your customers and create loyal brand advocates. 

What is customer engagement?

Customer engagement is the process of interacting with customers through various channels and touchpoints to build a relationship with them. It involves listening to customers, understanding their needs and preferences, and responding appropriately to their feedback.

Effective customer engagement requires a deep understanding of customer journey and customer experience. Brands need to be able to identify where customers are in the journey and which touchpoints they are interacting with. This information can be used to tailor future messaging and offers to individual customers and provide a seamless and personalized experience.

Customer engagement is not a one-time event but rather an ongoing process. Brands need to be consistent in their approach and regularly engage with customers to maintain their loyalty and advocacy.

Importance of customer engagement strategies

Customer engagement is a vital part of a business strategy for several reasons. 

1. Builds brand loyalty: Engaged customers are more likely to be loyal to a brand. When customers feel a connection to a brand, they are more likely to return for future purchases and recommend the brand to others.

2. Increases revenue: Engaged customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and spend more money over time. They are also more likely to try new products or services from the same brand.

3. Improves customer experience: Engaged customers are more likely to have a positive experience with a brand. They feel heard and understood, which leads to increased satisfaction and loyalty.

4. Provides valuable feedback: Engaged customers are more likely to provide feedback to a brand. This feedback can help the brand improve its products, services, and customer experience.

5. Helps in building a community: Engaged customers are more likely to participate in online communities or social media groups related to the brand. This can help the brand build a community of loyal customers who advocate for the brand.

Overall, customer engagement is essential for building a strong relationship between a brand and its customers. By engaging with customers, brands can improve customer experience, increase revenue, and build a loyal customer base.

The Best 10 Ways to Increase Customer Engagement

Here are ten effective customer engagement strategies to increase customer engagement:

  1. Deliver an omnichannel experience
  2. Deploy chatbots on your website
  3. Get your customers involved
  4. Implement a loyalty program
  5. Optimize for mobile
  6. Use push notifications
  7. Personalize customer experiences
  8. Utilize the power of video content
  9. Ask for customer feedback
  10. Ensuring an active presence on social media

1) Deliver an omnichannel experience

Omnichannel experience involves providing a seamless and consistent experience across all channels. This means that customers can start an interaction on one channel and easily jump into another one without any disruption or inconsistency in their experience. Delivering an omnichannel experience is essential for companies that want to provide an excellent customer journey. By offering multiple channels for engagement, companies can meet customers wherever they are and provide a personalized experience. This can help companies build stronger relationships with their customers and increase loyalty.

Additionally, omnichannel experiences can lead to increased sales and revenue. By making it easy for customers to engage with a company, companies can increase customer satisfaction and encourage repeat business. In fact, research has shown that companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for companies with weak strategies.

2) Deploy chatbots on your website

Deploying chatbots on your website is a great way to provide an omnichannel experience to your customers. Chatbots can provide quick and personalized responses to customer queries, and can be available 24/7 to assist customers.

By integrating chatbots with your CRM system, you can ensure that customer data is synchronized across all channels. This means that if a customer interacts with a chatbot, their data is automatically updated in your system, making it easier for agents to provide personalized service later on.

3) Get your customers involved

Another way to improve customer engagement is through user-generated content (UGC). UGC is any type of content that is created by customers and shared publicly, such as reviews, photos, and videos. Storyly’s Moments is a great way to enable your users to create Stories right in your app.

One of the main benefits of UGC is that it is more authentic than traditional marketing content. Customers are more likely to trust content created by other customers, rather than content created by companies. By leveraging UGC, companies can build trust and credibility with their customers, leading to increased customer loyalty and advocacy.

There are several ways to encourage UGC. One approach is to create social media campaigns that encourage customers to share photos or videos of themselves using the product. Companies can also create contests or giveaways that encourage customers to create and share content. Additionally, companies can ask customers to leave reviews on their website or social media channels.

When using UGC, it's important to ensure that the content is authentic and relevant. This means that companies should avoid manipulating the content or using fake reviews. Customers can easily spot inauthentic content, which might result in a loss of trust and credibility.

4) Implement a loyalty program

Implementing a loyalty program is also an effective strategy to improve customer engagement and increase customer retention. A loyalty program can offer incentives for customers to continue doing business with a company, and also encourage them to refer friends and family members to the business.

When implementing a loyalty program, it is important to consider what type of rewards will be most meaningful to your customers. Some common rewards include discounts on future purchases, free merchandise or services, and access to exclusive events or promotions. It's also important to make the rewards achievable and valuable enough that customers will be motivated to participate.

To make the loyalty program more engaging, consider creating tiers or levels that customers can progress through as they accumulate more points or purchases. This can create a sense of achievement and motivate customers to continue earning rewards.

5) Optimize for mobile

The rise of mobile devices has made it essential for brands to optimize their content for mobile users. One important aspect of this optimization is taking a mobile-first approach to content experiences.

A mobile-first approach to content experiences is crucial for brands that want to effectively reach out to and engage with their customers. By designing and creating content with mobile users in mind, brands can improve user experience, boost search engine rankings, and ultimately drive more conversions.

6) Use push notifications

Push notifications have also proven to be a highly effective tool for brands to engage with their customers and increase customer loyalty. By sending targeted and personalized messages directly to a user’s device, brands can provide timely and relevant information that enhances customer experience.

One of the primary benefits of push notifications is their ability to deliver real-time updates. For example, a retailer can send push notifications to customers when a new product line launches or when a sale is about to end. These notifications are immediate, attention-grabbing, and can help drive conversions and sales.

However, it is essential to use push notifications strategically and avoid overwhelming customers with too many notifications. Bombarding customers with irrelevant or low-value notifications can lead to opt-outs and even hurt the overall customer experience. Therefore, it is crucial to target customers carefully and provide customers with the option to customize their notification preferences.

7) Personalize customer experiences

In today's digital world, customers expect more than just a generic message. They want relevant and tailored content that speaks directly to their needs and interests. This is where personalized content experiences come into play.

Personalized content experiences are all about using data and technology to create targeted and relevant content for individual customers. By understanding their preferences, behavior, and needs, businesses can deliver content that resonates with customers and drives better engagement.

One of the main advantages of personalized content experiences is that they can help businesses stand out from the crowd. With so much noise and competition online, it's essential to deliver content that cuts through the clutter and grabs the attention of your target audience. Personalization is one of the most effective ways to achieve this.

Moreover, personalized content experiences can help build stronger relationships with customers. By delivering content that is relevant and valuable to them, businesses can show that they understand their needs and care about their experience. This, in turn, can lead to increased loyalty and advocacy.

8) Utilize the power of video content

When it comes to content, video is the king. Video content is not only more engaging, but it's also more popular than any other content type. In fact, studies show that over 80% of users prefer video over other types of content.

One of the reasons for this is that videos are more immersive, dynamic, and visually appealing than text or images. They can convey complex information and emotions in a way that is easy to comprehend,  remember, and relate to.

Moreover, video content is highly shareable and can help businesses reach a wider audience. By creating compelling and shareable video content, businesses can tap into the power of social media and other online platforms to increase their reach and engagement.

While brands create videos for social, they also need to bring their video content to their own mobile app or website to make their platform more engaging and absorbing. Adding a video layer where you can deliver your short-form videos which are prepared for social media enables you to create a more dynamic experience in your own platform that’ll keep your users coming back and buying more. One of the best ways to leverage the power of video content is through Storyly's Shoppable Video Stories. These Stories combine the immersive power of video with the convenience of shoppable links, allowing businesses to showcase their products and services in a highly engaging way. With Storyly, brands can create personalized and interactive video content that drives engagement and sales.

9) Ask for customer feedback

To create personalized content experiences that truly resonate with customers, it's essential to understand their needs and preferences. And one of the best ways to do this is by asking for their feedback.

By soliciting feedback from customers, businesses can gather valuable insights into what they like, what they don't like, and what they want to see more of. This information can then be used to create content that is more relevant, engaging, and valuable to them.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to collect customer feedback is through Storyly's Question Sticker. This feature allows businesses to ask their followers open-ended questions and gather feedback in a quick and easy way. By leveraging this powerful tool, businesses can gain a better understanding of their customers and create personalized content experiences that truly resonate with them.

10) Ensuring an active presence on social media

Social media platforms are essential for businesses looking to engage with their customers. By maintaining an active presence on social media, businesses can connect with their audience, build relationships, and increase brand awareness.

To ensure an active presence on social media, it's important to develop a clear strategy and plan for content creation and distribution. This includes identifying the platforms that are most relevant to your target audience and creating content that resonates with them.

Consistency is also key. By posting regularly and engaging with your followers, you can keep your brand top of mind and build a loyal following. It's important to respond promptly to comments and messages, and to participate in relevant conversations and hashtags.

Another important aspect of social media engagement is to leverage the power of user-generated content, as we discussed in the previous section. By encouraging your followers to create and share content related to your brand, you can increase engagement and build a sense of community around your business.

How Storyly can help level up your customer engagement? 

Are you looking for a way to increase customer engagement and retention? Look no further than Storyly.

Storyly allows you to create engaging content that your customers can interact with on your mobile and website. By adding interactive stickers such as polls, quizzes, and product tags, you can let your customers actively participate in the content and feel more connected to your brand.

But Storyly doesn't just increase engagement - it also improves retention. When you provide your users with fresh and relevant content on a regular basis, they become more likely to continue using your app and remain loyal to your brand. 

You can also build better re-engagement campaigns across channels with Inbox Stories. Embed Storyly Stories with zero development effort in your emails to improve click-through rates and inspire audiences in a way that standard emails can’t match.

In addition, Storyly provides valuable customer insights. By tracking metrics such as views, exits, and interactions, you can better understand what content resonates with your audience and tailor future content accordingly.

Conclusion

Customer engagement is essential for building a strong relationship between a brand and its customers. By engaging with customers through various channels and touchpoints, businesses can improve customer experience, increase revenue, and build a loyal customer base. By implementing the strategies discussed in this blog post and utilizing tools such as Storyly, businesses can take their customer engagement to the next level. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kaan Uyanık

Product Marketer who embraces empathic understanding, creativity and data. User-centered and product-driven approach to drive business impact and scale. Trained cultural sociologist who used to study communities.

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