Marketing was a one-way communication until not very long ago. Consumers were only passive participants with the media forms limited to audio-visual formats. The advent of smartphones and computers has made marketing a two-way communication with active consumer participation. Before understanding Customer Engagement's impact on Customer Experience, we need to get a clear picture of the two.
Customer Engagement is the metric of customer interaction in any form with a brand; it could be in the form of social media likes, follows, reshares, or be more direct like customer support or messages. Decision trees for contact centers help to Increase Customer Engagement and awareness of a brand. Customer Engagement has become a focus area for companies in recent years with a boom in digital marketing. Engagement also displays the connection and a level of trust between a brand and its customers.
Customer Experience is a holistic brand perception that covers all aspects from marketing and sales to support. Any interaction between a customer and a brand adds to the overall customer experience. Customer Experience is a deciding factor for retaining customers. Customer Experience is multi-dimensional, with aspects like the longevity of engagement, repetitive engagement and the volume of engagement affects the overall customer experience score.
· Customer Engagement v/s Customer Experience
Customer engagement values users as active participants in the process, while in customer experience, the customer is an active recipient and less of a participant.
· How Customer Engagement and Customer Experience Go Hand in Hand
Customer Engagement and focus more on enhancing brand awareness and keeping the existing customers occupied. When more and more people engage with a brand, they tend to use the product and service more, leading to increased feedback. Suppose the product or service stands tall to the consumers' expectations and the organization successfully follows up with a healthy engagement on digital and offline platforms. In that case, the customer experience is bound to go up. A good customer experience is vital for good customer satisfaction scores.
· Customer Engagement - An Enabler for Exemplary CX
Customer engagement is a precursor for Customer Experience. Healthy engagement influences a good CX score. There are countless ways to empower customer engagement, and every little bit adds up to a quality customer experience. Let's go through a few ways to enhance your customer engagement.
· Unique Style and Personality
Customers love relatable content, which makes them feel connected on a deeper level. Having a unique digital or offline presence and offering customers something different helps increase engagement and audience retention. Publishing content that does not just revolve around the product or service but adds value to the consumer's lives is vastly appreciated.
· Feedback and Appreciation
Indulging in and seeking constant feedback on the experience helps the organization be on track and alter things that might not be working. Thanking customers regularly and offering them a personalized feel also goes a long way in implementing a good customer experience.
· Research and Analysis
Constantly analyzing how digital media is evolving and adapting a specific strategy after thoroughly studying user behavior has long-term gains. Delivering on changing consumer demands and offering something which captures their imagination helps in greater engagement.
· Innovation and Experimentation
Constantly updating and innovating on existing ways of interaction and coming out with unique experiences for users could reap huge rewards. Rapid technological advancements have made it possible to tinker with existing methods of consumer engagement.
Conclusion
The approach for a spectacular Customer Experience depends on many variables starting from the specific industry to the target audience. A happy user who isn't engaging with the company might be ready to do so given the proper and conducive invitation. Regular engagement activities bring immediate support for Customer Experience. Loyalty Programs and online competitions are a great way to keep in touch with the existing audience. An engagement endeavor should never be forced on a consumer; it should come naturally.
It is important to remember that the objective of engagement and, subsequently, a good customer experience, should arrive on the consumers' terms. Customer Experience Management (CEM) accommodates customers, knowledge segmentation, customer journey mapping, brand identity, customer satisfaction, and loyalty measurements. Tools integrated into customer support software guide support agents to connect with customers on their preferred touchpoints. Customer experience management helps in:
-
Personalizing brand experience and influencing decisions from purchasing to the rating.
-
Creating an agile, productive, and flexible environment through which support agents solve queries quickly.
-
Keeping knowledge in categories that increase the findability experience during resolutions, saving support agents from getting into complex situations. The knowledge base for customer service plays a vital role in implementing the above ideas into digital techniques and helps companies stay relevant in a rapidly changing digital space. Customer service software could be a breakthrough implementation for an organization looking to revitalize its Customer Experience.