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How to Increase Customer Engagement
Increasing customer engagement is a goal for every business. Most business owners understand that the more engaged their customers are, the more profitable their business is. Gallup research shows that a fully-engaged customer represents 23% more revenue than average. Another study conducted showed that 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences. Based on this information, it is pretty clear that customer engagement plays a huge role in a business's success. Although many business owners understand the importance of customer engagement, most of them do not know how to effectively increase it. In this article, I will be discussing four things you can do as a business owner to increase customer engagement.
Ask Your Customers Questions
Asking your customers questions is one of the most simple and effective ways to engage them with your brand. By asking them questions, you are making them feel like they are apart of your business. There are many different ways in which you can do this, but one of the best ways is to ask them via social media. Due to the fact that 77% of the United States population has at least one form of social media, asking questions on these platforms is by far the most effective way to implement this strategy. For example, using polls on various social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook will show your customers that their opinion matters. Answering these polls will not only make your customers feel more engaged with your brand, but the results of these polls will also help you better understand what your customers want, and that also will help your business succeed.
Use APIs
APIs are basically a set of functions that you can install on your webpage that allow for the creation of applications. They also allow various components of the internet to communicate with each other, which in turn, allows businesses to quickly access information that they otherwise would be spending lots of time to find. This plays a huge role in the customer engagement realm because they allow businesses to answer customer questions quickly and accurately. For example, a shipping API serves as a tool for businesses and consumers to accurately track where a product is that is being shipped to a consumers door. Not only can a shipping API track where a product is at any given time, but it also can tell you with near perfect accuracy when it will be arriving at the consumer's door. Being able to provide a customer with this information will make consumers want to engage with your brand more and as a result, your customer engagement will increase. There are many different types of APIs that you can use, and I would recommend that you use as many as possible so that you can maximize your probability at increasing your customer engagement.
Know How to Greet a Customer
When greeting a customer, whether they are a longtime client or a new client, it is extremely important that you know how to greet them properly. When greeting them, try to think outside of the box. Say something other than "Hello, how are you?", perhaps giving them a compliment instead. This will resonate with a customer more than a standard greeting would, and thus they are more likely to remember it. Knowing how to greet a customer will ultimately lead to an increase in your customer engagement because the more creative, open, and friendly you are with your customers, the more likely they are to engage with your brand.
Avoid Being Too Sales-Oriented
When speaking with customers, try your best to not give off the impression that you just want to sell them something. If you do give off that impression, then they are much less likely to engage with your brand. Consumers are getting smarter, and can now more accurately tell when someone or some brand is just trying to sell them something. Therefore, you have to constantly re-adjust your approach when trying to make sales. Offering potential customers a free trial of your product or service, and educating them on why they should buy your product or service are excellent ways in which you can still deliver your sales pitch, while also not coming off as to sales oriented.
In summary, customer engagement plays a huge role in business overall success. Knowing how to effectively engage your customers will not only benefit your business's bottom line, but it will also increase the chances of your business surviving in the long run as well.
Meet The Author:
Nick Andrew Rojas is a business consultant turned journalist who loves working with small and medium-sized companies. He has contributed to many publications such as Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, and Yahoo. In his spare time, he hangs out at the beach with his dog Presto.
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