How to Communicate With Customers in a Digital Environment
Technology and innovation has changed customer expectations and the way that companies communicate. While businesses have become more accessible by having a digital presence, the need is to successfully communicate with customers to meet their needs. Various online mediums are also being used by businesses to market their products and services. But how can companies effectively communicate with online customers and what are the latest trends? Following are some ideas you can adopt to stay constantly in touch with your customers.
Communicating Through Social Networking Websites
Social media has grown with time and is now being used as an information sharing medium by customers as well as businesses. According to a report published by “Wearesocial”, a global agency, there are 2.03 billion active social media users and the figures would increase in the coming years. Let us take a look at popular social media websites and how businesses can utilize them.
Facebook provides a powerful yet systematic way to increase sales which gives businesses the ability to reach targeted customers. Anyone can sign up and start promoting their products but if the aim is to establish the company as a reliable brand and increase your engagement with followers, you need to approach things differently. You have to know the importance of quality content, how and when to present it. Facebook’s page insights can help companies establish strategies as to how and when to engage with fans and followers and can also help in experimenting what works best for the business. While communicating with customers on Facebook, understand who your target audience is and what they would want.
This social media platform is used by businesses to constantly update customers and engage with them in one-to-one conversations. Twitter allows business to be precise and responsive at the same. It can also be used as a platform to advertise as it caters to an average of 236 million active members per month. Companies can make the most of this by engaging with customers regularly and responding to them in a timely manner. This would enhance the brand image and the company will also come across as responsible and reliable. According to an infographic published by SocialBakers, 10 million posts were ignored completely by brands in the first quarter of 2014 but since then businesses have improved their service on Twitter and are now creating rapport with customers by engaging with them constantly and getting back to them in the shortest period of time.
After Twitter and Facebook, Instagram is appearing to be the next big platform for customer engagement. An infographic posted by Gryffin Media stated that engagement rate on Instagram is 15 time higher than Facebook and the videos are twice as popular as compared to pictures.
Businesses can not only use this platform to create hype for their products and services but, can also post behind the scenes footage, create catchy hashtags or come up with brilliant captions to get their customer’s attention. Companies can engage with customers through the comments section and answer any queries they might have.
Communicating with Live Chat
Live chat service has seen a lot of growth and popularity in recent years. It is being integrated on websites of various companies because businesses have begun to understand the importance of customer engagement in real time. According to a survey conducted by EConsultancy, 73% of the customers experience a higher level of satisfaction using live chat as compared to email and phone. For getting the most out of your live chat it is vital to respond in a timely manner, understand the needs of your customer and provide the service 24/7 in multiple languages. Live chat solutions is also a great way to assess customer satisfaction and gather feedback about products and services.
Webinars and Videos
ClickMeeting created an infographic which explained that 68% businesses run at least one webinar a month. Webinars are seminars which are arranged online. Executives, today, are signing up for creating webinars because it means instant access to the public and if the people like what you say, you become an instant success. Webinars can be used to promote the ideology of the company and this can also help the company create a positive image for itself by helping and guiding customers. According to the Content Marketing Institute, more than 60% marketers are using webinars as part of their marketing content.
Videos are another great way to engage customers. For example, YouTube has more than 1 billion users and millions of views are being generated every day. A large number of people use YouTube to research and discover services/products that they’re interested in purchasing. Businesses can create “how-to” videos, product reviews, etc. to attract new customers while effectively serving existing customers. This would help them gain popularity and the company would also be able to reinforce itself in a subtle manner.
These practices help businesses improve customer engagement via digital channels. It is essential to keep in mind that the digital environment is constantly expanding and businesses need to keep up with the latest trends and innovations in order to facilitate their customers.
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