The emotional connection between a customer and a brand is directly related to customer engagement. If your business has a strong brand, an existence online, and a high quality product or service, you're halfway there. Mix in a customer service team that promotes customer loyalty and you're off to the races. We're sharing five different ways you can engage with your customers to make them feel seen and appreciated.
The emotional connection between a customer and a brand is directly related to customer engagement. If your business has a strong brand, an existence online, and a high quality product or service, you're halfway there. Mix in a customer service team that promotes customer loyalty and you're off to the races.
Let's talk about different ways you can engage with your customers to make them feel seen and appreciated.
1. Understand their needs and challenges
The best way to do this? ASK THEM! So many companies fail to have tough conversations with their customers, whether they don't have the manpower to do so, or they overlook it or push it to the back burner. This can be done through customer surveys, sent on a quarterly basis, or when they first purchase your product.
In the survey, you should ask:
- What their pain points are
- Where they're looking to improve their business
- How they're expecting guidance during onboarding
- What they excel at and where they need support
Knowing where your customers are struggling and where they're succeeding is a great conversation to have. It helps the customer feel supported and can be the beginning of a great partnership.
2. Exist Online where your customers do
Yes, this means social media! Why do you think social media took off the way it did? And why are more platforms trying to make a splash? People crave social interaction and community. Social media provides both in a free space. Engage with your customers online by asking questions, polls and surveys, offers, and more. Even sharing content that centers around your product, like tips and tricks or product hacks, can help create conversations with customers online.
3. Personalize everything
Cookie cutter anything is SO ten years ago. Personalization is KEY in marketing, no matter what you're selling. That belief should transfer over to your customer engagement strategy as well - everything should be personalized for individual customers! From name tokens on automated emails, developing customer profiles based on needs, even developing a company vision statement that is customer-focused.
4. Provide resources, content, & training
Once you've received the customer feedback we mentioned above, send relevant resources and content to your customers. This can be anything from product use cases, in-depth demos of the product, tips and tricks, and pre-recorded trainings (or host a training in-person). Creating this value add opens doors to many more conversations about how your customers can best use your product for maximum impact for their business. 5. Start Internally
Without buy-in from your own team and employees, you'll never get far with improving customer engagement. Ensure your team is customer-focused by hiring reps with experience in this area. Host trainings, build a strong customer service department, and continue educating your employees on ways they can interact with customers in a positive, helpful way. This is just one piece of the engagement puzzle, but without open dialogue that starts with your team members, you've got a long way to go.
