How to Build Your Customer Engagement Online

September 30th, 2010 by Suzanne Vara

how to build customer engagement /></a>Marketing today is different than it was a few years ago. A new paradigm for marketing has emerged with social media where we build relationships with with customers on a 1:1 ratio and focus our efforts on building customer share as opposed to market share. Market share is not necessarily a thing of the past but we have advanced through technology and shifting the focus from the masses to the individual customer. In order to remain competitive, we have to recognize that every customer is not the same within our target market and assessing and understanding the value of each customer will make  you invulnerable from the competition and eliminate <a title=brand switching.

Through social media we are able to communicate, engage and learn which is the 1 part of the ratio but the other 1 part is the customer investment in the brand. They are training brands as to what they want, the terms of how they wish to be engaged, spoken to, their expectations, how they make you the focus within their lives with their buying power. Seems a bit lopsided but yet it is not as the brand also has expectations of the customer. Through communication, engagement and dialogue the brand has the opportunity to lead or be led and create brand loyalists.

How to Build Your Customer Engagement Online

1. Identify Your One Thing. This has been said over and over but yet not widely practiced. One message is the key to traditional advertising as a TV and radio commercial or print ad to even have a chance at grabbing the attention of their audience has to have one single message. This is no different in engaging your customers online. If they are met with multiple messages which one should they even communicate to you with? Which one should they feel a comfort level with? In big brands like a Proctor and Gamble, they have a lot of products but yet they do not throw them all at you at once. Find your one thing and while you can introduce the other things, remain focused on your own thing that you do better than the competitor.

2. Be Your Customer. Your customer is not the masses, it is that one person at a time. Whether a small mom and pop shop or a big brand, you have to be your customer to know why they buy. Is it because it is cool and to be accepted we have to have it, it is economical, does it out perform the big brand? Be your customer so you can understand how to communicate and talk with them. Think how many times you have used your own brand, your employees have, etc. It is very easy to sit on that side but going over to the customer side is very different. Be your customer by talking to your brand, in a brick and mortar standing on the line and for online, try and buy from you to see what the customer sees.

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