How To Engage With E-Customers
- Helen Luu
- Mar 16, 2020
- 2 min read
The first ever website and web browser was created 1990 which was also known as Web 1.0. There were no active communication or information flow from consumers to producers of the websites. A few years forward, information age was born which represented Web 1.0 as a "read-only web."
Looking at 1994 onwards, consumers had access to sites such as Google, Wikipedia and Facebook which changed the whole perspective of the Internet. Web 2.0, also known as "read-write web" was born and has the ability to interact and collaborate with other users. This sparked the new idea of Social media, defined as a "group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010, p. 61),
Fast forward to 2020, the world revolves around social media! In this great time and age, consumers do almost everything online including communicating, sharing content, watching videos, and even shopping online.
Why is customer engagement important for businesses?
Customers are those who are paying your service/product, therefore, it is important to spend time on managing customer service to satisfy customer needs.
86% of buyers will pay more if there is better customer service. With our saturated market, we can only rely on customer experience as a key brand differentiator. For example, customers will generally choose to buy from a brand that is selling the same item as their competitor, if they offer free shipping on returns or have good ratings on Google.
Here are some ways to engage with your customers!
#1 Provide A Live Chat Desk On Your Website
Don't frustrate your customers by making them wait a few hours or days for customer service to reply by email. You can install ZenDesk, a Website Chat Software allowing customers to find all their answers within minutes making it quick and convenient. If questions are not answered, a customer service team member can then contact the customer.
#2 Ask For Feedback
For business owners, it is difficult to measure how well your product or customer service is. Feedback allow businesses to be less bias towards their own brand and guides them in providing the best customer experience as well as improving CRM. To do so, you can provide a customer feedback page on your website or even create a customer support account on Twitter where all answers and questions are visible to the public.
Amazon has provided a feedback section for their customers to determine whether the seller is reliable and trustworthy.
McDonald's answer to all their customer's complaints and questions on Twitter.
#3 Stay Relevant On Social Media
To engage with your customers, you will need to communicate through relevant and trendy content. Identifying popular social topics and creating content based around it will most likely obtain higher engagement through likes, shares and comments.
KFC got great engagement on their Valentines Day related tweet.
Executive Summary
Engaging with your e-customers is the new and effective way of building a relationship with your customers for businesses. Doing it through social media is one of the many ways to help grow your brand.
This was very interesting to read, i agree. I personally love Nandos' facebook page, they're funny, they make you comment and tag your friends and they've done an amazing job by engaging consumers. That's an important part of social media presence.
Hi Helen! I agree with you. Customer experience is essential to maintain long term relationship with your core customers. Like the 80/20 rule, 80% of your profit will come from 20% of your loyal customers. Nowadays, companies are all trying to figure out how to create better customer experience either within the physical store, or on e-commerce.
@Emily Duong that's great to hear! Researching before buying from a brand is so important now because of the amount of competition. We all want the best quality and service.
I totally agree with you, I hate emailing brands as it generally takes 1-3 days for them to reply. Marketers for brands are constantly on social media so it is easier and faster to get responses
Great post Helen! I will always seek out reviews before I purchase a product or service because consumers rely on other consumers. I think more highly of a brand if I can communicate with them directly through social media rather than emailing them and waiting 3 businesses days for them to reply back. Customer interaction is so integral to building emotional connections and brand loyalty. As a society, we rely on the word of the consumer. The business landscape is ever-evolving and businesses need to learn how to adapt with the changes! I personally enjoy the witty posts from NSW police on Facebook and how they hop on board with modern day trends. It leaves a lasting impression and they'v…
@Rebecca Allaoui Yep definitely! Nowadays a lot of businesses and companies have shifted the way they interact/communicate with their customers towards a less serious manner and more humorous. It allows businesses to create relationships with their customers and make customers feel more worthy!
@Taylah Faulkner It is so important to take in feedback! A lot of businesses fail because they don't listen to their customers but instead stick to what THEY think is best. Businesses rely on customers, therefore, it is vital to communicate and listen to customers to achieve a successful and thriving business