We polled 1,000 consumers last year to explore common behaviors, especially during busy retail periods, and found that as few as 41% of consumers use just 1-3 brands.
If consumer loyalty is so hard won, what can you do to make sure your engagement strategy puts you in the winner’s circle this year?
Manage for change
Global and economic instability is showing no sign of levelling off anytime soon. As consumers work to navigate it, their circumstances and priorities are constantly shifting as they re-evaluate what they want and need.
Businesses shouldn’t expect a straight-line customer journey any longer. Instead they should be able to easily move with their customer from one platform to another, adding value to their relationships- and to their bottom line.
Simplify for speed
Today’s consumers value simplicity and speed above all else. To ensure retail readiness during peak holiday season, businesses will need to cut through the ecommerce noise by putting in the hard work throughout the year to build an accurate picture of your customer’s preferences.
Think about using tried-and-true triggers to engage at speed – notifications of a sale, one-time discount or a back in stock alert are some of the most successful – and experiment with a number of communication platforms. More than three quarters of the consumers we polled (79%) said they’d consider purchasing a product from a company as a result of a SMS marketing message.
Use personalized messaging
Every interaction can provide valuable data about the interests, values, and preferences of your customers. Personalized messaging via email, text/SMS, and webchat makes it possible to build an accurate picture of each customer and forge an emotional connection that resonates and helps maintain customer loyalty.
Analyze customer feedback
Doing the bare minimum to engage with your customers has a real impact to your bottom line driven by consequences such as low visibility on social media, negative reviews, high bounce rates, and below average customer loyalty.
A customer’s experience of your brand should keep them coming back for more. Your customers share valuable information with you at every touchpoint, which can be analyzed to better understand what triggers them to buy or to bounce, their impression of your website, and their overall level of customer satisfaction.
Go multi-channel
Multi-channel functionality can offer every one of your customers a seamless brand experience across channels (think email, text/SMS, website chatbot or the WhatsApp Business Platform). Your customers are far more likely to maintain an ongoing relationship with you if you can make their interactions as simple and as effortless as possible
When businesses extend their methods of communication beyond the norm there’s a real opportunity to engage in richer conversations, strengthening your customer relationships and brand loyalty.
Put customers at the heart of UI/UX
Building the best engagement strategy through customer-centered User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design supports a positive customer experience (CX), which contributes to improved customer retention and brand reputation. The more you understand the elements that contribute to a positive digital customer experience, the more you can deploy the most effective engagement tools and strategies.
Winning at customer engagement
Consumer needs are changing fast—and businesses need to evolve just as quickly if they want to stay relevant. At a time when consumer choice has never been higher—and the cost of switching to a new brand has never been lower – any customer engagement gap needs to be plugged and quickly.
Customers expect you to give them reasons to choose you again. By creating the best digital customer experience with your brand and taking a dynamic view of who your customers are and what motivates them, you can treat consumers as more than just buyers and deliver memorable customer experiences with real impact.
To find out more about customer engagement tactics and how to elevate your strategy, reach out to our team of experts today.
Julia Applegate
Based in Charleston, SC Julia is a Demand Generation Marketing Manager with 6 years of experience in B2B technology businesses and an emphasis on growth and demand generation marketing. Julia is passionate about balancing data-driven marketing with creative campaigns and bringing agile methodology to new companies.