How Technology Can Help You To Engage With Your Customers

Being able to engage well, though, is entirely different to simply engaging. You mustn’t, for example, try to sell too hard, or bother your customers in any way. You should, of course, always answer questions and reply to comments. Getting the balance right when it comes to customer engagement is crucial, and technology is always a great place to start when thinking about engagement. Here are some ways to get it right.

Make It Personal

If you can turn your company into a more personal experience for your customers, this will help immensely with customer engagement in exactly the right way. Find out who your target audience is, and you can work out exactly how to engage with them to get the right reaction.

Personalized marketing means that you can advertise to people based on exactly what their interests are. Amazon does this already with its ‘recommended for you’ section where you can see exactly the kind of thing you were looking for. This helps the customer because they can easily find what they want, and it helps the business owner because it is more likely that they will make a sale.

You can also use direct email marketing based on where people live and what they want from your company. To make things even more personal, there are text services that can remind people they have an abandoned basket or let them know they can now buy that the out of stock item that they wanted. Using technology to help the customer and tailor their shopping experience with you to them personally will increase customer engagement and sales hugely.

Make It Simple

Customers don’t want to have to go through a complicated process to buy something from you or get in touch to find out more about your services. Technology can make things much simpler, ensuring that they are happier to engage with you and purchase from you. Portal technology, for example, will make searching your site something that takes seconds and is no longer laborious. However, making the checkout process as easy as possible is always the best option to start with if your budget, time, or knowledge of customer engagement technology is limited.

Technology can also allow you to be more flexible with your customers, and that also increases customer engagement. Some businesses have to be rigid when it comes to what kinds of payment they can take, for example, checks are no longer popular because it can be a long time before a business owner can get them to the bank to be paid. Technology now allows for a photo to be taken of the check from a smartphone and uploaded to an app, and the money is deposited from there. So if your customers want to pay by check, you can let them, and this will help with your positive image too.

Improve The Customer Experience

If your company can improve the way it handles customers and improve their overall experience, you are more likely to find that people recommend you and your company grows more quickly. Technology can help you with this, and give you another way to engage with your customers. Take the time people spend on your website, for example. Through technology, you can determine which pages people spend the most time on and which ones they barely look at. Once you know this, you can make those little-seen pages better (or remove them entirely if they are not required). Doing so improves the customer experience straight away.

This tech will also give you an insight into which pages people are spending too long on, that is, which pages are causing them difficulty. If the checkout page is awkward and complicated, for example, you may find people are spending far too long there, and this could put them off visiting again. It may even make them forget buying from you altogether. 

Gaining Customer Feedback

Using technology to gain customer feedback is a fantastic way to engage with your customers. You could send out surveys, for example. These are quick and easy to set up, and you can email them directly to the customers who are most likely to have an opinion on whatever topic it is you want to find out more about.

When you receive the feedback you have requested, both good or bad, the important thing is to act on it if need be. This will show your customers that you listened to what they had to say and that you are doing something about whatever it was they wanted to be changed or updated. It is a fantastic way to gain useful feedback while letting your customers know that their opinion is appreciated.

Give Your Customers Exclusive Offers

Giving your loyal customers something that no one else can have is another great way to keep them happy and to engage with them. You might have special discount codes that only certain people get given, and this can be managed through technology such as a CRM (customer relationship manager) app or program. Or, you might hold special events such as late night shopping that only those who have shopped with you before receive invitations to attend.

Product tours are another excellent way to gain some wonderful customer engagement, and to connect with those who are interested. Product tours mean that you have a special event that will teach customers everything they need to know about your products and services, giving them an insight that not many other people will have. You don’t even have to do this live. Instead, you could record a product tour and put the video on your website and your YouTube account.

Letting customers know that these exclusive offers are live could all be done through newsletters or emails that they have signed up for.