Customers today are looking for more than high-quality products and discounts. Engagement and interaction are more valuable than ever before. If you’re looking to improve customer service, or you’re on a mission to outshine rival businesses, here are some strategies to encourage communication and keep your clients happy.
Carry out market research
Market research is crucial for getting to know your customers and creating an ideal buyer persona, as well as finding out more about the competition and analyzing consumer trends. If you’re prepared to ask questions and conduct surveys, this will help you gather important information, including contact preferences, the types of promotions that are most likely to attract buyers and how your target customers like to spend their time online. The data you collect can help you make decisions related to how you stay in touch with clients, for example, via email or social media, and give you an insight into the best ways to interact with customers moving forward. There’s no point in spending money on a social media campaign if you’re targeting a demographic that predominantly shops through email or search engines.
Take advantage of virtual assistant services
The days of running a business between 9am and 5pm are long gone. Today, customers conduct searches, send messages and make calls around the clock. As a business owner, you don’t want to spend all your time rooted to your desk or to pay employees to work shifts that aren’t required. If you get a virtual assistant for your business, you can receive calls and keep in touch with customers without sacrificing free time or adding to your wage bill. You can receive messages via email and you don’t have to worry about losing out on sales because you’re not there to pick up the phone after hours.
Add a personal touch
Every customer wants to feel valued, and businesses can go a long way to improving retention rates by adding a personal touch. Simple strategies like personalizing email subjects, contacting clients on their birthday and sending out customized offers can help you stand out from the crowd and give customers a positive impression of your brand. Personalized email open rates are higher than standard messages, and they enhance your brand reputation.
Tailor your content
Content marketing can be incredibly effective for businesses of all sizes, but success is far from guaranteed. To reap the rewards, you need to ensure that the content you produce and share is tailored to your ideal buyer. Think about who you want to read an article, watch a video or look at an infographic before you put content together and hit the publish or share button. Your content should always be relevant to your brand and the products and services you sell, as well as your target customer. It’s also a great idea to analyze the performance of different pieces and posts. If you find that certain types of content are more popular, or that people are getting involved in discussing specific themes or topics, use the data to shape your strategy going forward.
Make your website and social media plages interactive
Thanks to technology, we can now contact people all over the world at the touch of a button. Social media and the Internet have made it possible to interact and engage with customers and followers with minimal hassle. If you share a post or a blog article, and people have taken the time to comment or respond, take the opportunity to strike up a conversation or to thank followers and friends for their comments, feedback or ideas. You can also use features like live chat and instant messaging to address queries and questions swiftly. One of the main reasons shoppers abandon carts is a lack of clarity or information. If your buyer has a question, and you can reply instantly, the chances of them taking that all-important next step will increase. It’s also a good idea to consider adding an FAQs page on your website.
Why is customer engagement so important?
Customer engagement is key because it enables you to build new contact lists and networks to attract more clients and to improve your chances of keeping hold of loyal customers. Good customer service can also help you outshine competitors and it will increase the probability of receiving excellent reviews. Over 90% of people now read reviews before buying.
Keeping in touch with new and existing customers is critical when you run a business in 2020. If you’re looking to make improvements, make your website interactive, take advantage of social networks, research the target market and take calls around the clock with a virtual assistant.
