How can I engage my customers? This has got to be one of the most frequently asked questions from my eCommerce clients. The truth is and there is no magical secret to engaging them. In my recent article: “Learn How to Engage Your Online Customers to Grow Your Business”, I talked about the fundamentals of uncovering why your customers need you. In this follow up post I will 6 ways that will really boost your customer engagement.
The key to being successful in a business is knowing your audience. In today’s modern world of Internet and Google searchers, marketers have learned that knowing where your audience spends their time online is a necessity to be successful. With that being said, if you read on below, you will find a few tips to tell you How to engage your customers online.
Know Exactly Where Your Customers Spend Their Time
Studies show that most Internet browsers spend a lot of their time on social media sites. Sites like Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter have tons of traffic and you need to capitalize on that to have a successful business. If your customers are spending key amounts of time on social media sites, it stands to reason that this is where you need to use your marketing strategies. This means that you need to include a very healthy dose of social media in your marketing along with the traditional email and other marketing strategies.
Provide Exciting Targeted Content
It seems that mobile browsing is a big thing these days as well. So, you want any content that you post to be short, to the point, but still entertaining. Videos work well, as do articles that don’t have tons of meaningless fluff. Articles that have three to five sentences per paragraph keep a reader’s attention better than most and you need to be sure to write an engaging title that will draw your reader in.
If you just can’t seem uncover topics that are intriguing, remember, the best content is content that your audience can relate to. Hang out where your customers hang out online. This goes back to knowing exactly where your customers spend their time and what their needs are. If this isn’t your cup of tea, you can also hire a professional content writer to do this type of thing for you, as they are trained in exactly this type of research.
Facebook and YouTube
Studies show that Facebook and YouTube get more traffic in a day than a combination of many other sites put together. This should tell you something about your marketing strategy. Identify your target audience and then post things that will draw them in on these sites.
Other sites that tend to have a lot of online traffic are:
- Zynga
- Google Search
- Yahoo Mail
- Craigs list
- E-bay
- Yahoo Homepage
- Google Plus
Target these few sites and you should see your business grow in no time at all.
Focus a Lot of Energy on Facebook Itself
The last published data for Facebook shows that it has 845 million viewers a month. That is a lot of viewers and a lot of potential customers for your business. Studies show that Facebook dominates social media in two other ways as well. These are:
- Facebook is the premier player among when it comes to web properties. In other world’s they dominate the Internet with the time that people spend on their site. This equals customer engagement for you and your business, if you use the marketing strategies outlined.
- Facebook has a very impressive mindshare percentage that makes it number one in the industry and the perfect place to advertise for customers to grow your business.
- Targeting Your Facebook Ads: Jon Loomer wrote a really good post on how to dial in your likely audience for better conversion on Facebook. Read it Here.
Take Video Seriously
According to studies, Internet users tend to watch videos more often than they do anything else online. Maybe it is the learning as you go method that causes this, but the results are amazing. In order to succeed in your business, you need to start taking video seriously. Get away from the old-fashioned marketing ideas and make sure that you post some entertaining videos that are chockfull of good, valuable information on social media sites.
Learn from the Best
Do your research to be sure that you are doing your marketing the right way. Target people in your industry and study what marketing strategies they are using to make their businesses so successful.
Follow the tips above for engaging your customers online and you will be successful in no time at all.
