Customer engagement: What is it and why is it important

client engagement

Engagement is when a customer raves about your product or service at your social media page, or when customer service gets an inquiry regarding the status of a delivery.

Hence, customer engagement is the communication between the customer and your business organization.

A customer may want to ask questions, submit a ticket about concerns with a product, or even the way the staff handles customer problems. Customer engagement is vital to a thriving business. If the needs of the customers are being met even after a purchase, your brand retains the customers’ trust.

Different Mediums Of Customer Engagement

There are many ways that you can have a direct engagement with your customers or clients. Because of the expanding means of communication, there’s no excuse for inadequate customer assistance.

Here are different ways you can engage with your customers:

  • Direct Interaction: This type of engagement includes conversations over the telephone, the use of instant messaging applications, and personal meetings. This is where you and the customers can have real-time discussions over the product or the use of the service.
  • Mobile Devices: The medium can include unique ads brought to smartphones and tablets users through the use of apps. Some apps, such as games or GPTs (get-paid-to’s), may contain advertisements that require the user to view them to avail of a service.
  • Product Demonstrations: This option occurs in specific stores such as appliance shops and standalone kiosks at malls. A staff or agent will show potential customers how to use the product, the many ways they can use it, and how it can make life easier.
  • Targeted Campaigns: Campaigns can occur locally and may be as simple as handing out flyers on the street, online and offline store promos, and published ads on classified ads and other parts of periodicals, tabloids, and magazines. Targeting potential customers may include the use of statistics, such as gender, age, income, number of family members, the possible number of minors, and so on.
  • Social Media: One of the most popular today, entrepreneurs may have business profiles set up that features all the products and services they offer. They may engage people through the use of ad copies with images, videos, or GIFs. Social media not only allows advertising but also provides an opportunity to get direct reviews posted in the comments sections.

Why Your Business Needs It

From small businesses to large corporations, any customer-centered economy must always keep good relations with anyone they deal with for many reasons.

To Find Loyal Customers or Clients

If you’re familiar with the influencer culture, you’re aware that people become loyal followers of people they like. It’s the same with businesses. The trick is to get them emotionally involved.

While effective marketing gets their attention, consistent communication through various channels enables them to be a part of the process. Hence, using operational CRM (Customer Relationship Management) technology is also essential to keep up with your customers.

When a customer buys a product, they want to share their experience with others. One of the best kinds of engagements is allowing information sharing among customers as well. Considering suggestions and taking constructive criticisms let customers know that you’re not just a brand but a friend they can count on and come back to anytime.

To Understand Their Needs and Expectations

Building a business is not just about what kind you want to do. A business revolves around the customers you want to provide. Thus, it’s important for your company to be customer-centric.

At the very first stage of starting a business, there’s already an interaction going on for those who do feasibility studies. Existing businesses that are experiencing stagnation in sales may want to start a survey. Proprietors must become aware of the experience of customers with the brand. Here, you’ll be able to pinpoint areas in your business that need improvement. 

To Provide Tailor-Made Solutions To Various Concerns

There’s no perfect business. But, as the owner, you need to minimize complaints through effective communication. Learning to deal with demanding customers who use your provided omnichannel is a must. Whether you’re a one-person operator or an employer working with a team, part of the engagement is to give a smooth customer service experience.

Excellent customer support means trained staff who handle different situations, such as delayed deliveries, defective products, wrong items, and so on. The faster you can help them, the more they’ll trust your brand.

To Be Able To Build A Positive Reputation

It’s your task to ensure that your product is of the highest quality and does what the advertisements say. Your customers will also expect that they get what they ordered fast.

 

Mistakes tend to happen, but you get a chance to fix them right through proper customer service. When your business can correct the mistakes it made, customers then see your brand in a different light. Excellent customer engagement at specific and essential areas of the company earns you positive feedback by word of mouth and even by electronic means.

Signs Of Effective Customer Engagement

So, how do you know if your methods of engagement are working? It’s hard to miss, and you’ll be able to see if you’re religiously monitoring the status of your business.

Here are signs that your customer engagement is fully effective:

  • Improving Purchase Rate: Calculating the current number of checkouts against last month’s allows you to tell if there are any changes. If you can improve the way that your customers feel about the brand, they’re more likely to buy more products and services.
  • Customers Buy Often: Another proof of strong customer engagement is when you retain customers who frequently buy your products. People who buy your brand are familiar with the quality and its usefulness. It also applies when the same customers call you in need of service. Through your sales, you can see people that recognize your business as their first option, and you get more profit that way.
  • More People Follow Your Brand: With social media, it’s easier to create an online presence where people can find out more about your business. You can easily see how many people are following your business, and the numbers would’ve grown if you’re managing your business right.

When your brand has a social media profile, your customers gather where they can find you online at the comfort of their homes.

  • Your Search Ranking Levels Up: One of the many effective ways for your business to gain traction is to utilize SEO copywriting. It’s writing ad copies that are fun, simple, and uses call-to-action about why your business is right for them.

Add the most-searched keywords related to your product and branding, and you’ll rank high among Google’s top searches. SEO gives customers a chance to find your business and helps you expand your reach, gaining more customers.

Conclusion 

Customer engagement fuels your business by making customers feel right at home towards your brand. It also plays a significant role in keeping your customers interested and satisfied, especially when you meet their expectations.

Allowing customers to reach you in many ways says that you’re willing to listen. Proper communication is vital for you and your team to be able to provide personalized solutions to different problems.

One of the reasons that customers stay with a brand is when they feel that they get the treatment that they deserve.