Discover how customer engagement strategies can enhance loyalty, boost retention, and drive long-term growth for your brand.
Many Apple customers will never use anything other than an iPhone. Coke drinkers would rather drink water than Pepsi. And loyal Starbucks customers will seek out their nearest barista even when traveling overseas.
Apple, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks are all infamous for their strong brand loyalty. These companies have a dedicated fan base who would never think of switching to a competitor. So, what are these brands doing right to foster such intense customer loyalty?
Customer engagement is one of the main strategies these three companies use to foster customer loyalty, increase sales, and improve their brand reputation.
Customer engagement refers to the ongoing process of creating and maintaining meaningful relationships between a brand and its customers. As Zendesk puts it, “In customer engagement, the buyer is an active participant rather than a recipient of an experience.”
The ultimate goal of customer engagement is to create an emotional connection with customers. This can be achieved through a few different types of engagement, both online and offline.
Online engagement strategies could include using social media, sharing content, and interactive campaigns such as contests or giveaways.
Offline engagement might include in-person events, immersive retail experiences, or community events like volunteer meet-ups.
Customer engagement can take many forms. Tactics can be deployed across the customer’s path to purchase. For instance, you may choose to use any or all of these options:
No matter what tactic you choose, the outcome should be a holistic, 360-degree relationship with your customer. Through multiple touchpoints across the customer journey, your brand centers its messaging, operations, and customer service around creating a connected feedback loop with customers. This creates an emotional connection that increases customer retention, repeat purchases, and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce make it easy to start an e-commerce business. Today, it’s estimated that there are over 24 million e-commerce sites across the globe. However, with this ease of entry comes a new challenge: standing out in a crowded marketplace.
Customer engagement across the customer journey is one of the most effective ways to gain a competitive edge. By consistently engaging with customers over time, you can build stronger relationships, increase your customer retention rate, and sustainably grow your business.
Here’s how customer engagement can benefit your brand.
Engaged customers are loyal customers, and loyal customers are the fuel for long-term business growth. Ultimately, regular engagement fosters strong emotional ties, leading to repeat purchases.
Consider some of these data points:
Likewise, communicating consistently and regularly delivering value encourages customers to buy from your brand again and again.
To see how Influence.io can transform your customer engagement strategy and drive loyalty, book a demo today.
[Read more: 9 eCommerce Loyalty Program Ideas to Increase Customer Retention]
Brand advocacy is when a customer is excited about your product or service enough to share your brand with others, generating valuable word-of-mouth referrals.
Companies that build strong relationships and provide exceptional experiences can turn satisfied customers into enthusiastic advocates.
Brand advocacy can take many forms, but one of the best ways to harness it is through customer reviews. Consider offering rewards for reviews, creating a win-win situation for your brand and your customers.
A structured loyalty program can help create incentives for brand advocacy and customer loyalty while engaging customers in ways that promote your brand organically.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is a metric that estimates the total worth of a customer over the entire duration of their relationship with a company.
Companies with high customer lifetime value generate more revenue over time, reduce acquisition costs, and are able to achieve sustainable business growth.
Customer engagement contributes to stronger relationships, which boosts CLV and nets higher spending by customers over longer periods of time.
Proactive customer engagement improves overall satisfaction and builds a positive reputation.
This is beneficial not only for your customers but also for your team. Happy customers are less likely to harass your customer service representatives, complain to sales staff, or leave negative comments for your marketing team to triage.
Boosting customer satisfaction can lead to higher employee morale, lower absenteeism, and better productivity.
How can you use customer engagement tactics to improve customer satisfaction?
Start by actively listening and responding to feedback promptly. Online shoppers are watching closely to see if brands respond to customer feedback.
BrightLocal’s recent survey found that 88% of consumers would use a business that replies to all of its reviews, compared to just 47% who would use a business that doesn’t respond to reviews at all.
REVIEWS.io makes it easy to respond to reviews with AI. The Reply with AI tool uses ChatGPT to generate review replies with a single click. Get unique, context-specific content that addresses customer feedback effectively, without spending time generating your own content.
Plus, BrightLocal’s data shows that nearly 60% of consumers preferred the AI-written response when shown one written by a human and one generated with AI.
Read more: How To Respond To Positive & Negative Reviews (With Examples)
A formal, structured loyalty program makes customer engagement a regular part of your normal business operations. Loyalty programs are proven to boost sales and increase customer retention, and with an app like Influence.io, running your own loyalty program is simple.
Why are customer loyalty programs so effective at customer engagement? It’s pretty simple. Customers are rewarded for taking specific actions that benefit your brand. In addition to getting perks and discounts, loyalty programs often include personalized experiences and exclusive benefits that make customers feel valued.
When someone has joined your loyalty program, they’re also less likely to switch to a competitor. One study found that “Top-performing loyalty programs, on average, created a 46% loyalty rate. That means 46% of members said that joining the loyalty program caused them to never consider other brands.” The more engaged your customers are with your loyalty program, the more emotionally invested they are in your brand.
Finally, customer engagement through a loyalty program can make customers feel like they have a true stake in the success of your brand.
For example, collecting feedback through REVIEWS.io and rewarding customers for their feedback in Influence.io is the kind of engagement that makes customers feel part of something bigger. Their voice has been heard; and their time is valued. That feeling compounds over time, as customers don’t want to feel like they’re missing out on something.
Clearly, e-commerce brands that find ways to engage customers consistently are able to build lasting customer relationships and thrive. Loyalty programs are a core component of a customer engagement strategy, which requires meaningful, consistent interactions both online and offline.
While customer engagement takes time and effort, the benefits are countless. From repeat purchases to brand advocacy, loyal customers are necessary for sustainable growth. High customer churn will prevent any brand, no matter how compelling the product or service, from standing the test of time.
Learn more about how to engage customers using a formal loyalty program by booking a demo with Influence.io today.