Lessons on Customer Engagement from Companies That Do It Best

There is nothing more important to the sustainability of a business than the ability to engage with your customer base. You may have an excellent product or service (and great margins!), but if you cannot engage with your customers, you cannot engage in business.

Customer engagement can be a difficult task. Technological shifts such as mobile technology, internet research, and social engagement have equipped customers and allowed them to be more informed and discerning than previous generations. However, some companies do it right. The businesses that focus on customer engagement as their #1 priority have created a tribe of loyal devotees that will continue to buy again and again while encouraging others to do so as well. Below are some of the values of customer engagement, done right

Social Matters
Call it a fad. Call it young people complaining online. Call it whatever you want, the reality it social matters and it matters a lot. First off, it’s where your customers are. Facebook groups, forums, the Twittersphere, you can leverage your presence with a few clicks of a button to get in front of every new customer you could want. But beware, social media is not just a new way to promote your brand.

Zappos, the online shoe retailer, will often post funny videos for entertainment purposes, solve customer service issues in front of everyone on Twitter, and even run contests and surveys that drive future company changes. Chubbies is another example. The shorts maker is one of the best Twitter handles to follow just for pure comedy. Rarely do they promote, but instead they highlight the wacky photos that their customer base sends to them. They run contests through the social handles. They also mostly tell jokes. If you are interesting and interested, people will be watching.

Messaging Matters
You know who your customer base is and what your company is all about. So develop your unique voice to talk directly with your tribe! Chubbies is a brand of shorts directed mainly to young, American males. As such, they have developed a humorous, almost “bro” voice in all of their messaging. From their social handles to their website, to their packaging, etc. You cannot read one of their pieces and not get a sense of who they are and their target market. And if you happen to be their target customer, you feel right at home.

Zappos has an enormous customer base, and so they have instead focused on making sure their messaging matches their company culture. They have always had a relaxed, optimistic tone in all of their messaging, which is appreciated by both customers and employees.

Fulfilling A Customer’s Impossible Wish Matters
Ultimately, customer engagement is about making customers happy. Customers are happy not only when their expectations are met, but when their impossible wish is fulfilled. Zappos deliver name brand shoes quickly and with an amazing return policy.

But what if you could have almost any product you could ever want and have it delivered overnight, or even with a few hours! That is just what Amazon has perfected with their Dash Button. Amazon, like no other company, has continued to scale and leverage towards fulfilling a customer’s impossible wish.

The types of customer demands and requests that would frustrate other companies are turned into a reality with Amazon. And customers love it. Perhaps that is why CEO and founder Jeff Bezos just surpassed Warren Buffet on the rich list.

The key message here is by making customer engagement a priority, you will attract and retain the most loyal of customers. Remember, your social engagement matters, your messaging matters, and your customer’s impossible wish matters most of all.