6 Tips to Engage Online Customers

How to Engage Online Customers?

With the advancement in #technology, it has gotten much easier to interact with internet #customers than ever before. Unfortunately, many #companies, both big and little, fail to do so effectively because they don't interact with them.

Gone are the days when blanket advertising and #marketing brought in sales. Customers no longer want to be spoken “to” or “at”. They want to believe that companies are invested in them, concerned about their wants and needs, and willing to do what it takes to turn them into loyal customers. They long for an emotional connection and in many cases, base their buying decisions on how they “feel” about a product or service more often than anything else.

Customer engagement is important to the success of any business, whether it's through marketing, online ordering, or customer service. But for many businesses, the concern is “how”. While advertising to a mass audience has been mastered, engaging customers on a more personal level is new and can be frightening.?

In today’s highly digital world, customers are distracted by thousands of competitors every day. It is no longer your actual competitors in any given industry that you have to worry about. Even products or services outside of your industry are now competing for a customer’s time and attention. For example, the software company, the clothing designer, the local eatery, and the coffee store are all vying for a tiny portion of a potential customer's attention. How are you going to stand out from the crowd and capture their attention away from all of the other options?

Let’s take a look at creative ways to interact and engage with customers online. If you don’t jump on the bandwagon and engage your customers where they are, you can be certain that the competition will.

6 Tips to Engage Online Customers

Offer ways to interact. Give customers more than one way to connect with you. Whether through a blog, podcast, or social media, allow them to reach out to you with questions, comments, and thoughts. For example, if you are posting a blog, be sure to give customers the means to comment and provide feedback. More importantly though is that when they do comment, be sure to provide an engaging response quickly. Customers do not want to receive a robotic response but rather want to know that they were heard and are valued.?

Provide engaging content. Provide personalized communications with access to exclusive content. By registering and logging in, customers can gain valuable insight, coupons, discounts, and content available only to those loyal, committed members.

Live chats. Have you ever had a quick question and did not want to wait on hold for a customer service representative? Did you use the live chat service offered by your favorite company? What better way to provide a customer with personal assistance, giving them the satisfaction of knowing that they are important and valued. By addressing their needs quickly and easily, you have secured their loyalty and commitment for the long term.

Host a webinar. Many people prefer to watch and participate rather than simply to receive information. Webinars are an engaging way for customers to hear your message and interact with you from the comfort of their homes. Because webinars are more personal and typically consist of smaller groups, customers can create that connection that they crave.?

Create a community. Social media sites and forums are great places to connect with customers. Not only can they reach out to you directly, but they can read and learn the opinions of other loyal customers. Be sure to provide engaging content and information to get the conversation started.

Loyalty programs. Customers love free stuff! Offer exclusive access to bonus points, coupons, incentives, cashback, and content. They want resources that are not only accessible but usable in the real world. If points or incentives typically expire quickly or are difficult to redeem, customers will be less inclined to use them or to share their experience.

Ultimately, it is a company’s goal to create and develop long-term relationships with its customers, giving them the high-quality value that they come to expect and which they will advocate for. The best form of advertisement is word of mouth. Happy, engaged customers sharing their experiences are worth every penny that you spend in engaging with your online?

Case Study:

The retailer Burberry has successfully navigated the online environment, creating a dynamic shopping experience for its customers. From the study of Burberry’s use of digital channels, it was discovered that customer emotions are a driving force in building a customer engagement strategy. Decoding a customer’s intentions is the key to meeting customers where they are and providing them with the content and support they are looking for and which will lead to a purchase.

Conclusion:

Nowadays customer service is also done through advertising online by a fast growing technology system. Providing an effective interaction by optimizing all the resources you have is very important. You can interact with them by social media, webinars, chats and many more. Having continuous support from you builds up the relationship of your business and the customers' and would eventually lead to their satisfaction and retention.

To know more on how to increase customer engagement, contact me for consultation.