A good customer engagement strategy is an excellent way to not only improve your chances of making a sale but to keep your clients coming back for more.
Done right, the correct initiative can help you to improve your brand image, increase loyalty, and unlock new opportunities for growth. Around 80% of consumers say that they’re more likely to buy from a business that engages with them in a personalized way.
However, personalization and engagement require effort on your part.
In 2021, when it’s increasingly difficult to connect with customers face-to-face, companies are compelled to consider a range of more digitally focused ways to build relationships.
For small companies with limited budgets, this can be a daunting prospect.
Today, we’re going to discuss some of the best ways that you can connect with your audience without spending a fortune.
Respect Your Long-Standing Customers
It’s easy to assume that the most important role you have as a business owner is convincing new customers to buy from you.
However, the truth is that your most valuable clients are the ones that you already have.
Reaching out to happy clients with offers for new products, service upgrades, and other bonuses could be a great way to make more money.
To ensure that you’re delivering the right offers to the right people, segment your audience and your email list according to how long they’ve been with your brand.
Once you have a list of all your long-term clients, find out which of them are the most valuable and which buy products the most often.
These could be the people that you send the best discounts and sales messages to.
Remember to keep your newer customers informed with regular newsletters and email marketing campaigns that show off your press releases, blog content, and other valuable resources.
Ask for Feedback and Act on It
Engaging your audience doesn’t always have to mean convincing them to buy something or do something valuable for you.
Instead, you can initiate a conversation with your customer, leading to a better service for them in the long-term.
Sending out surveys and requests for testimonials is a great way to demonstrate that you care about giving your clients the best outcomes.
The responses you receive could help you to, for instance, figure out how to speed up your eCommerce deliveries and generate more happy clients.
Your customers have a chance to make their voices heard, while you learn how to improve as a growing company.
As an added extra, reviews can be an excellent source of social proof when you want to boost your credibility online.
Remember, you should be responding to all of the feedback your customers leave, whether they’re talking positively about your products and services or airing their complaints.
Your approach to handling complaints will show your audience how much you’re willing to work to satisfy their needs.
Turn Customers Into Advocates
Remember those valuable and committed clients you created above? Why not turn them into co-marketers for your business?
A brand loyalty scheme is a great way to build a deeper relationship with clients through things like rewards and points.
All your customer has to do is give you their email address and agree to join your loyalty scheme.
Once they’re signed up, you can decide what kind of activities you want to encourage.
For instance, you might give your audience points to use towards a free product every time they buy something new, refer a friend, or leave a review on social media.
Loyalty programs are a great way to get people to start advocating for your company.
What is more, they also make it more likely that your customers will buy more frequently from you in the future.
Create New Kinds of Content
Whether you’re a growing business or an established brand, content is one of the best ways to engage your audience.
High-quality content has a number of benefits for your company.
First, it demonstrates that you’re a thought leader with valuable knowledge to share about your industry.
Secondly, it’s a chance to earn backlinks and mentions from other companies who want to send people to your information.
Creating the right kind of content also engages your audience by convincing them to share quotes from your articles or snippets from your videos on social media.
You can share your content on your social pages to generate more followers or use it as a way to convince clients that they should sign up for your next online course or digital event.
The blogs, articles, and podcasts you create will also be working in the background to constantly attract new customers your way through SEO.
Host Digital Events
These days, digital events are increasingly becoming more appealing. They’re a great way to educate and entertain your audience without having to ask them to travel far.
You can run all kinds of amazing events these days, from seminars where you teach people about the trends you’ve noticed in your industry, to conferences where people can learn about your latest products.
Organizing a short seminar every so often, on a topic you know your customers tend to struggle with, is an excellent way to prove that you understand your client’s problems and how to solve them.
Your educational content will make you stand out as more authoritative and credible, which could boost your chances of purchases later too.
Thanks to inexpensive tools for video hosting and cheap webinar platforms, launching a small seminar doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune.
You can always start small and create more educational content in the future if the strategy works.
Keep Your Audience Engaged
Finding out the best way to keep your audience engaged when you’re not interacting face-to-face can seem tricky these days.
However, there are still inexpensive ways to connect with people, no matter where you are.
Use the tips above to engage your audience and transform any customer into a dedicated fan.
Author:
Ashley Wilson is a content creator, writing about business and tech. She has been known to reference movies in casual conversation and enjoys baking homemade treats for her husband and their two felines, Lady and Gaga. You can get in touch with Ashley via Twitter.