Engagement marketing is easily the backbone of any successful marketing strategy. Engagement is a term that any business owner will be familiar with. Customer engagement often comes hand in hand with a positive customer experience. And by ensuring (and measuring) the consistent experience of customers, you can better propel your business toward success. Understanding customer engagement is a vital part of engagement marketing campaigns. In short, understand your customers first and target them second.
It is fantastic that you are adding customer engagement to your marketing strategy. This article will cover everything you need to know to utilize engagement and accelerate your business growth. There is much to cover - from what engagement in marketing strategy entails to why it’s essential. Let’s work our way through it together, and then you can use the information to personalize your approach.
What Is Engagement Marketing?
Engagement marketing is a simple concept. It is a marketing strategy that focuses on customer engagement and how your business interacts with its customers. It concentrates entirely on purchase behaviors, patterns, and the customer experience. All of this drives a more informed marketing strategy. While the term itself is simple, it is a broad marketing strategy. It can entail a whole range of approaches.
For instance, you could focus on building strong customer relationships through a loyalty program. Alternatively, you may focus on measuring your engagement with foot traffic analytics or sending out a customer survey. Engagement as part of your marketing strategy falls into two general categories.
These categories are whether you measure current engagement or focus on building future engagement. Often businesses focus on measurement first and building future engagement after, using their findings to shape their strategies. These two general categories can then be broken down into hundreds of strategy types - leaving plenty of room for creativity.
Why Use Marketing Engagement Strategies
So why use marketing engagement strategies? Because overall, marketing engagement strategies are one of the most successful ways to accelerate your business growth.
Engagement marketing directly correlates with an increase in sales. But, the more customers you attract, the more sales you’ll make. And the better the experience the customers have, the more likely they’ll return and create sales as loyal customers. Using this marketing strategy, you will naturally improve the customer experience simultaneously. It is a brilliant option to yield growth results and review and improve your business. It is a growth tool with all-around benefits.
Using engagement in your marketing strategy doesn’t even need to be expensive. You can quickly start it for free, especially if you have a bit of extra time on your hands. You can easily double your sales if you have one day free a week (like one Saturday a month). It is effective because it is versatile and a brilliant free marketing option.
Focusing on engagement is a fantastic way to invest in your business. As the saying goes, “the customer is always right”. Focusing specifically on customer interactions can rapidly accelerate your business growth. Aside from being versatile, this form of marketing also focuses on the very thing that reaps profit - customer engagement.
Whether in a retail or restaurant business, you rely on customers for survival. It makes sense to focus on the customer in your marketing. Consider engagement as the golden ticket to the ultimate marketing strategy.
4 Top Engagement Marketing Examples
Now that you know engagement marketing, let’s look at some examples. One of the best ways to approach a new marketing strategy is to view other businesses’ models. This not only helps you to solidify your understanding of the marketing type, but it also gives you ideas.
Often, these strategies are popular because of how effective they are. In this case, you can copy them for your business, skipping over the messy trial-and-error process. Sometimes marketing examples can also be good to see what wouldn’t work for your business. You can easily tweak the strategies to suit your brand and vision.
These 4 top engagement marketing examples are a brilliant place to start. Jot down anything that catches your eye.
1. Welcome Messages in Engagement Marketing
Welcome messages are one of the most subtle yet effective strategies in engagement marketing. It can be used after a customer signs up for a loyalty program. Or it can be used when customers buy a product (if you put a contact request in purchase options). This message could be in the form of an SMS or email - whichever the customer consents to. It simply personalizes the customer experience, showing appreciation to consumers. It quickly acknowledges and lets the customer know that their interactions matter. This appreciation is fantastic if you want to drive loyalty and strong customer relationships.
Using welcome messages is also super easy - you automate the system entirely with the right software. A quick hello and thanks for signing up can go a long way. You could add a signature from the CEO and a quick casual message as an extra touch. A welcome message should be short and snappy. But, a little brand emphasis can be handy if you have a backstory or strong company ethos.
2. Loyalty Programs for Engagement Marketing
Loyalty programs are the golden child of marketing and business growth. A loyalty program is a fantastic engagement marketing strategy to grow your business. It is one of the more traditional marketing options. Before technology, loyalty cards were all the rage - especially in places like coffee shops. Now, most loyalty programs use digital loyalty cards instead. However, you can choose whichever option works best for you and your consumers.
Loyalty programs are all about pushing customer loyalty. It focuses on driving repeat engagement by rewarding each interaction a customer makes. Usually, this revolves around a points system, with customers earning points they can redeem later. The rewards can vary from free coffee to discounted holidays and hotel stays. Whatever resonates with your customer base and brand. For example, restaurant rewards usually include food and drinks - at a push, perhaps rewards related to the country of the cuisine.
Creating an exclusive customer experience also plays into a sense of ego and connection. Like customers can be part of your own special club. Set up a loyalty program and watch the sales roll in.
3. A Clear Place for Feedback in Engagement Marketing
Feedback is another vital part of engagement marketing. After all, if your customers don’t have anywhere to vent, they will take their negative feedback online. And if your customers need somewhere to send positive feedback, how will you know where you are going right? A clear place for customers to direct their thoughts is fantastic for positive and negative feedback.
Consider it as simultaneously fishing for compliments and conducting damage limitation.
This feedback could be encouraged through QR codes on menus or restaurant walls. You could also promote feedback through emails or a straightforward form on your websites. Of course, having a clear feedback form is just half the battle. You need to ensure that you both respond to and utilize feedback.
Add any positive feedback to your social media channels or website - this stuff is like diamonds in marketing. Also, note down any patterns in negative feedback. Is there an issue with staff training? Or holes in the service you offer? Of course, demanding customers can be found everywhere. But try to remain objective and ascertain whether your business can grow and develop from each experience.
Social media presence is marketing’s holy grail. That is a given. But having a social media presence is especially important in engagement marketing. Engagement in your marketing strategy is about connecting with customers and building strong customer relationships. Because so much of our world revolves around social media, having a digital presence is consequential. A social media presence creates familiarity and keeps you fresh in customers’ minds.
Social media can be daunting if you aren’t using it regularly. The best way is to start. Create a Facebook and Instagram page and link them immediately using the business settings. This means you can upload simultaneously to both - instantly making your job easier.
Commit to posting at least 3 times a week. Guidance varies depending on Facebook and Instagram algorithms (which change regularly). But a solid guideline, if you don’t have time to research, is to aim for a couple of reels and a standard post each week. If you need help with organization, a social media calendar is a great tool to help you get started.
Even these tiny interactions on social media can make a world of difference to engagement. Digital engagement also spreads a lot further than most physical engagement strategies. You could be targeting people nationally, or even internationally, that would never otherwise reach. It is not one of our easiest engagement strategies, but it is the most effective.
Final Thoughts: Investing in Engagement as a Marketing Strategy
Engagement marketing is an effective marketing campaign to accelerate your business growth. Its effectiveness is the fact its entire focus is on understanding and driving customers. And since more customers mean more profit and happy customers mean more purchases, this is ideal. You are addressing the real core of your business - how you interact with customers and rake in profit.
While we use the phrase ‘investing’, engagement marketing does not have to be expensive. You could start today without even spending a penny. You could create a feedback form or open a social media account. While it does require some ongoing commitment, in this case, you can quickly go all-in cost-free with a few hours a week. In these cases, create a content calendar or plan to review feedback each week.
Alternatively, you can outsource your marketing to minimize your time on engagement. This is ideal if you have a large budget or need more time. One thing is for sure, though, whether you tackle engagement alone or with outsourcing, you will soon see results.
Are you looking for some direction? At Beambox, we are always happy to assist you with your marketing journey. We are experts in content marketing and assisting businesses in achieving success. Don’t struggle unnecessarily. Let’s take the next steps in utilizing and driving customer engagement together.
There are no delays if you want to get the ball rolling today (time is of the essence, right?). Beambox offers the best all-in-one wifi marketing platform. We leverage a dynamic approach to connect, capture, and keep more customers. Start your Beambox free trial today, and let us help you maximize your marketing potential.
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