Customer engagement is the key to a successful small business. If you’re looking for ways to increase engagement, check out these five tips:
Offer a customer incentive program
Your customer incentive program can be used to increase your social media following, email list and website traffic.
- Offering discounts: You should incentivize customers with a discount if they are willing to follow you on social media, subscribe to the newsletter or add their name to the mailing list. You could offer them a percentage off of the total bill if they do all three of these things.
- Offering rewards: Customers love receiving rewards; it makes them feel special and appreciated. You can use this as an incentive by offering them a reward after every purchase made at your store. For example, when you sell product A at $30 they get a free gift with the purchase.
Personalize your marketing efforts
Personalization is important in all aspects of marketing and customer engagement. You cannot expect to increase your business if you are not connecting with your customers on an individual level. You need to know what they want, need and desire. That’s why it’s so important for small businesses to focus on the needs of their clients by listening carefully and taking actionable steps based on the feedback they receive.
In addition, social media makes it easy for small businesses to share stories about their customers—which helps create a more personal experience between your brand and potential consumers. This one-to-one interaction makes customers feel like they have a stake in what you do. The goal is for everyone involved to feel valued. These efforts improve relationships between customers and small businesses.
Run a contest for customer engagement
- Contests are another great way to engage customers. Whether you’re giving away a prize or running an interactive competition, creating a sense of excitement will encourage more people to participate.
- The prize can be anything relevant to your business—you might offer discounts or free products or even create something unique that relates back to your brand.
- Make sure you have enough prizes for all participants. Also, make sure that you announce the results in a timely manner!
Respond to customers on social media
Responding to your customers can be one of the most effective ways of increasing engagement, especially if you respond in a timely manner and with a friendly tone. Responding to customers is more than just saying “thank you” or “we’re sorry” when they complain about something; it’s also letting them know that their feedback matters.
If someone compliments your business online, thank them! If they have questions about how certain products work or what locations carry them, answer those questions! And don’t forget about comments and suggestions—these are great opportunities for engagement.
Communicate with past customers
Stay in touch with your past customers. If a customer has already purchased from you, then it is likely that he or she will also buy from you again if the experience was good. The key to keeping them happy and interested is asking for feedback. This way, you know how satisfied your customers are and how much more they want from their next purchase.
Asking for feedback does not mean that someone will automatically answer all of your questions about his/her experience. However, this strategy helps improve customer relations as well as build trust between both parties involved in the transaction process—you and them!
The next step would be offering these customers discounts on their next purchases (if they’re available). You could also invite them to special events hosted by businesses like yours where guests are given freebies, discounts and promotional codes provided by organizers so everyone benefits.
We know that customer engagement is a big part of any business’s success, and these tips can help you get started on the right foot.
If you have more questions about engaging with your customers, we recommend that you reach out to the Southern View Crew! You can schedule an appointment with one of our strategists at www.southernviewmedia.com today.
