Ten Ways to Help You Engage With Your Customers

Establishing and building a customer following is extremely important in the business world today. If you want to strive to be the Q-Tip or Kleenex of your industry then developing a strong and loyal customer base is extremely important. This will keep your competitors far away from you in the eyes of your customers. There are several ways you can create and share content that will strengthen your relationship with your customers. Do what makes sense for your brand and think of ways to make it creative and fun!

Videos

Videos are a fantastic way to engage and evoke emotion behind your content. Most companies use videos through social media to generate engagement, raise brand awareness, define a brand’s position and personality. Several more creative brands have showed us different ways videos can be used in search and social media channels. There are plenty of great brand examples using Vine, Instagram and YouTube to share videos to their followers. Find out what your customers respond to and what makes sense for your brand.

Downloads

Downloads are great to be able to give your customers something useful while also getting your name out there. Again, this is subject to change based on your industry and customer base, but it could be anything from a template to a helpful whitepaper. Be sure to post/advertise this download on social media sites, website, email, etc. to let people know it’s there.

E-Newsletters

Although a lot of business is done online now, not every company is up to date on technology. In order to reach more traditional people that may not be on social media sites, an email newsletter would work best. It is a fantastic way to recap what is going on in your business and keep customers informed of new services, product offerings, etc.

Seminars

These could be online or in person geared towards hot topics in the industry. This not only helps draw in new people, but it also shows that you value them and will invest time in helping them as well. It is a great way to network with people and talk about your product or services while offering them with a topic they are interested in. If it is a general seminar, you want to make sure that it is 80 percent about the topic and only 20 percent about your business. It is okay to have a plug about your company at the beginning or end, but the majority of the seminar should be talking about a specific topic. If you want the seminar to be about your company then a Google hangout or press conference would be a better fit.

Q&A

People are always going to have questions. You want to have a way that they can easily access you if and when they do. In answering their questions you more than likely made them more interested in doing business with you. If you can come up with fun and creative ways to answer their questions then even better!

Mobile Engagement 

In addition to having a mobile-friendly website, using FourSquare is a great way to establish brand loyalty. Through check-ins you can reward people that frequently check in through a rewards program or a special shout out. This is a great way to show that you appreciate their business and recognize the fact that they are loyal customers.

Brand Personality 

This is HUGE in the world today! People buy from businesses that they feel like they belong in and can identify themselves with. It is not a cold hard feeling, people want to be able to connect with a brand on a personal level. This does not mean you need to personify your brand and create a character, but be more personal with your customers and your company culture because people want to know what you are all about!

Contests 

Contests are beneficial way to reach new customers, engage with current customers and have a little fun while doing it. You need to make sure when you are creating your contest to have clear goals in mind, clear and established rules and prizes. You need to mold it to best fit what your customers are willing to do and if the end prize is worth their time. You can rapidly increase brand exposure through a contest if you craft it right.

Feature Your Followers

This does not necessarily mean you should have a “fan of the day”, but instead highlight different ways customers interact with your brand. Nike, Sharpie, and Skittles are just a few brands that put this into practice well. They ask for follower’s photos and display them on their social media sites. Why create extra content when you can engage your followers and make them feel special at the same time?

Hashtags 

This can be tied into a few different categories. If you have a special event going on, want people to talk to you about a certain topic, or have a contest going on a specific hashtag is perfect! You can engage directly with your followers and see what they are saying through the use of a specific hashtag. Honda did this exceptionally well with their summer end clearance event, and took it a step further by replying with personalized Vine videos.

There is no wrong way to engage with your customers, just as long as you maintain your company values and brand identity. You want to remain consistent with your messaging while still engaging with your customers. Mix it up, be creative, talk to and ask your followers questions! It is a two way street of communication and people want to feel special and like their voice is being heard. If you keep that in mind then you should be fine.