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Thursday 31 January 2019

10 ways to be on top of your customer engagement

Technology is developing rapidly in today’s world. This means that there are numerous ways to engage with your customers and we get it, this can be overwhelming.

How do you know what strategy you need? Which channels you should focus on? That you send the right message? Customers are becoming more demanding, making it challenging to meet their expectations. In today’s blog we will guide you into the right direction because after all “customer is king”. You want to be able to send the right message at the right time, giving your customers a great customer experience.

Here are 10 ways to be on top of your customer engagement:

1. Get together and establish what success is for you

Figure out who the people are that work with the data that you need – customer and channel(s) wise. Bring them all together and define what success would be for you. This is necessary because while a UX designer might look at the customer experience and flow, a marketing manager will focus more on campaign results.

2. Determine what the value is of your channels

Find out which channels of yours are being used by your customers and prioritise. Make sure you do not spam them with your content but also do not be afraid to try something new. Always respect your customers’ preferences. An example can be the usage of notifications in your app that will send notifications at the right time.

3. Ensure that you are approachable

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”, right? Make sure that the first few messages are on point or you might have lost a customer already. Ensure that your messages are personal and relevant to the customer. If these are sent at the right time it will enhance their customer experience.

4. Be on top of the onboarding experience

This means that you need be aware of the full user journey. Find out which key points can be used to trigger automated messages. You can map out each stage and identify what data you capture. Based on the results you can send a personal and strong message in different ways, such as a reminder, push notifications, text messages and more.

5. Optimise your engagement strategy

There are a few things that you need to keep in mind to optimise your engagement strategy: your channels’ strengths, costs, reach, timing, personalisation, preferences and the customer journey. Align these and you will be able to increase your engagement.

6. Find the perfect mix

You can get some of the best results if you combine two channels. Find out which channels work best for your business by knowing how and where your customers want to be reached. For example, when a customer places an order on your website you can ask for their phone number and you can keep them posted via text messages.

7. Personalisation is key

Always make sure your messages are personal and relevant to your customer, and send them at the right moment. Automated messages have made this a much easier process and can increase your customer engagement immensely, especially because it can distinguish between a new or loyal customer, allowing you to tailor your message.

8. Anticipate and keep your customers

Your focus should be on customer retention and not just the growth of your business. As you may know it is much more expensive to acquire new customers than it is to retain current customers. Anticipate and be a step ahead and you will be able to keep your customers.

9. Understand your data to grow

You probably look at your data all the time but do you actually test? With A/B testing you can test two different approaches and tailor your messages based on the results. This way you really optimise your strategy and can create a great customer experience.

10. Align your strategy across all channels

Now is the time to put all of the above together and align your strategy. An example: you own a website that sells collector items and a special edition is selling out. You send your loyal customers an email to remind them about this rare opportunity and if they buy it now they might win a marvel pop for free. Those who buy the item receive an automated notification with their unique code on their phone, including where and when they can find out if they have won. On the day of the announcement they will receive an automated reminder to check if they have won. Once the winner has entered the correct code a confirmation will be sent with the confirmation and details of where to pick up the prize by text/email, depending on their preferences. Like we explained, it is all about the right message at the right time.

To be on top of your customer engagement you need to identify who your customer is, what, when and where they want to hear from you.

You research and utilise your customer data, find out which channels they use and what their preferences are. You then build the perfect mix to reach your customer. Make predictions on how to retain your customer and also test different scenarios. Remember that the first impression counts! Send out a strong, relevant and personalised message at the right time and with the right frequency, and it will all fall in place within your strategy.

CES  ●   Sunday 6 January 2019

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