The secret to successful customer engagement
What is customer engagement? A Google search will give you lots of definitions to consider. To give you a clear understanding, I have listed a few below.
● Defined by Qualtrics as follows. Emotional connection between customer and brand.
● A recent Forbes article defines it as: Build customer relationships at every touchpoint.
● Wikipedia provides many definitions from multiple sources, including the following definition from Forrester in 2008: Build deep connections with your customers to drive long-term purchasing decisions, interactions, and engagement.
All of these (and more) are correct. they work. The new question for modern marketers is: How do we achieve the basic definition of customer engagement using today's tools and technology?
I had the opportunity to do an interview for Amazing Business Radio with Spencer Burke, VP of Growth at Braze, a customer engagement platform that provides messaging solutions across multiple communication channels. Marketers and CX leaders discussed innovative ways to take customer engagement to new levels.
Burke simplified the definition of marketing and customer engagement into four words: Connecting brands and consumers. That's exactly the marketer's job. As a result, customers want to buy and come back to buy more.
It may sound simple, but there are obstacles to an optimal customer engagement experience. Mr Burke said: It's hard to be creative when the focus is on KPIs and time-consuming routines. ”
To support this statement, Burke shared findings from the 2024 Global Customer Engagement Review, in which Braze interviewed 1,900 marketing decision makers to learn about the challenges and opportunities in the marketing and CX industry.
While marketing was once about finding creative ways to engage with customers, today's marketers are burdened with four areas:
- Focusing too much on KPIs: 42% of marketers surveyed feel that KPIs get in the way of their focus on creativity. Numbers/KPIs are important. After all, you cannot control what you cannot or cannot measure (Peter Drucker). However, if they get in the way of your creativity, consider putting numbers aside for a while. Or maybe you just want to focus on one or two KPIs.
- Too many routine tasks: 42% feel that “routine tasks and tasks” take up too much time and leave less time for creative work. If there is something that can be automated, automate it. Don't waste your employees' time on tasks and processes that drain their energy and take too long, especially when they're trying to be creative.
- Lack of technology: 41% feel that a lack of technology prevents them from implementing creative ideas. This is where AI can support the process. How can AI make the job of creative marketers easier? There are many ways!
- Tracking ROI is difficult: 40% say it is difficult to demonstrate the impact of creativity on ROI. Leaders want ROI. Often he is asked to know the ROI before starting a project. I can't fight like this. Start with the end in mind. Understanding the benefits of the work you perform is critical to getting leaders to buy in and support your marketing and customer engagement efforts.
According to Burke, AI should be used as a tool to free up time and allow creators to express their creativity. For example, he said: “If you know what you want to say but can't express it well, knowing that you can drop that message into an AI interface and get feedback and suggestions for improvement is a huge confidence booster.” more importantly, marketers can focus on creating rather than finishing.
Burke also noted how important personalization is in today's customer engagement strategies. There is an enormous amount of data about customers, and brands need to be thoughtful about how they manage that data. AI helps interpret data and provides valuable insights about your customers. For example, Netflix learns customers' viewing habits and suggests TV shows and movies. Amazon remembers what customers have purchased in the past and can accurately predict when customers should order more. The best brands use the data provided by AI to create better experiences. But it's a balancing act. Too much personalization creates a “creepy factor,” and too much detail or specificity has the opposite effect of what marketers want to achieve.
Asta Malik, Chief Business Officer, Braze, said: “Marketers today face rising expectations from increasingly connected consumers who demand value in exchange for attention. In response, they are leveraging first-party data and leveraging AI to More and more marketers are leveraging it to create personalized experiences that spark creativity, resonate with consumers, and drive brand loyalty.”
Additionally, brands need to be consistent with personalization. Once you recognize a customer, you'll never be left wondering the next time. This will invalidate your entire personalization campaign.
All of this goes back to Burke's original definition of customer engagement. Connecting brands and consumers. That connection must be consistent and accurate. Now more than ever, there are better tools to help you create the best customer engagement experience, one interaction at a time. The closer you are to where your customers are, when they need you and when you can provide value in that interaction, the more likely they are to see you as a brand they can trust and say, “I’ll be back!” It becomes more sexual.
