Customer Engagement

Customer engagement can be defined as the interactions that take place between you and your customers. A strong relationship between the consumer and a company is important for observing customer satisfaction, promoting customer loyalty and boosting awareness of your brand. This can be accomplished through many different channels, including re-purchasing, click-through-rate (CTR) optimisation, email, online responses, comments and more.

Customer engagement starts when the customer interacts with your brand for the first time and continues beyond the point of sale. It is important to maintain ongoing communication with customers, across all touchpoints with your business. Ensure your customers are engaged between and after purchasing. This will improve their personal experience with the brand. A strong indication that a consumer is engaged is when they continue to interact with your brand via blogs, email marketing, websites and social media. According to a study from Hall and Partners, up to 2/3 of profits for a brand can depend on effective customer engagement¹.

Successful customer engagement can drive revenue for your business. A study by Constellation Research reports that businesses who enhance engagement can improve:

• cross-sell revenue by 22%;
• up-sell revenue by 38%; and
• order size from 5% to 85%²

Engagement with your consumer can also increase customer loyalty as these customers will be more resistant to the marketing strategies of other competitors. They are also more likely to purchase from your company again, become advocates of your brand and will have a higher order value. According to the Harvard Business School, an increase of 5% in customer retention rates can increase profit from 25% to 95%³.

Customer engagement is also important because it enhances brand awareness. If you provide product videos and other features that will engage a customer, it can also make customers more aware of the various service solutions your business offers. A study from Google found that 48% of smartphone users are more likely to purchase from businesses whose mobile sites offer instructional video content⁴.

Enhance customer satisfaction with a customer engagement strategy, which can help your business to achieve positive customer interactions, whether it is over the phone, in-person or online.

Take an omnichannel approach

You can track customer engagement through positive reviews, customer surveys and social interactions, such as likes and comments on social media pages. Many customers will interact with a brand on multiple channels, so it’s important to provide consistent engagement with your customers using an omnichannel approach.

According to a study by Aberdeen Group, businesses with exceptionally strong omnichannel customer engagement retain an average of 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for companies with weak omnichannel strategies⁵.

The importance of social media

Additionally, it is worth investing in social media management, ensuring social comments and reviews are continuously monitored. In research from The Social Habit, 42% of respondents who had previously contacted a brand, company, or product via social media for customer support expected a response within 60 minutes⁶. By providing excellent customer service, you will also improve customer loyalty because of a positive experience.

Social media is also a brilliant tool for collecting customer feedback, advertising your products and can be used to encourage customers to interact with your brand. GlobalWebIndex says that 54% of browsers use social media as a tool to research products⁷.

Personalise your products and services

It is also important to personalise the customer experience, which can be accomplished most efficiently by obtaining feedback at the beginning of the customer journey. Some companies will accomplish this by asking the customer to create a personal profile or complete a quiz. This will help to identify their preferences and adapt your strategy for them in future. Another area to consider is a customer loyalty programme. Reward loyal customers with exclusive discounts, early access and more.

Our focus is on providing magical memories and once-in-a-lifetime experiences for our customers. We provide thousands of bespoke experiences suitable for every budget, occasion and interest. Red Letter Days Corporate offers the perfect incentive and reward for customers to stay loyal to your brand. Our well-managed gifting solution is exclusive to the needs of your business. Apply a unique touch with customised packaging, insert sheets and more.

A dedicated account manager will implement the solution and look after you at each step of your journey, from the processing of orders, fulfilment and customer support. Live up to your company ambition with Red Letter Days Corporate. Explore thousands of exciting and imaginative approaches to reward loyal customers with gift ideas like fine dining, supercar thrills, spa days, minibreaks and more. Customers love to go on social media and share their experiences with other people. Promote your brand and positive customer interactions with an effective customer engagement strategy. Feel confident in our reliable gifting service.

Sources
1. Smile.io, 2019 | 2. Forbes, 2019 | 3. Harvard Business School, 2000 | 4. Google, 2015 | 5. Forbes, 2018 | 6. Convince & Convert, 2021 | 7. GlobalWebIndex, 2018 | 8. REVE Chat, 2021