From a marketer’s point of view, customer engagement is something that you’re constantly striving to achieve. There is no correct answer or formula and the rules of engagement are constantly changing. Marketers are only focused on reaching customers where they are and in the moments that matter to them the most. We are a mobile first society, so making sure that the experience is seamless for the customer journey is top priority.
Here is how customer engagement in the age of mobile, social and messaging is happening right under your nose:
- There is no stopping the mobile-first customer – Mobile now accounts for 65% of all digital media time, according to comScore. That’s time spent checking email, shopping, doing work and engaging with friends on social media, in no particular order. You hear this all the time, but today’s consumer is mobile-first and marketers now have to make sure that they optimize content for smaller screens and incorporate new channels like apps and social media in order to improve engagement.
- The possibilities for targeted marketing on mobile are endless -Mobile’s strength to marketers is in its immediacy and timeliness. A mobile device can share with a marketer personal information at the right time about a consumer as they engage with a brand. In return, once a marketer knows your preferences and details such as your location, it can send push notifications via apps to keep you updated on the status of an order or send you a promotional offer when you’re near a brand’s brick-and-mortar location. Also, with the power of artificial intelligence (AI), on mobile devices it can make smart decisions based on customer data it captures across all devices. Marketers can then use this data to make predictions about what type of offers and content would be ideal for their target market and help with customer engagement. This is a great way to personalize information based on your history with the brand.
- Social is a public way for a brand to have a relationship with its customers – Marketers are now getting smarter about connecting their engagement tools to mobile and social media. Many big brands are now turning to software services that easily allow their organization to connect with customers 24/7, which as a consumer I appreciate. You can contact a brand if you have any issues any time of they day by simply messaging them your details. These services also allow marketers to track dark social sharing and identify viral content on their website. 80% of website social sharing is done via copy and paste and also private messaging. These services help you to fully understand how your audience shares your content and tend to their needs right away.
The Future of engagement and messaging – Marketers are still trying to figure out how they can be an all-in-one solution for consumers so that a customer doesn’t need to jump to another platform to take care of business. Figuring out how to move between public and private applications and making sure that the user experience is seamless for both parties is their top priority. For example, consumers are unlikely to tweet their credit card number to a retailer to complete a purchase. But it’s also no longer convenient to conduct all important business over the phone or email. Messaging apps are primed to be the middle ground and will likely be the answer to this problem.
