What Are The Five Customer Engagement Strategies That Align With What Consumers Desire From Brands?

Customer Engagement Strategies

Implication 1:

Brands that focus on satisfying the core customer needs relating to their product/service will in turn foster positive engagement from customers, who favour brands that consistently deliver on their immediate needs. But to continually satisfy, brands must commit to constantly optimise how their customers’ needs are met.

Adapting to changing demands of consumers for hard benefits in key areas such as promotions, service and convenience will be crucial in maintaining functional engagement.

Implication 2:

Beneath the need for brands to focus on core functional wants, consumers appreciate brands that connect with them more responsively, that take stock of their feedback and seek to react to their opinions.

Brands need to go beyond being friendly and find ways to connect with consumer on a more human basis. Brands need to form dialogues that allow consumers to feel they have a genuine impact.

Implication 3:

Consumers have a strong appetite for recognition and reward for their custom. Brands that seek to reward customers for their engagement can ultimately strengthen their bonds in the long term. When brands review and reward customers positively, both parties are made to feel wanted and are incentivised to continue to engage.

Further when loyalty rewards are made to feel well earned and unique to each customer, bonds can potentially grow even stronger between retailer and shopper.

Implication 4:

Brands need to be clear about the benefits consumers gain from sharing their data. Personalisation of brand-to consumer communications needs to improve to become more contextually relevant to the individual, and tied to consumers’ strong appetite for spontaneity and exclusivity.

This customer engagement strategy can help brands cut through noise of recommendations. Brands already have the data to do this; it is now time for them to use it to its full potential.

Implication 5:

Brands should not underestimate consumers’ expectations for tailored relevant communications and shopping experiences.

By incorporating more intuitive technologies – such as voice or A.I. assistants, or virtual reality – into digital touchpoints brands can become ever more intuitive and relevant to customers. It is also increasingly important these technologies are integrated with the aim to create a consistent data-driven brand experience across all consumer touchpoints.