As a business owner, you know the importance of engaging your target audience and connecting on a more personal level to build trust and long-term loyalty. But engagement is a two-way street. Just sending out an occasional newsletter or social media post isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to engage customers in real conversation just like you would if you were face to face or on the telephone. But it’s not as hard as you might think.
There are simple techniques that provide the perfect avenues to engage your target audience in meaningful conversation.
1. Influencers and Thought Leaders
One of the biggest ways to boost credibility for a brand is by developing partnerships with people who already have the trust and confidence of your audience. Influencer marketing is one approach that is growing in popularity, with countless companies reaching out to solo influencers or agencies that manage influencer portfolios. The one thing to consider when considering an influencer strategy is their audience. There is little sense in having your brand featured by an influencer whose audience would never do business with you.
An alternative to the influencer model is gaining endorsements from industry experts or existing clients that are thought leaders in their industry. If people look to them as experts, they might consider their support of your brand an important step in doing business with you. Alternatively, you can work to position your company or its leaders as the industry thought leaders, to increase confidence in the brand for new and existing customers.
2. Create mobile apps to engage your target audience
Have you created your first mobile app yet? If no, what are you waiting for? It is easy to learn different programming languages. You can drive growth easily with mobile apps. Deep analytics combined with good psychology for user behaviour are the defining factors that differentiates an app from a website or other software.
When it comes to engage your target audience, we have seen first-hand how apps can turn a casual conversation into a bonded relationship that generates sales. Having a unique app icon helps too. If you are looking to engage your target audience, while providing unfeigned value that will remain fresh in their minds for years to come, then you should seriously consider creating mobile apps.
By the way, we can get started with your first mobile app. Simply contact us!
3. Host or attend events
Are you hosting or attending an event? Share the experience! Let people know ahead of time that you are going to be there and ask whom else will be attending. Respond to those who are coming and let them know you are looking forward to seeing them there.
However, do not stop there. Once you are on the scene, take a few minutes to post photos and videos of the event and let people know what they are missing. You can even use Facebook Live or Instagram Live Stream to stream the event as it happens or do a quick Q&A session with the followers who were not lucky enough to attend.
At a fashion store opening? Broadcast the seventh-inning stretch! At a food fest? Talk to the winners about what they have won and what the cause means to them. The opportunities are endless.
4. Produce interactive content to feed customer demand
What type of content are you producing? Interactive content is an effective approach for educating customers. And when customers are educated and excited, they become engaged and willing to take actions. Content marketing is the way to do. I am sure you don’t want me to preach about it. Do you?
In the past, traditional marketing strategies worked well. Many brands still use them today – although, with mixed feelings. When you come over to online, content is king. Your ability to produce the right content is your one-way ticket to generating more leads, more inbound links, and more sales. It is easier said than done.
Do you realize that two writers can write an in-depth article on the same topic, one of the articles could go viral – generating thousands of social shares, comments, links, and clients, while the other may not even reach a few hundred readers. What could be the cause? Well, several factors could lead to that.
One thing you should know is that the rules have changed. Content is no longer about the quantity, but the quality.
As an example, Brian Dean writes and publishes one article per month, yet, he drives over 100,000 qualified visitors to his blog. And hundreds of social shares on every new post. Although, Brian updates his blog once every month, but he does not sacrifice the quality of his post. In fact, he always up his game.
On the other side, if you want to create an engagement stream that never runs dry, you need a different type of content. You need interactive content. From the term “interactive content,” It is simply the type of content that talks back at the reader.
In other words, an interaction goes on when readers go through it. Here are some examples of interactive content:A typical blog post is not really an interactive content, but it can become if you spice it up.
Generally, humans live to interact. Consequently, if your content follows that pattern, your customers will not only be engaged, but they will feel at home with your brand – and become motivated brand advocates. The real measure of any form of content is action. If you write content and the right people aren’t able to take action, it means that you didn’t achieve any goal. You have wasted time.
Interactive content is what engages the user and provides enormous value.
Conclusion
The key learning here is that engaging customer is not a destination, but a journey. Because it does not stop. I am yet to find any brand, business that can boast of mastering customer engagement 100%.
If only you can take these 3 simple steps to heart and implement them, you will not only inspire your customers, but you will build a brand that thrives in the midst of market downturns.
You can create your apps with us.
Which of these techniques have you used in your business?
The post 4 simple techniques you need to know to engage your target audience appeared first on NATIVEDGE.