Why Is Customer Engagement Important?

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Without thoughtful customer engagement, your company is in danger of losing customers to businesses who take better advantage of their customer interactions, whether that’s resolving issues quickly or rewarding them for their loyalty.

Anytime you interact with your customers, you have an opportunity. An opportunity to drive customer loyalty. An opportunity to affect cross-sales. An opportunity to differentiate your business from your competitors.

All of these opportunities add up to increased revenue. Especially these days, when consumers are more likely to understand the true value of their relationship with you.

What Are the Best Channels for Engaging Customers?

Today, there are more ways than ever to communicate with your customers. And every time you are communicating is a chance for more customer engagement.

Here are some of the top customer engagement channels:

  • Email (transactional, campaigns, rewards)
  • Social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram)
  • SMS/text messages
  • Feedback surveys
  • Blog posts
  • Online review sites
  • Customer communities and forums

What Are Some Examples of Good Customer Engagement?

  • Personalized customer feedback surveys. After providing a product or service is one of the best times to connect with your customers. They’re primed to engage with you. Personalize the survey experience by including their first name and adding images, content, or videos that will foster more engagement post-survey.
  • Meaningful milestone messages. When a customer reaches a milestone like their birthday or customer anniversary, mark the event with an email or in-app message. Let your creativity shine by building a memorable experience that makes your customers feel seen and heard. Spotify’s end-of-year wrap-up of listening habits is an excellent example of strong customer engagement.
  • Stellar customer support interactions. With the rise in automation, your customers will appreciate a human touch, especially when they need support. Personalizing the experience during onboarding, reaching out to inactive customers to resolve any issues, and regularly sending out customer feedback surveys will keep your customers engaged with your brand and support your retention efforts.

How Do Rewards Programs Support Strong Customer Engagement?

Marketers know that it’s more costly to acquire new customers than to retain current ones. Having a loyalty program with rewards is not only a crucial retention tool for many companies, it’s also an ideal place to up your customer engagement game.

Here are some strategies to implement:

  • Engage on social media. When customers post about rewards they’ve been gifted, follow the three rules of social media engagement: like, comment, and share.
  • Test your rewards. Find out what drives your customers to respond. Rotate your offers to test which kinds of rewards pull in the best results.
  • Run a promotion. Refer-a-Friend, Double Points, Support a Charity — these are all themes you can use to increase customer engagement and perhaps even attract new customers.

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