Got returning customers? Congratulations. That’s level one. However, if you wish to keep engaging your customers, you need more. We have compiled a list of customer engagement strategies that you need in 2019. If you follow these, it’s probably all you need.

1. Personalization is the key

Did you address your customers by their names last year? This year, you need to take this personalization to the next level. You need to know what they want, compliment them, personalized onboarding experience and so forth. It can be as simple as sending a personalized card along with the product saying – Nice choice, You have a great style! One of the greatest things about personalization is that it makes your communication more relevant to your customers. They are more likely to pay attention, trust and act when what you are communicating feels relevant to them. A Monetate report said that 83% of retailers who have a budget dedicated for personalization were able to exceed their revenue goals. This is precisely why some of the best companies foresee what their customers will like. Things like purchase recommendations, offering discounts especially on birthdays or anniversaries etc are some of the ways where personalization almost always leads to sales. Good that today you are equipped with whole customer analytics to lead you through the personalization process.

2. Actions induced by rewards

This is basic human psychology and now a widely accepted customer retention strategy – reward your customers to trigger action. If you make a purchase of this amount, you will get something free or an additional discount. This also leads to more time spent by the customers on your application or website. Understand that rewards also lead to repeat purchases with your brand. A blog by Marketo indicated that 63% of marketers agree customer engagement includes renewals, repeat purchases, and retention. Buyers keep coming back for more offers, more discounts or coupons. Your reward programme, when channelized through a logical customer journey funnel, makes it most efficient because your customers feel a sense of care and trust. One of the reasons why online gaming websites or gamified apps are able to get more repeat purchases is that they have more opportunities for rewarding their customers through gaming prizes.

3. Create fun elements by gamifying your app

Who says e-commerce or an e-learning website or application cannot be gamified? The games can be as simple as quizzes related to your product or information, prediction games or simply some fun surveys related to the customers. Games and the need to win are two very inherent factors that cause the release of the dopamine that gives people a kick.

- Gamification apps leverage basic human psychology – the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction while playing games.

- Games pose a challenge to the human brain that releases dopamine upon winning.

Brands need to think outside of the box and considering gamification to engage online users. sports gaming applications are extremely engaging because they have skill-based games that test the knowledge and understanding of online users. Brands who are in the field of sports entertainment, e-commerce or e-learning can easily integrate such games in their online applications for deeper customer engagement.

4. Go omnichannel

While yes Facebook may not be for B2B companies and LinkedIn may not be able to engage B2C customers a lot, it’s important to have an omnichannel strategy in place. A report stated that 77% of strong omnichannel companies store customer data across channels, compared to 48%for weak omnichannel companies. This consumer data is key to getting both retention and loyalty. At the same time when consumers get the idea that you are everywhere and you are approachable, they are more likely to engage with your brand for a long-term basis. However, a caveat is to be able to choose the channels that are most relevant for your brand. For instance, for fashion brands, Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat are more relevant than Twitter or LinkedIn.

5. Tell other customers about what your current customers are doing

Social media is about what other people are doing. Apparently, this is working because of the massive success of Facebook and Twitter. Use your social media channels to tell potential customers what your current customers are doing – or more specifically how your current customers are using your products. It may be a customer testimonial, an experience of using your brand or simply a profiling. This works wonders into the customer engagement process because friends and families of those customers are bound to engage with your brand and this multiplies as more customers share their journeys or personal experiences.

6. Show the heroes that make your brand

Customers today want to believe in causes, belong to a community. When you share stories of your employees or the workforce, you are showcasing the personal journeys of people. Tell your customers about the people behind your brand. Come up with short posts or videos of your process and how people work in your organization. This creates a very real picture of your brand and leads to loyalty and long-term engagement.

Gamification engages users more deeply

If you are in the field of sports entertainment, e-commerce or e-learning, you know how much of brainstorming and planning customer engagement needs. You need to come up with new ideas that work in the current scenario. However, when you consider fantasy sports and sports gaming for engagement, the process of engagement becomes more organized while you are able to engage customers more deeply. Some of the ways gamification can help brands are –

1. Traditional fantasy games

Sports brands, e-learning platforms, and e-commerce companies can engage customers in traditional fantasy sports. Most of these online buyers follow a certain game, league or team and would love to try out their luck in fantasy games. Visitors can be engaged in these games and made to stay longer on the website so they can be targeted relevant products as they play. You can do gamification upon sign-up or course enrolment. The fantasy games can be in cricket, soccer, football, baseball or any game that’s relevant to your demographic.

2. Quizzes

Users feel compelled to answer questions that are easy and within reach. This works beautifully in case of quizzes that are designed to make visitors stay on the website. Attach a reward or discount coupon with your answers and the users feel compelled to buy.

3. Predictions

Just as a quiz, predictions challenge the users and engage them more deeply.

Gamify anything with Vinfotech

Vinfotech is a leading fantasy sports and gaming application development company that has built engaging fantasy sports apps. With more eight years of experience, our team is equipped to gamify anything and in any field including sports, entertainment, education, stock-market, and politics. If you are a brand looking for deeper user engagement, give us a call.