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‍Easy Customer Engagement Strategies for Small Businesses

Business Development

Keeping your existing customers is just as important, if not more important, than attracting new ones. This is where customer engagement comes in handy.  

As your go-to digital marketing agency in Miami, we are going to share with you some of our clients’ go-to strategies that have worked wonders to keep their customers engaged across all touchpoints.

What Is Customer Engagement?

Customer engagement is the art of building meaningful relationships with people who are buying your products or services.  

It encompasses all types of interactions both online and offline, including:

  • Welcome Messages
  • Promotions
  • Emails
  • Phone Calls
  • Social Media Conversations
  • Store or Office Visits

Why Is Customer Engagement Important for Retention?

Engaging your customers regularly keeps you on their mind. As a result, you’re the first business they can think of when they’re ready to buy. They might even recommend you to people they know!

Customer retention also plays a crucial role when it comes to ROI. According to HubSpot, a 5% increase in customer retention can boost your company revenue by 25-95%.  

How to Engage Customers Regularly

Here are some easy ways you can keep your customers engaged:

1. Run a contest on social media.

Social media contest for customer engagement

Social media makes it incredibly easy for users to follow and keep in touch with businesses. Your goal is to motivate your target audience to turn on notifications for your posts.

Social media contests are a great way to do this. When done right, they can also generate tons of engagement for your small business.  

You can start small by running a “tag a friend campaign”. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Set clear goals and determine your objectives. For instance, you probably want to increase community engagement and grow your following. Keeping this in mind changes what kind of contest you should run.

Step 2: Choose a social media platform. Use a social media channel that most of your target audience prefers to use.  Is it Instagram? Facebook? YouTube?

Step 3: Determine what you’re going to give away.  It could be your most coveted product, a cash prize, or a gift basket filled with goodies.  

Step 4: Create contest rules. The mechanics will depend on your goals. If you want to get more followers, asking people to follow your account will help you achieve it. If you want to boost community engagement, asking your customers to post about their experience with your small business in the comment section is a great way to generate UGC and make them feel connected to you.  

Step 5: Create branded visuals for your contest and make sure to include a photo of your prize. This will get your customers’ attention and motivate them to join.  

Step 6: Promote your contest. Make sure you reach a wider audience by promoting your social media contest. Use relevant hashtags or you can even run an ad about it.  

2. Reach out and respond to your customers across various channels.

Modern consumers use multiple channels at different stages of the buyer’s journey to make a decision. This is why it’s so important for them to be able to engage and purchase from a retailer via different channels.

As a small business owner, it can be time-consuming to keep up with your target audience and be present across a variety of platforms.

However, studies show that multi-channel customers spend 3 to 4 times more than single-channel customers. This could be enough motivation to step up your game and use multiple channels to engage with your customers.  

3. Feature positive reviews and feedback.

customer review concept on laptop screen.

Another great way to keep your customers engaged and loyal is to respond to positive reviews and feature them on your Instagram stories, Facebook posts, and website.

Don’t forget to tag the customer and thank them for their kind words!

Doing so will help spread the word about your business and encourage your other customers to do the same.  

You should also pay attention to feedback. Make your customers feel heard and appreciated by acknowledging their feedback and taking action on it.  

An easy way to start is by sharing an overview of the survey results via email with your customers who took the time to respond. And then, in the same email, clearly state the changes you plan to make based on their evaluation and how you're going to do it.  

Once you've implemented the changes, send a follow-up email telling them that you've listened and taken action.  

4. Show off user-generated content.

Another way to engage your customers and make them feel appreciated is to feature user-generated content on your social media accounts.  

Sharing audience content can be a way for you to start conversations with your customers and motivate them to keep chatting about your business.  

This level of interaction can also help build and grow an engaged community, deepen relationships, and drive brand loyalty.  

User-generated content can also be incredibly influential during the final stages of the buyer’s journey. It can act as social proof that your business is worth checking out, which helps convert prospects and influence them into making a purchase.  

5. Make your most loyal customers brand ambassadors.

digital marketing agency Miami doing a interview with a brand ambassador.

If you have customers that have been supporting your small business for a very long time, award them by making them your brand ambassadors.

Since they already believe in your brand and in what you have to offer, they’re the perfect people to spread enthusiasm and encourage others to try out your products or services.  

An example of this is Lively. Lively was a small lingerie company that was able to compete against big lingerie brands by partnering with regular customers who love their products.  

They call them "Boss Babe Ambassadors". This was such a success because when their customers modeled their lingerie, it showed people that their products are inclusive and anyone can rock their pieces.  

As the leading digital marketing agency in Miami, we suggest that you give your brand ambassadors exclusive perks to really put them in the role.

This can include:

  • VIP Discounts
  • First Access to New Products or Services
  • Requests for Feedback on Products or Services Still in Development

What Have You Been Doing to Keep Your Customers Engaged and Loyal?

Digital Resource is the best digital marketing agency in Miami that specializes in helping small business boost their visibility online and achieve long-term business success.

We want to see you succeed. Contact us today and allow us to do just that!

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