Engaging customers with attention-getting content is one of the most important ways to draw new business and then keep it coming. Today, though, consumers are bombarded with marketing campaigns on multiple fronts, from television and radio to in-app ads and social media. It takes a truly creative approach to stand out.
Recent successful strategies have included challenges like photo/caption contests—games that increase customer engagement through fun and competitiveness. So, what are some other strategic and entertaining ways to boost engagement that stand out from the crowd? Below, 15 members of Forbes Communications Council offer ideas on creative ways of increasing customer engagement in today’s competitive landscape.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2019/01/22/boost-customer-engagement-with-these-15-fun-strategies/
By using event detection to listen to patterns in data, and then applying Artificial Intelligence, your business can now sense these moments of needs as they are happening
Customer experience or ‘CX’ as it is popularly referred to is one of the most important verticals that businesses need to address in order to thrive. And tanks to artificial intelligence and data, CX can be achieved via the use of these technologies in an improved and efficient manner. From artificial intelligence to IoT, Don Schuerman, CTO and VP Product Marketing, Pegasystems, states 7 ways in which technology will aid customer engagement.
https://www.dqindia.com/artificial-intelligence-technology-improved-customer-engagement-cx-2019/
At its core, conversational experience is an easy-back-and forth with a customer on a specific channel such as chat or voice. The customer is able to speak or type naturally and ask spontaneous questions — without having to navigate cumbersome IVRs, thank you very much. In short, said Jim Freeze, CMO of virtual assistant provider Interactions, customers are able to talk or type to a virtual assistant exactly how they would if they were speaking with a human. Or put another way: “The idea is to move away from forms and buttons to a process that enables an exchange that resembles what we have in a 1:1 conversation with a friend,” said Ajeet Kushwaha, director of bots and automation at customer engagement software provider Freshworks.
https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/what-is-a-conversational-experience/
A few years back, it seemed forecasters everywhere were predicting the demise of the call center as self-serve digital channels accelerated up the steep curve of early customer adoption. More recently, with the advent of automation in the form of Intelligent Virtual Assistants, natural language processing and other artificial intelligence-based tools, the extinction of the call center was revisited.
It is true that digital interactions are increasing. According to this 2018 McKinsey research, 48% of all customer care interactions will be digital by 2020.1 But another study states that a majority of consumers ranked speaking with a human on the phone as their preferred communication channel with a business.2 When you peel back the onion, it’s clear that digital channels and call centers need to work in concert to optimize customer engagement.
http://customerthink.com/the-value-of-cross-channel-voice-of-the-customer/
In today's highly commoditised age where there is often little differentiation when it comes to competitive products and offerings, the biggest factor that prompts customers to patronise one brand over the other is often customer engagement. There are several studies that show the impact of customer experience on both customer acquisition and retention.
A study conducted by Bain & Company, in association with professors from the Harvard Business School, found just a 5% increase in customer retention rates increased profit by 25% to 95%. Therefore, customer experience is an important influencer of an organisation's profitability. Organisations are already starting to realize this. A recent Frost & Sullivan study found that about 80% of organisations in Asia-Pacific recognised customer lifetime value as the most significant business benefit delivered by customer experience.
https://www.itweb.co.za/content/Pero3MZgRyEqQb6m/
Customer engagement and customer experience (CX) are too often used as buzzwords without a company making a true effort to shape their strategy and the way they do business around the customer. Moreover, companies feel that simply installing a technology product will be a silver bullet to providing better customer engagement. This shortsightedness creates an unsustainable environment that gives customers the sense of a disjointed company and employees left confused on how they can provide the best experience for their customers.
https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/9-challenges-to-successful-voice-of-the-customer-strategies/
Technology has become an integral part of numerous restaurants’ day-to-day operations and they continue to invest in new digital innovations every day. Nearly 85 percent of all mobile users searching for a restaurant go on to make a purchase which why a recent Kabbage survey finds that restaurants will outpace other industries’ investments in mobile technologies in 2018.
Many digital solutions focus on improving the restaurant’s operational efficiencies by making them run smoother, faster and more profitable. However, a new tech revolution is taking place with a focus on the customer experience. Designed to improve brand reputations and appeal to a younger clientele, restaurants are seeking new ways to get customers more engaged with the restaurant experience and are doing this through new-age digital communications like voice recognition technology.
https://revelsystems.com/blog/2018/07/31/voice-commerce-customer-engagement-menu/
Too many marketers assume that their strategies and offers are engaging their customers. This assumption is often wrong. Unless you are engaged in two-way dialogue and providing value-added communications…you have NO idea what customers think about your business and your marketing tactics.
We just completed VoC research for a major up and coming brand. A key competitive differentiator cited by customers was that the company provides ongoing opportunities for feedback in all communications and sends friendly, engaging surveys and then acts on the suggestions from customers! That makes customers feel included and valued.
Additional findings from our 16,000 plus hours of VoC interviews indicate that there is a dangerous chasm between the CX fantasies of brands versus the disappointing CX realities of most consumers.
Here are 3 Tips to help you get it right.
http://customerthink.com/are-you-really-engaging-customers-3-tips-to-get-it-right/
We’ve used the AI powers of Thematic to see whether we can find any juicy insights in customer feedback, and here’s what we found.
We’ve analyzed 16335 publicly available online reviews for 4 brands which often come to mind when thinking “luxury, global fashion brands”: Louis Vuitton (LV), Gucci, Prada, and Burberry.
They sit within a price range where you might think twice before purchasing them for all of your everyday needs (Louis Vuitton dish-wash cloths, anyone?), however with a bit of saving (or a few shameless credit card swipes later!), you might invest in some staples such as shoes, bags and scarves.
http://customerthink.com/deep-dive-into-customer-feedback-for-4-luxury-brands-what-can-they-improve/
When Jeff Howe coined the name “crowdsourcing” in 2005, even he would hardly have believed a Google search for the word in 2018 would turn up millions of results. In reality though, “crowdsourcing” has been around in one way or the other longer than when Jeff invented the name 13 years ago.
But from a business (for-profit) perspective though, why is crowdsourcing important? Research has shown that 70 percent of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they’re treated. And crowdsourcing is a great way to make customers feel they’re treated well. Let’s look at three ways you can do this.
http://customerthink.com/how-to-use-crowdsourcing-to-increase-customer-engagement-and-satisfaction/
