There was a time when companies could create a name only by providing quality products or services. But now, according to research, customer engagement is one of the top crucial factors for the customer to make a purchase decision.

The idea of customer engagement has evolved with time. Also, there have been many perplexities around it. Businesses confuse customer engagement with providing satisfactory products and services. But this is not what it means. Now everywhere you look, customer engagement is the topic of discussion. Even with the surge in popularity, consumer engagement remains an abstract idea for most.

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In this article, we’ll discuss what customer engagement really means, its benefits, and 3 steps for a better relationship for success.

What is Customer Engagement?

The concept of customer engagement only fully emerged in the digital era. Engagement became more prevalent and more visible as two-way communication between customer and brand developed over online channels. Engagement isn’t only digital, of course – it can also happen in person and through traditional communication channels.

Customer engagement is sometimes confused with customer satisfaction and experience, and there is some overlap, but each is distinct. We’ll discuss these concepts in much greater detail later, but for now, you need to understand that customer experience is the perception that consumers form based on everything they see, hear, or learn about your company.

On the other hand, customer satisfaction is how much consumers like or dislike your product, service, or experience. 

Both are essential when interacting with consumers, but customer engagement also involves listening to build a rapport and provide a tailored solution. Effective listening is a powerful skill that affects the entire customer experience. The better a rep can listen, the more they can tailor a solution based on the customer’s distinct job role, problems, and intended results.

As a result, brands that better engage customers are also more profitable. A study by Gallop discovered that when companies successfully engaged customers, they reported 63% lower customer attrition, 55% higher wallet share, and overall performed 23% better than their competitors.

Why Is Customer Engagement Important?

Boost sales conversions:

When businesses invest in better customer engagement strategies, it greatly impacts revenue. By using live chat software, you can deliver real-time sales and support assistance to customers, boost customer satisfaction, and finally lead to higher revenue.

According to PWC, businesses using digital outreach methods forecast higher revenue growth, and Bain & Company found that engaged customers spend between 20% and 40% more than other customers.

By using live engagement tools like co-browsing and video chat you can collaborate with customers in real-time and make engagement interactive and deliver a virtual in-person experience.

Enhance Brand Awareness: 

Customer engagement creates an extensive brand awareness of the different service solutions offered by your business among your customer base. As you keep customers more engaged and informed through support conversations and visual interactions, you can also improve awareness of the variety of solutions such as product add-ons, and updates that your brand offers. 

You can also enrich your FAQ page and online community with valuable content about the solutions to common issues, product videos, and features to engage your customers. When customers are able to easily get what and when they want, they will be linked with your brand. They will also recommend your brand with positive word of mouth.

Growth In Customer Loyalty:

Businesses can improve loyalty by engaging customers by delivering excellent customer service. Customers who receive a personalized experience will return to their favorite brand to buy more in the future than disengaged customers.

Loyal customers will purchase more with you over time. Harvard Business School says a 5% increase in customer retention rate can increase profit by 25% to 95%

Loyal customers are more resistant to competitors’ marketing and more likely to purchase again, have higher average order value, and become brand advocates. By increasing loyalty, businesses activate their customers to market their products more credibly for little or no additional cost. 

Improves Customer Retention:

Effective customer engagement means more conversion and less number of returns. You can engage your customers in their buying journey and based on their previous purchase history and other insights (interests & needs) you can recommend them.

Relevant recommendations made based on a customer’s past actions help them in making quick decisions. You engage customers by referring to things that match their interests and something they want – hence the high rates of satisfaction.

Gives Your Business A Competitive Edge: 

Implementing an effective customer engagement model is the foundation of every organization. Without that, it wouldn’t be possible for brands to not just grow but even survive in a competitive market.

A well-planned customer engagement strategy allows for delivering a consistent customer experience that helps create business differentiation and attract even more customers. When you develop an instant connection with customers with live chat, chatbots, and visual tools, their satisfaction level increases.

And happy customers mean more sales and loyalty. When customers are heard, they will share a positive experience with the brand, building long-term relationships.

SocioLeads:

SocioLeads is a comprehensive and powerful auto-engagement tool for your brand’s messaging and social media presence. It allows you to automate the process of engagement with your customers via a live chatbot. Socioleads can help you maximize conversion rates, minimize expenses and Boost Revenue. Track and guide your prospects through every stage of your funnel. Identify and reinforce weak points to maximize conversion and boost revenue exponentially.   

• Optimized messaging strategy
• Advanced Reporting  
• Exponential growth through Automation  
• Brand exposure on overdrive 
• Instant replies 
• Better-qualified leads with a humanlike chatbot  

The 3 Steps of Customer Engagement:

It’s not enough to attract new customers; you also have to get them to stick around. Brands constantly put effort into engaging customers, just to retain them. As the eCommerce world gets more oversaturated, clicks and conversions have increased the cost of acquisition making retention all the more valuable.

Consumer engagement is a helpful tool in a competitive market. To create a successful engagement strategy, you need to understand the three acts of engagement.

Acquire:

As with every good marketing strategy, it’s best to start with acquiring new customers. Bringing a lot of traffic to your website is great, but it’s more valuable if you are attracting the right audience. If you are marketing to customers who have no use of your products, then all your efforts will be in vain. To acquire new customers, choose your channels and your audience wisely.

Engage:

Engagement is the next step. It is the deciding factor in whether or not the customers you acquired will be loyal to you. After you have focused on the right channels and are generating traffic to your website, you will want to convert that traffic into paying customers.

If you are struggling to convert acquired customers into engaged customers, the problem may be in your engagement methods. Fixing your engagement strategy will encourage potential customers to invest in your products, giving you better returns on your marketing.

Retain:

Acquiring customers can be harder than retaining the ones you already have. That’s why making your existing customers feel valued is so important: it discourages them from switching to your competitors’ brands.

When you provide quality customer experience and support you can reduce your churn rate, earning the loyalty of customers.

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Conclusion:

Customer engagement is more than just improving what you already do. It’s about understanding what will truly resonate with your customers and delivering that in an accessible way. Only then will you be able to create the kind of long-lasting customer relationships that benefit both them and your business.