Tweet

ENGAGEMENT IS THE JOURNEY…. LOYALTY IS THE DESTINATION

Guest post by: Mark Johnson

Article Overview: Customer Engagement. It’s a phrase echoed by brands in their quest to attract and retain customers. Yet, in talking with marketers across myriad industries, we realized that it’s a concept that is often very misunderstood.

ENGAGEMENT IS THE JOURNEY…. LOYALTY IS THE DESTINATION





We’ve found that “engagement” and “loyalty” are terms that are often used interchangeably. Understanding the differences and interconnection between the two, however, is the key to building and maintaining strong, sustainable, profitable customer relationships.

While there is no single, concise definition, we do know that “engagement” gets to the heart of the relationship between consumers and brands --- a relationship that has been forever changed by the explosion of new media and technologies. Building this relationship begins the first time a customer is introduced to your brand and continues as you initiate the dialogue, get to know each other, and develop a rapport. This is the journey of engagement.

Marketers envy beloved brands such as Apple, Nike, Nordstrom, Ritz Carlton, Harley Davidson, and Trader Joes. Why are these brands so loved? Because they excel at engaging their customers. They realize that interaction is more important than transaction --- that engagement is not a program, practice or initiative, but rather a strategic process of looking at the relationship between their brand and the customer. It’s about creating experiences that allow them to build deeper, more emotional, more meaningful and sustainable bonds between the customer and their brands.

Developing an engagement strategy begins with identifying the customers’ expectations from the brand. What are they looking for when they reach out to a brand? What do they want the brand to deliver? It is an accepted belief that when customers buy products or services, they expect quality delivered with good service at an equitable price. How experiences with a brand make a customer feel (remember, more than 70% of consumer loyalty and spending decisions are based on emotional factors) is what sets it apart from the competition.

Loyalty 360 has identified several key “feelings” that engage the customer, solidify the connection, and move the customer along the loyalty continuum. These drivers include:

“I want to feel valued by the brand”

Customers want to know that they can expect a company to go out of its way to support their needs and that the company values their business.

A new report by digital ad agency Razorfish found that feeling valued is the #1 attribute for building brand engagement. How a brand can make their consumers feel valued can manifest itself in a number of strategic and tactical ways --- from receiving exceptional customer service, to encouraging and responding to customer feedback



“I want to be able to trust the brand”

Customers want to know that a company is credible, honest, sincere and transparent.

PeopleMetrics’ Most Engaged Customer study for 2010 provides compelling evidence that customer trust is a key driver of engagement. After surveying more than 5,000 consumers and 1,200 B2B decision-makers, they studied the brands with the highest customer engagement levels to learn what they were doing right, and how other companies could achieve high customer engagement. Trust, according to the survey, is a main ingredient in building customer engagement.



“I want the brand to be relevant in my life”

Customers want a brand to integrate into their lifestyles.

Customers value brands that help solve their problems and become relevant in their lives. Recent research by Carlson Marketing found that consumers are interested in a sought-after deeper relationship with a brand as long as there is something in it for me: Make “my” life simpler; Meet “my” need for product, emotions, experiences, and connections; Let “me” serve myself until “I” need you, then be ready to help “me” --- whatever it takes. They want a reason to interact with the brand.

“I want a personal relationship with the brand”

Customers want the brand’s message, offers and coupons to be tailored to their needs.

The average American consumer is blasted with nearly 3,000 messages a day. Of those, consumers pay attention to 52 messages and remember only four (Xerox study). To stand out over the growing media clutter, the brand’s message needs to be personalized and unique. In fact, a recent CMO survey discovered that 58% of consumers surveyed want more compelling and personal benefits and services, and 52% want more compelling personal deals and offers.



“I want the brand to be humble”

Customers want to know that brands are listening and are genuinely working proactively to fix the problems.

The Retail Consumer Report, commissioned by RightNow and conducted online by Harris Interactive in January 2011, found that retailers are monitoring and responding to consumer complaints on the social web, and effectively winning back disgruntled customers. According to the survey, 68% of consumers who posted a complaint/negative review on social media got a response from the retailer. Of those, 18% converted into loyal customers and bought more from the retailer.



“I want to feel part of the greater good”

Consumers want, are willing to pay more, and willing to go further to buy products or use companies that support a cause.

According to the Cone Cause Evolutions Study 2010, 90% of consumers want to know what a company is doing to benefit a cause and 85% have a more positive image of a product when the company supports a cause they care about. The opportunities for deeper engagement via corporate social responsibility are huge as consumers are incredibly attuned to cause branding, but they are not yet satiated. A full 83% of Americans wish more of the products, services and retailers they use would support causes.

Engagement --- the degree to which a company succeeds in building and maintaining an intimate, strong relationship with the customer --- drives loyalty. The relationship starts the first time a person is introduced to your brand and continues as you initiate a dialogue, get to know each other, and develop a rapport. What do your customers expect from your brand? What do they want the brand to deliver? How do they want your brand to make them feel? How experiences with a brand make a customer feel is what sets it apart from the competition.

Related Articles
  Map-Quest. How to Find Your Way to Success - Insurance Sales Training
  If you don’t take care of your employees… they won’t take care of your customers
  Turning Loyalty Right-Side Up Again
  Keys To Reinvent Your LIfe
  Destination - The Journey
  "The Magical Mystery Tour"
  Getting To Your Personal and Professional Best
  Italy vs Holland
  IN THE CONTEXT OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY, NEW NIKE-TIGER WOODS COMMERCIAL IS ON POINT
  Success Is A Journey - Enjoy The Ride!
  How's Your Sales Software?
  Customer retention, engagement remain top challenges for 2012
  Home Business Journey
  Share of Mind Leads to Share of Wallet
  What is personal development plan?
  Learning to Zigzag
  Realizing and Breaking your "Glass Ceiling" - Part 1
  Engaged Employees Increase Bottom Line Performance
  IMAGINE
  Next Destination Your Life

Article Tags: customer engagement, Loyalty 360, loyalty marketing



Related Forum Posts


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Ready for a Fresh Image?

Ten Ways to Make Blogging Work for Your Business

Hypotheticals, Scenarios and Foresight

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.