If you're like most businesses, you’re always looking for ways to engage with prospects and customers to foster a lasting relationship, achieve your goals and form connections that result in more conversions.
But how can you stand out from the competition and capture your audience's attention?
Whether you want to increase brand awareness or generate more leads, you’ll find creative ways to engage both your prospects and customers with the 15 strategies listed below. Read on to learn more!
How Do You Engage With Prospects?
There are many creative ways to engage prospects and begin building relationships.
It all starts with creating exciting and relevant content for your target audience. If you can generate thought-provoking articles, infographics or videos, you will get noticed.
But don't stop there — be sure to actively promote your content through social media and other channels. Once you have caught the attention of a prospective client, reach out and start a conversation. And finally, don't forget the power of face-to-face interactions.
By taking the time to nurture these relationships, you will be better positioned to close the deal when the time comes.
Why are Customer Engagement Strategies so Important?
Customer engagement matters, since acquiring new clients is five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. By engaging with customers, a company can better understand their needs, preferences, and feedback. This information can then be used to improve products and services, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and ultimately drive business growth. Additionally, engaged customers are more likely to recommend a company to others, provide positive reviews, and become repeat buyers. Therefore, developing and executing effective customer engagement strategies is crucial for the success and longevity of any business.
How to Cultivate Customer Engagement
The pandemic had a huge impact on how businesses moved forward with their marketing efforts. In today’s digital-first world, it has never been more important to learn how to engage prospects virtually. Due to the pandemic, many businesses need marketing help, and many marketers are wondering how to engage prospects all around the world. With so many people working remotely, it's more important than ever to find creative ways to engage prospects virtually. Below are a few tips to get you started:
Blog Posts
Blog posts serve to educate, inspire and build trust with your audience. They can help boost traffic and increase conversion rates. When constructing your blog strategy, it’s important to deliver value to your readers. Today’s market is inundated with content, and about seven out of 10 leaders agree that less than half of what they read delivers important insights. By focusing on high-quality content, your team can stand out above the noise.
When consumers feel that your business is more credible, they are more likely to invest in your brand. Blogging is also one of the most cost-effective forms of content marketing to increase ROI. Approximately 31% of marketers surveyed said blog posts and articles are the best way to improve brand awareness.
Newsletters and Emails
Newsletters and emails are a great way to establish a personalized connection with your audience. To boost engagement rates, consider leveraging curated emails, since curated content results in more clicks. Be sure to highlight your own assets, since these will result in more conversions. Be sure to also look at various newsletters to get ideas and to see examples of content curation being used effectively.
Video Calls
Video calls are an effective way to connect with people virtually and build relationships. You can use video conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Hangouts or Skype to connect with clients and prospects.
Webinars
Webinars are another powerful option for engaging with clients virtually. Use webinars to educate prospects about your products or services, build relationships and generate leads.
Virtual Event
If you're looking for a more intimate virtual experience, consider hosting a virtual event. Virtual events allow you to interact with attendees in real time and create an engaging experience for everyone involved.
Social Media
Finally, don't forget about the power of social media. Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook offer opportunities to connect with potential clients and customers worldwide.
Use these creative strategies to engage with clients and pros alike — no matter where they're located!
15 Creative Ideas to Boost Prospect & Customer Engagement
As a 21st-century business, you're always looking for creative ways to engage your audience — and rightly so! The better you engage with your audience, the better the results you'll see in terms of conversions and ROI. Below are some creative ideas that you can start using today to boost engagement:
1. Use social media to interact with your audience on a personal level.
Whether you're sharing behind-the-scenes photos or hosting a Q&A session, social media is a wonderful way to build deeper relationships with your followers.
2. Create engaging content that educates and inspires.
If you can hook your readers with interesting, informative content, they'll be more likely to stick around and share your content with their own networks. Learn how to create high-quality content — it will set you apart from your competitors. Alternatively, consider outsourcing this sort of content development to thought leaders in your industry or license it from reputable sources. Third-party content can be a great addition to your strategy, since it helps your brand appear objective.
Educational content is also a highly effective strategy. According to research, consumers are 131% more likely to buy from a company after consuming this kind of material.
3. Get creative with your prospects' marketing campaigns.
Don’t be afraid to try new content ideas when it comes to promoting your products or services. Learn how to generate the best leads through content marketing. Sometimes the most unexpected campaigns are the ones that generate the most buzz. Be sure to also get input across departments, since other team members from business development, product and sales might have good insights for campaign development.
For example: At the end of each year, Spotify launches a campaign called “Wrapped,” which is based entirely on user data. Spotify users then share this information across social media, commenting on their favorite music and generating buzz for the music streaming platform.
4. Make it easy for clients to engage with you on your website.
Make sure your website is easy to use and that people can easily find your contact information. Also, consider using tools like live chat to make it easy for prospects and clients to get in touch with you in real time.
Consider additional ways for people to engage with your site. You may choose to enable comments after each post. If you do, have a person dedicated to answering questions and removing spam. Getting unique content for your website is the key to driving attention from your consumers.
5. Utilize direct mail campaigns.
Direct mail is a simple way to reach your target audience. For example, if you have a list of high-value prospects, consider sending them a personalized piece of direct mail. However, be sure that your sales team knows if these folks are in the office. Due to the pandemic, remote work is becoming more common, so mass-produced direct mail campaigns may not be possible.
6. Send personalized holiday cards to top accounts.
Show your appreciation for your best customers by sending them a holiday card. You can even include a promotional code or special offer to sweeten the deal. A higher level of quality is achieved when brands engage deeply with audiences, build connections that feel personal and make their clients feel heard and understood.
7.Create targeted email campaigns and newsletters.
Email campaigns help you to stay in touch with your prospects and customers. Segment your list and send targeted emails that are relevant to their interests. The pandemic has made email even more important in terms of engaging clients, since in-person meetings are not always possible.
Nearly eight out of 10 marketers (78%) noted that their email engagement improved over the past year. Additionally, 31% of marketers agree that newsletters are the best way to nurture contacts that your team has generated. An email campaign is an educational marketing tool that can position your brand as a thought leader. Be sure to include a mix of in-house content, third-party resources and relevant industry news and insights for maximum engagement and conversions. If you are wondering about the best way to curate content for your newsletters, look for additional resources.
8. Curate relevant news.
Keep your prospects and customers up to date on industry happenings by curating news. You can share these updates via email, social media or on your website.
Only 20% of Americans are currently paying for digital news. Even fewer are paying for more than one subscription. Reputable news organizations have the bandwidth and resources to deliver credible and thought-provoking insights on trends. By leveraging journalism in your content marketing, your team will benefit in terms of time and costs, while providing audiences with unique content they are likely not reading anywhere else.
9. License content from world-renowned publications.
If you want to provide your audience with high-quality content but don't have the time or resources to produce it yourself, consider licensing content from world-renowned publications. This is an excellent way to add credibility and authority to your brand. NYTLicensing offers a plethora of content available at the click of a button. Knowing your information is coming from a vetted source like The New York Times can eliminate the stress of finding quality content yourself.
10. Engage your employees.
Your employees are some of your best brand ambassadors. Encourage them to share your content with their personal networks and participate in company sponsored events. Most people are more likely to trust a person over a brand.
11. Run a contest.
Contests are a fun way to engage prospects and get them excited about your product or service. This tactic can be especially effective at trade shows, where your team may be trying to increase traffic to your booth. Alternatively, contests can be a great way to increase your email list, boost social media followers or gather user-generated content.
12. Create an interactive tool.
Interactivity keeps prospects engaged. Create a tool that allows them to customize their experience or play around with different options.
13. Use gamification.
Gamification adds an element of fun and competition to the engagement process. Try incorporating games mechanics into your engagement strategy to see how it affects prospect behavior.
Consider the Pepsi Challenge, which sought to reveal whether Pepsi or Coca-Cola tastes better in a blind tasting. By making this a challenge, Pepsi was able to entice people to engage with their brand.
14. Provide exclusive content.
Engage prospects by providing them with content they can't access anywhere else. This could be in the form of an e-book, webinar or even just an informative blog post. Whatever it is, make sure it's something that your prospects will find valuable.
15. Get personal.
When it comes to engagement, sometimes a personal touch can make all the difference. Whether you're sending handwritten notes or customized emails, take the time to show your prospects that you care about them as individuals. One of the best ways to get personal is by using empathy-based marketing. This technique focuses on putting customers first by diving deep into understanding who their customer is.
You can build strong relationships with your prospects and close more deals by getting creative with your engagement strategies!
Customer Engagement Examples
Amazon:
Amazon allows its customers to follow specific brands they love and will receive product updates, specials, and launches. Their new technology engages customers in a dynamic and personal way through mobile and email messaging. This provides scalability, intelligent services, and cost savings.
Starbucks:
Starbucks focuses on relationships over marketing. Their social media efforts fit within a larger digital strategy that prioritizes community engagement. They have teamed up with different foundations like “Global Fund to Help Fight Aids in Africa” by starting the “StarbucksLoveProject.com” donations.
Starbucks also uses its app to engage its client base. By making repeat orders through the app, users gain rewards or points that can be used toward items in the store. Users also get a free coffee on their birthday.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to exploring new licensing solutions, the sky's the limit. Today's options offer creative ways to engage prospects and clients, and to provide businesses with the flexibility to scale their operations. NYTLicensing is one of the leading providers of licensed content globally and offers a wide range of options. No matter the size of your business, NYTLicensing has a solution that can fit your needs.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What are customer engagement activities?
Customer engagement activities are actions a brand takes to engage its client base and provide a better customer experience. These activities aim to improve customer retention rates through content, educational marketing, and client-focused events.
What does higher customer engagement mean for your company?
Higher customer engagement often leads to higher customer retention rates. Companies that improve their retention rates by even just 5% can see their profits increase by 25%-95%.
Is there a difference between a lead and a prospect?
A lead is any contact that has engaged with your company. However, prospects are generally considered more qualified, matching specific criteria set forth by marketing and sales.
How do you keep prospects engaged?
It’s important to have a wide variety of touchpoints in a campaign to keep prospects engaged. In order to do this, marketers need to look at their campaigns holistically. Often one piece of high-quality content isn’t enough to convert a prospect into a sale. Consider employing nurture campaigns and ensuring that each stage of the customer journey has correlating content.
