Customer engagement is all about cultivating lasting relationships with customers. Rather than working with customers just once, companies can tap into customer engagement strategies to foster brand loyalty and repeat business.

You can do this in numerous ways, according to Sammi Caramela, a contributing writer for Business News Daily. The key, she says, is to continuously maintain and strengthen customer relationships to build a loyal, engaged audience.

In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we highlight Caramela’s thoughts on some of the most effective ways to boost customer engagement. 

1. Cultivate a healthy customer lifecycle. Aim to make this lifecycle as long and prosperous as possible, Caramela says. You can do this by continuously improving the customer journey.

2. Examine more than purchase data. Yes, it’s important to understand your customers’ buying history, but that’s not all you should take into account. Caramela says you should consider things like your customers’ channel preferences. Once you have this data, be sure to use it when communicating to your clients.

3. Think like a big business. Small businesses should think like big businesses and act using available tools, Caramela says. If this means emailing more customers individually or making more calls, do it and know that you are targeting your best possible customer. And because you may run a smaller business, you can take advantage of your flexibility and try different approaches.

4. Don’t overcomplicate it. You can create a detailed customer profile, but remember that you can also find out about your customers by simply asking them. Many people will happily offer information in exchange for something of value, Caramela says, so send out those customer surveys or start a customer loyalty program.

5. Challenge assumptions. Something may have worked for you last year, but don’t assume it will continue working for you. Caramela recommends reframing your existing data and insights to ensure you have — and act on — the best available data.

6. Establish your brand voice. You can improve customer engagement by embracing your brand voice in everything you create and every interaction you have. This helps you build an emotional connection with your target audience.

7. Embrace social media. Caramela says channels like Instagram and Facebook are essential customer engagement platforms for businesses. To boost engagement on your company’s channels, try conducting giveaways, reposting content or encouraging followers to tag their friends.

8. Invest in content marketing. From blog posts to videos, you can use all kinds of content to build relationships with prospects and establish yourself as an authority in the industry. Many experts believe video will be particularly hot this year, so if you only choose one content type to focus on, make it video.

Different companies may use different customer engagement strategies. There’s no one right approach or single strategy that works best. Mix and match the ideas above to get and keep your customers engaged.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers

Source: Sammi Caramela is a contributing writer for Business News Daily.