Technology has become part and parcel of every industry today. It’s quite rare to come across an established business that doesn’t employ the current advancements in one way or customer engagement or another. Perhaps, an area where technology has had a huge impact over the last few years is customer service.
It’s a no-brainer that excellent customer experience strengthens your target audience’s loyalty to your products and services. How you treat your customers is what determines the success of your brand, and this is directly influenced by the technology you choose to use. For instance, ringless voicemail marketing techniques, like the ones offered by Drop Cowboy, generate more response than normal calls. As such, your decision could have a huge impact in the direction your business is going to take.
Innovations are coming up every day, and it’s up to the entrepreneurs to integrate them in their firms. Updating your systems to conform to the current state of affairs is what will determine your competitiveness in the market. That explains why chief marketing officers require a higher budget today than chief information officers.
So, how exactly can a company engage customers through technology?
Take a look at the discussion below.
1.Branded Mobile Apps
There’s no denying that technology has come a long way, especially over the last decade or so. As a business owner, the most important thing is to always find better ways of service delivery. That means finding channels through which you can easily get in touch with your customers. Remember, this should be a two-way communication since most consumers today would like to give their feedback with regards to your products and services. The most commonly used ways of communicating with your customers in such a manner include a dialing platform, social media, and mobile apps.
In this day and age, number of people with smartphones is quite significant. What’s even better is that the owners engage with these devices many times in a single day. Therefore, business mobile apps couldn’t come at a better time. Any business update sent via these channels is likely to get to the customers faster than other marketing techniques. In fact, it’s easier for a person to click on an app notification than visit a website for the same information.
If you’re just starting out and wondering how to attract your customers to your platform, here are some of the tips to keep in mind. Integrating these methods into your business mobile app will help improve customer engagement :
- Personalize the experience. Use the customer’s name whenever possible, and also ensure your app uses the browsing history to generate personalized suggestions.
- Sponsor contests that are only available on the mobile app.
- Include a simple tracking system for your customers to be updated on their favorite products.
- Ensure the app is responsive and easy to use even for new visitors.
2.Social Forums
The Internet has had a huge impact on how people do business. The boundaries that looked quite impossible to break have been overcome by technology, hence making every company a candidate for global competition. Apart from communication, the Internet has introduced the idea of social forums. It includes message board forums, instant messaging, and chats. Long ago, this looked only possible on physical platforms, like boardrooms and conferences. The changes are there for everyone to see, and the influence they have on businesses nowadays is undeniable.
For one, customers are able to interact with their favorite brands. For instance, if someone wants to know more about your products, they can join the company’s online forum and post their questions. This way, you’ll be able to answer their queries and have all the information available for any new potential customer. As such, people get to learn the details about your business without actually having to contact you directly. In the long run, it will develop your brand and attract more clients.
Another way this will help grow your business is that it gives the customers a platform to interact with each other. People usually like coming together if they have common beliefs or interests, and an online forum is the perfect place for that. Customer-customer and customer-company discussions will help determine your business flaws and strengths. Once you have this platform in place, you can make improvements where necessary and take advantage of your strengths. The best thing about these online social forums is the fact that you can moderate what people say and ensure that it meets your objectives.
3.Social Media
A topic on technology and customer engagement is not complete without the mention of social media. Every business owner knows how vital customer engagement is and the impact it has on the sales. Being able to effectively interact with customers and gain knowledge about their needs are crucial business aspects you shouldn’t ignore. There are many ways you could do these things, but social medial has proven to be one of the most effective methods. No wonder such platforms have become common among various companies in recent years.
Here are some of ways through which you can engage customers through social media:
●Schedule your posts: You’ll first have to learn customer behavior in various platforms. This will give you an idea of when most people are active and when you can maximize your interaction. Whether you do it on a daily or weekly basis is up to you. However, make sure you have a specific time during which you’ll always post your content.
●Respond to comments: No matter how small or big your company is, responding to comments on your posts strengthens your business’s image. Of course, responding to all comments may sometimes seem impractical, but make it a habit to at least leave a like or a reply to the first few ones. As a result, you’ll not only attract new visitors, but also be able to generate a huge base of loyal customers.
●Post relevant content: It might seem like an obvious factor, but it’s still worth noting that content is king. You may have a lot of followers, but being irrelevant even just once could cost you a lot of potential customers. Make sure the content you post explains your business and gives updates on upcoming projects. This way, your followers will be curious to know more, and that may even play the trick of bringing more people on board.
●Host live videos once in a while: If possible, you can go live on any of the leading social media platforms, such as the Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook. By doing so, you’ll be able to showcase some of your products and services, while also answering customer questions in real-time. This builds a stronger relationship between both parties, and also shows the customers that whatever you’re selling is actually real.
4.Monitoring Customer Behavior
You can pose many questions to your potential customers and learn more about their interests. However, these results can be supplemented and made even more accurate through behavior analysis.
Technology has brought lot of improvement to various departments within a company. Perhaps, the most important in that regard is consumer behavior monitoring system. So, how can you use it to improve customer engagement?
First, this system uses some metrics, like time, to assess how certain operations are carried out. For instance, you can tell which subsection of your website is more attractive by looking at the average time used by most visitors. Use this information to adjust your website’s layout and organize the content. Also, keep in mind the type of content that’s attracting many visitors and build on it.
As a rule of thumb, you need to understand your customers to the point where you’re able to tell them what they need even before they realize it. The secret to successful customer engagement is the ability to know them inside and out. As such, you’ll be able to predict what they need and provide it as quickly as possible. Monitor the performance of some Google advertisements on social media or any other platform, and see the response of those who interacted with them. You can, then, use this information to create new and more engaging adverts in future.
Conclusion
Among the main players in the success of a business, technology comes on top. It impacts the operations of almost every department within a company. Perhaps, the most influenced areas are customer service and the overall service delivery. Technology has brought several ways through which an enterprise can engage with its current and potential customers. For one, branded mobile apps have made it easier for companies to relay important information while avoiding any privacy infringements.
Social forums have also proven to be very useful for both startup and established businesses. In fact, through the discussions in these platforms, a company may get viable answers to some of its problems. Social media can be used in a similar way, but the difference is that social forums are made up of people with the same beliefs and interests. To make all your plans efficient, you might want to try behavior analysis tools and adjust your schedule and content according to the results.
