Customer engagement is important for any business if you’re going to succeed. You might be doing an excellent job of generating leads and even converting leads into customers, but engagement is what keeps customers returning. Engagement means they want to interact with your brand, which builds trust and interest in what you’re doing. Online is a great place to build engagement. Here’s how.
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Show Some Personality
People like to buy from people they like, so show a little personality. This is easier for small brands but can be done by businesses of any size. Some industries are naturally going to be more formal than others, but if you get creative, you can still show a little of who you are. Use your social media channels to bring your customers behind the scenes a little. Show them something interesting like how your design process works, or follow the journey of their order from them clicking buy to shipping. Show your staff. Photos or videos of staff taking part in things like charity fundraiser days can help people to feel more connected to the humans who work at your business.
Reach Out To New People
Maybe you’ve nailed talking to existing customers, but you’re struggling to reach new audiences. Shake up the way you reach out to potential customers. If you mostly get business from connecting on LinkedIn, for example, try engaging on Twitter instead. Look for relevant weekly chats on Twitter that you can join, which will allow you to network, talk to new people, and showcase your knowledge and expertise.
If you’re great at offline engagement, try to drive those people online. For example, if you do well with flyers or in-person networking, use a QR code generator to add a QR code to any posters, leaflets, or business cards, that when scanned will send someone somewhere relevant, like to your website, social channels, or to a particular product page.
Be Responsive
If you have social media channels for your business, you need to make sure you’re responding on them. A lot of customers are much more likely to reach out to your business on social media than they are to email or pick up the phone. Make sure you stay on top of notifications and respond in a timely manner, whether you’re getting compliments, complaints, or questions.
Keep your responses personal. Address the person by name, and provide a response that is actually helpful. Sign off with the name of the person handling customer support on social channels that day. People prefer to deal with humans than to a faceless business. This can also help if you need to move a customer off Twitter and ask them to email you in order to continue supporting them. They know who they spoke to, so the right person can pick up the problem and save time.
By changing up the way you interact with existing or potential customers, you can improve engagement and revenue at the same time.
