The modern economy is defined by the customer relationship. This is due to the intersection of technology, transparency, and previously overlooked issues becoming urgent and prevalent. For example, the undeniable science of climate change has completely changed the way that conscious businesses operate. This is also because, thanks to technology and the internet of things (IoT), the average consumer now has access to the necessary information to support businesses based on things like environmental consciousness, if they choose. In turn, this forces businesses that want to stay competitive to operate in ways that align with their desired consumer demographics. Understanding how valuable the customer relationship is, is only one half of the equation. The other is putting it into practice. As such, here’s Topdown Systems list of customer engagement best practices for 2022.
Branding
Branding is a pretty vague term, so it helps to be more specific. In fact, being specific is a big part of building your brand. By being specific, you can target niche markets and create impactful conversations with pockets of people and smaller communities. This, in turn, builds meaning into an organization, as it integrates with the existing surrounding economic ecosystem. This is important because this, if done respectfully, can be a direct bridge to your brand having a meaningful and impactful place in the ongoing societal conversations.
While it teeters on the side of slightly too black and white, there’s a relatively helpful question to ask about the decisions you make in business operations and branding which is, “will we fall on the right side of history?”
No one is perfect, and ignorance is forgivable, but willful ignorance becomes an issue. Learn from your mistakes, and pursue continual improvement throughout all aspects of your brand, and you’ll find a very loyal base of consumers who are actively engaged with your brand.
Conversational Marketing
In the same vein as being a part of the larger conversation, it’s also important to converse with your audience and consumers. Prompting consumer feedback through a variety of tools like website prompted reviews, or social media can be a great way to discover insight into the needs and wants of your consumers. Gathering this data is extremely valuable as it allows your team to evolve services and products in the right direction.
In addition to this, consumers undoubtedly want to be heard. Especially when something goes wrong. Implementing conversational marketing allows consumers transparency into your operations, and provides them the feeling of being heard loud and clear. Especially when something goes wrong, because those are the opportunities for your team to learn the most. When consumers feel heard, they’re more likely to engage with your brand again in the future.
Content & Storytelling
Beyond communication, customer engagement is an experience. The next of the customer engagement best practices is focused on content and storytelling. Over the past 5 years or so content has swiftly risen as one of the most powerful marketing tools of the modern market. This is due, at least in part, to the rise of and access to the internet and smart-technology. As such, customers are used to consuming content on a daily basis. By creating a variety of content, your customers will have more than just your products and services with which to engage.
It’s important, though, to plan your content and utilize creative design, and strong storytelling to create truly impactful and engaging content. It’s also helpful to use this content, in some circumstances, to be a part of the larger conversation overall, as mentioned in one of the earlier customer engagement best practices.
Marketing Campaigns
Another way to gain significant consumer engagement is through the development and execution of marketing campaigns. Marketing campaigns come in a variety of different shapes, forms, sizes, and events. However they’re done, they can be extremely effective tools, especially in the way of customer engagement. This is contingent on having the appropriate data to leverage and appeal to different demographics through that marketing campaign, as well as variables like messaging, intent, and the CTA of the campaigns. But all together, marketing campaigns intentionally invite and encourage the audience to take some sort of action.
These CTA’s (call to action) can be as small as liking a photo on a social media platform, or as large as making a purchase. No matter what though, it sparks customer engagement.
Inviting Feedback
This may sound redundant, but next on the list of customer engagement best practices is inviting feedback. Regularly and often. Striving for continual improvement is integral, but if you aren’t inviting feedback from your active consumers, you may be ‘improving’ in the wrong direction.
Utilizing a variety of platforms like online reviews, customer feedback channels, and other communication channels allows your customers to reach you however is most comfortable for them. This makes it easy for customers to engage with your brand, meaning it’s more likely that they will.
Show Don’t Tell
Remember this age old adage? Well it’s important enough to include on the list of customer engagement best practices. That’s because it’s about showing your customers that you’re listening to them, rather than telling them. Your brand can take actions based on consumer feedback that indicates to your customers that they’ve been heard. This is more important and impactful than being told that their concerns have been heard, as actions have always spoken louder than words.
Final Thoughts on Customer Engagement Best Practices: 2022
The marketplace has always been based on supply and demand. This, innately, depicts the relationship between the buyers and sellers. However, there are a variety of other factors that have shaped the marketplace, and how it interacts with various demographics. With the rise of technology, and the era of information, businesses are held to a higher standard of transparency. In turn, this leads to a higher expectation that businesses are operating with a degree of social consciousness in relation to the larger conversation.
The value of the consumer relationship continues to grow, as does the importance of implementing customer engagement best practices to build a loyal and dedicated consumer base. For more information on consumer engagement best practices, keep browsing the Topdown Systems content library.
