Excited and engaged customers bring in 23 percent more profits. They have long held “brandfests,” which offer a place for customers to meet and create memorable experiences that build loyalty. These experiences generate emotional connections with the brand and with other users, which leads to better brand attitudes. Survey customers to better understand them. Marketers must understand customers in order to excite them. Amazon’s Alexa “gets to know the customer.” The more “she” learns, the easier it is for consumers to buy products. Package products in unique ways. Brands including HP, Shopify and Google use outside providers to create extraordinary customer experiences from the instant the customer receives their package. One study found that while 73 percent of customers want to support companies for doing something meaningful, only 5 percent think that companies actually do so. There are a variety of ways for business leaders to develop excitement and engagement in consumers.
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Excited and engaged customers bring in 23 percent more profits. However, with advancing technology and decreasing face-to-face encounters, companies are having to find new ways to get customers excited.
Excitement is an emotion that fosters engagement. Positive experiences lead to increasing connections. Sports fans, for example, are so engaged they frequently describe their beloved team as part of their personality. This is the ultimate brand engagement.
By 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. And yet, only 58 percent of executives have a formal engagement program. Companies must adopt a customer engagement strategy or get left behind. Here are 10 innovative ways business leaders can excite their customers in the ultra-connected digital age.
1. Share behind-the-scenes content.
Taking customers behind the scenes humanizes companies. This can be as simple as sharing employee stories on social media, or it can be a complex, immersive experience.
Disney offers “Behind the Scenes” tours to guests to engage customers in the “magic” of Disney. These tours present an unseen side of the company, demonstrating how Disney is changing the world through agriculture research or by valuing minority causes. The tours reinforce the Disney brand while providing visitors with a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
2. Launch a user conference.
Harley-Davidson understands the value of bringing users together. They have long held “brandfests,” which offer a place for customers to meet and create memorable experiences that build loyalty. These experiences generate emotional connections with the brand and with other users, which leads to better brand attitudes. Brandfests have been shown to increase sales by 20 percent.
The events should be an escape from normal life. They should “jive” with customers’ lifestyles and present event goers with opportunities for personal growth.
3. Survey customers to better understand them.
Marketers must understand customers in order to excite them. Surveys can be useful if companies use proper analytics to interpret data and implement necessary changes. Get creative with surveys. Many customers will shy away from filling out a lengthy survey, but will be happy to answer a single question.
Put a quick poll on social media or after an order, ask a couple of questions when following up with customers, or casually poll customers during checkout at a retail location. Use this data to make better decisions and help employees to better understand the target audience.
4. Use personalization.
Eighty percent of people say that brands are not tailored to their needs. In a world where some brands like Netflix and Amazon are doubling down on personalization, smaller brands must also commit to this growing consumer trend.
Amazon’s Alexa “gets to know the customer.” The more “she” learns,…
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