Customer engagement is a recent buzzword that had taken the marketing world by storm. However, is engagement really that crucial to business success? Well, it 100% is!

If you’re one of those businesses that are still keeping the sales light on, it’s time to rethink your strategy.

The marketing and sales funnel of Attention —> Interest —> Desire —> Action is obsolete now.

Today, it’s more about humanizing the experience by following an approach of Awareness —>Trust —> Affinity —> Action.

Nike is one such brand that has mastered the customer engagement love story.  No doubt, they create the best products in the apparel and athletic footwear industry. But, it’s not just their products that have made the brand a roaring success. Over years, they have also motivated and engaged their customers in a personalized way to develop meaningful loyalty.

Did you know? Engaged customers purchase 90% more frequently.

In an age of microscopic attention spans, content overload and endless brands, here’s how you can engage with your customers in an authentic way, without being annoying or sounding pushy.

Fool-proof Customer Engagement Strategies

Personalised Recommendations

The first step to ensure customers develop a unique relationship with your brand is by personalising experiences. 75% of consumers are more likely to shop from you when you recognise them by their name or recommend options based on their past purchases. Amazon and Netflix are two brands that have been able to successfully engage with their customers by recommending relevant products or shows based on ‘past purchases’ or ‘recently watched’ respectively.

Relevant recommendations urge customers to stay on your site for longer thus increasing their average spend.

With every customer interaction, your brand can learn more about a user’s preferences and use this data to make smarter recommendations in the future.

Keep Customers in the Loop

When a user follows you on social media, they expect something from you to grace their feeds every little time. You can’t just achieve a steady followers list and let it gather cobwebs.

With a content overdose over the internet today, customers tend to forget you. For the sake of staying fresh in a customer’s mind, you should always have something to give them.

Whether it’s creating an effective social media strategy, sending out an email newsletter or a product update, in order to engage with customers better, you need to stay relevant and keep them in the loop.

They must have a constant pulse of what you’re up to (of course, without being annoying).

Make your Marketing more Human

Today, the word ‘engagement’ has a whole new meaning. The age of behind-the-curtain business is over. The purpose of an advertisement is not just about selling by engaging with customers on a more personal level. If you never present the human side of your business, customer engagement is bound to be an uphill battle.

To create authenticity between your brand and customers and involve them in what you do, make your marketing less product-centric. Focus on publishing behind-the-scenes content and positive feedback that will not just serve as social proof but also engage customers better.

Customer engagement is all about being authentic. When your marketing gives customers that feel that you truly care about them, they’re more likely to form an emotional connection with your business.