There is a lot of talk these days about creating engagement with customers. Who are they? If you have a blog, they are your readers. If you are a company, they buy your product. If you are a movie producer, they are the viewers .
A few years back(not very far from now), it was just possible to launch a product, advertise massively and attract customers. Companies usually decided the product lines and then based on extensive market surveys tweaked and changed the products to suit the market demand. Customers purchased the products. If they did not like it, they could send mail to customer care department of the company. Normally it stayed there.
Customer Engagement
Things have changed drastically in last ten years or so. With the internet, the customer has more choices than ever. Not only can we compare features between two similar products but also check out the places (offline /online) where we can get the best deal . The process of search, comparison and purchase has been democratized.
Imagine, ten years back, if a person were to buy an electronic item, she would probably visit one or two malls. She would then take a decision after comparing the price and features manually. She would not probably go searching for hundreds of shop . With internet , it is all automatized, that means she can search not only for the right price but also right deal ( which may includes a few freebies) as well.
Democratization
This democratization means that there is a threat to the way in which business is done. No longer you can put up a product listing that will be sold by the next day. A few trends that are leading the way:
- Democratization of the sales process as explained above.
- More demanding customer in terms of product quality and better customer service.
- Products that offer something new and exciting.
- Near death of the mass market; it is more fragmented than ever before.
This means there has to be a paradigm shift in the way the business conducts itself.
Trends
Social Media Trends
The trends above can be seen as opportunities too. Fragmentation of mass market means that you may spend less on advertising to the masses and more on engaging a small group of people are interested in your products. If engaged properly, these small groups may provide you with best return on your advertising money spent.
Unfortunately, companies feel that they can engage with people by just launching a Facebook page or having a twitter account. They do that and start talking about themselves. This is not really engagement. It is a continuation of what they were formerly doing, now on a different medium.
Engagement
Engagement involves having a frank discussion on public platform about your products and your company. Maybe there are a few annoying people writing unpleasant comments. They are though talking about you. That is the biggest benefit of having a discussion. In addition to that you will receive:
- Positive feedback, which is your testimonial.
- Complaints, which you can use to tweak your processes for better.
- Suggestions, for your products in future.
Case in point
I have developed a plugin for wordpress, where I often give versions that I develop to a few friends for suggestions. To monitor results, I keep all emails where people have sent me suggestions. By acknowledging their suggestions with a reply, I am building a loyal audience that appreciates my work and I appreciate their feedback.
Engagement thus is not very difficult to work out. It is just about listening to customers and creating conversations with them. While Platforms like Facebook and twitter are convenient tools to reach out, it is more important to develop the right policies and process to build a better engagement with your audience.
Ashvini
Hey Sonia,
Thanks for putting the post on your site. I hope I was able to provide useful information to your readers
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Sonia
Ash, it was perfect thank you so much!
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Cat Alexandra
Hey there, Sonia, interesting topic for guest blog!
Hi Ashvini,
You make some great points. I hadn’t heard of Democratization in the context to which you’ve share here – found this to be a compelling point to keep in mind, for sure.
Engagement seems to be the overall theme of everything these days. It’s how the search engines are rewarding us, it’s how facebook gives us better rank for fanpages, and it’s certainly the way that we get better connections and longterm mutual benefits with the groups which we serve.
Fantastic job on this article.
Cat Alexandra
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Sonia
Your right about that Cat (did you get my message about Dec 15th…ready to go!) when it comes to engagement. My day job just started with Social media and one thing I try to make sure we don’t do is make it about us. If you don’t engage with your customers, they tend to put you on “ignore mode” when it just becomes about you.
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Ashvini
Hi Cat,
Thank you for your comment and appreciation. Of course things are changing and for better for both consumers and sellers. While consumers are getting a lot of choices, sellers can advertise their products for much lesser money . Right segmentation and targeting is the mantra of our time
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Adrienne
Ah Sonia, you have a post by Ashvini! Great choice my friend and very interesting post I might add.
I have to agree with Cat, I believe it’s all about engagement today. When we are more engaging with people and share their content, they in turn do the same. Facebook, Twitter, all social media sites are rewarding us because of this and the search engines love us. It does help to get to know your prospects and support them while on their journey. You will get so much more in return.
Great post Ashvini and thanks so much for sharing this. Hope you both enjoy your week.
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Sonia
Thanks Adrienne! Ash is a great writer! If blogs or companies aren’t having active engagements with their customers they will only be talking to themselves. Customers want to know that their opinions, rants and comments matter. I find that acknowledgement can go a long way when done consistently. Thanks for your awesome comment!
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Ashvini
Hey Adrienne,
Thanks for the comment. I think as a long time blogger you are in the best position to understand the value of customer engagement not only by social media but also by developing relationships with the customers, readers and audience. The trust that is generated is enormous and that helps in the selling process. One sided communication does not work that much these days.
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Dr. Bob Clarke
Hi Ashvini,
I would agree that it is more important than ever to go after the smaller segment of your customer base who are truly interested in what you have to offer, and then work on engaging with them to build the trust necessary for them to take the plunge and purchase.
This is what I do with my blog. I have identified a subset of my main niche that is truly interested in what I have to say and the products I promote. I then start conversations directly with them via blog comments and/or my email list.
In my opinion, this is the only way to survive in a society where the choices for consumers have skyrocketed.
Great post, thanks for sharing it here on Sonia’s site.
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Ashvini
Hey Bob,
Thanks for liking my article. I think you have summarized it very well. Mass marketing is slowly losing its effectiveness because there are so many message floating around which makes us impervious to them. The best thing is to know what our audience want. I found a target market which I never expected . They are young entrepreneurs just out of college and they need all the help. I need to improve my engagement with them but I am sure this the way things are done
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Thanks once again for your comment
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Ken Pickard
Engagement, paying it forward, authentic marketing, relationship marketing…these all seem to be born again trends. And it’s a good thing to see. We can come up with all the new tools and toys, but the basic principles still apply.
Who is your market and how can you serve them. By starting with this in mind the sale or deal actually comes pretty easy.
Ken Pickard
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Nicky
Engagement is definitely important especially when we understand that many people are looking for information before they buy anything on the internet and any quality information shared then builds the trust.
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By putting the right quality information in front of the right targeted niche customer, then this is the foundation for a great business. I love how you have broken down the engagement process too! – Great post,
Nicky
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