Is your business “jumping the shark” to keep your customers engaged and loyal to your brand?
This saying has an interesting origin story, actually—the Fonz.
You know that moment when your favorite TV show turns a bad corner and takes desperate measures to keep their audience watching even though the show should’ve just said sayonara?
That’s what happened when Fonzie went water-skiing in a shortie-short swimsuit paired with a leather jacket and jumped over a great white shark. It also happened with every episode after Michael Scott moved to Colorado.
Don’t turn to obviously desperate measures to keep your customers or resort to engagement methods that no one really appreciates (ahem, TikTok*). Turn to these proven tips instead.
*Okay, yes—even TikTok has its uses. If you’re Lil Nas X, feel free to ignore this snark.
Here are eight tips to increase customer engagement and loyalty…without resorting to jumping the shark.
Okay, okay. Yes, we have hard feelings about some social media platforms, but it doesn’t mean they can’t work. You just have to know your audience and post accordingly.
No one wants to see their orthodontist dancing to Cardi B. But an orthodontist that posts before/after photos with a quick, personable, technical explanation that sounds like someone you’d trust your teeth to? Yes!
Anything you can learn from a customer can be used against them. Er…for them.
Where are you missing the boat? What do they want from your brand? How can you better meet their needs and expectations? They’ll tell you, believe us. It just takes followup action on your part, and you’ll have customer loyalty for life.
Listen to SurveyMonkey when they say most consumers (61%) trust companies to act on feedback they receive.
Repeat this mantra three times, “Interactivity inspires engaging interaction.”
Surveys, polls, and quizzes go a long way in drawing customers in and making feedback fun, especially when incentives are attached. Surveys work better than social media and chat tools for getting feedback from all age groups.
No number of engagement and loyalty antics will work if your customer service is, for lack of a more appropriate word, crap.
There’s no substitute for being friendly, helpful, and efficient.
The fewer sharks your customers need to jump over to get what they want, the better.
Quicken the browsing experience. Optimize the search feature. Streamline the purchasing process. Would you want to use your site? Whatever you can do to make buying from your site enjoyable, get it done.
In all good things, be consistent. Let customers see what you’re doing on a daily (or weekly) basis. Respond to feedback right away. Post on social media. Thank them for their purchase.
Don’t let your customers forget you exist.
Anyone can give new customers a one-time 5% off their first order. In fact, customers have come to expect it and are disappointed when at least 10% isn’t on the table.
Know what else customers expect? To be rewarded for their loyalty. They’re giving you what you want, and they deserve something in return. Whether it’s an exclusive weekly deal or a points accrual system to earn store credit, thank your customers for giving you their time and money.
Of course, we want to emphasize how gamification magnifies the customer engagement experience by amplifying awareness, buying behaviors, and advocacy objectives.
Here are some examples of what a gamification platform that is customized for a brand and its audience can do:
We get a lot of questions about customer engagement and loyalty, so here’s a quick answer for some of the most common.
Customer engagement is about making emotional connections and building relationships through communication at various touchpoints.
Customer loyalty is when your best customers visit and spend time on your site, purchase and enjoy your products, and encourage others to convert.
When a brand engages a customer, the customer feels the brand is being loyal to them. In turn, the customer becomes more loyal to the brand. It’s a profitable win-win correlation.
An example of customer engagement and loyalty is when someone:
If you want to upsell more easily and increase brand advocacy, you need your customers to be loyal and engaged.
Just like trying on a swimsuit, chances are your company won’t benefit much from a one-size-fits-all approach. Get gamification that fits so well it looks like it was tailored just for you (no leather jacket required).
Learn more about CataBoom’s results-driven gamification and engagement platform, and then schedule a demo!