If you're wondering what it takes to keep your customers coming back for more, you're in the right place.
A customer engagement strategy is something every customer success team needs to make sure things are running smoothly—and to avoid churn (duh).
And a winning strategy isn’t rocket science; it's about making real connections and genuinely caring about your customers’ goals and needs.
Because if you don’t care, we promise you that it’ll show. And it’ll hurt your business—both future and current.
So if you don’t want people to sh*t-talk your brand and be disappointed by a crappy customer experience, read on for some easy-to-implement customer engagement strategy examples.
What is a customer engagement strategy?
A customer engagement strategy is all about laying out interactions that deliver a top-notch experience from before the sale to long after closing it. It's a blueprint for connecting across different communication channels, making sure every chat counts, and keeping your customers keen on staying in touch. It's a plan where you keep an eye on how things are going with your customers, gathering their opinions, and using their responses to make your approach even better.
Why you need a solid customer engagement strategy
Engaging with your customers isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a must for any thriving business. Here's how a strong customer engagement strategy can benefit your company:
Opportunity to upsell & spend more
When customers are engaged, they tend to be more open to suggestions on additional products or services. This isn't about pushing sales; it's about providing value that customers may not even know they need. As trust grows, so does the likelihood they'll say "yes" to more of what you offer.
More referrals
Happy customers are your best advocates. They talk to friends, family, and colleagues. Each referral can potentially bring in new business without the additional marketing costs. It's word-of-mouth marketing at its finest, powered by genuine customer satisfaction.
Some fun facts about customer referrals from Annex Cloud:
- A referred customer is 18% more loyal than a customer acquired by other means.
- Referred customers are 4X more likely to refer more customers to your brand.
- Customers referred by other customers have a 37% higher customer retention rate.
- Customer acquisitions through referrals spend 200% more than the average customer.
Less churn
Customers who feel connected to your brand are less likely to leave for a competitor. This retention is crucial because keeping an existing customer is often easier and cheaper than finding a new one. A strategy that prioritizes customer engagement is like a good maintenance plan—it keeps everything running smoothly and prevents breakdowns.
| Related post: Reduce Churn With Customer Success and Sales Collaboration |
Brand loyalty
Engaged customers develop a strong connection to your brand. They're not just shopping based on price or convenience; they believe in your brand's message and values. This loyalty transforms one-time buyers into lifelong fans, giving your business a stable and reliable customer base.
15 customer engagement strategy examples
Email personalization
Personalized emails go beyond using a customer's name. It’s about crafting content that resonates with their past purchases, interests, goals, and behaviors. The more you personalize your emails, the more likely your customers will interact with you because they will know that you’ve taken the time to really understand their needs and preferences.
This isn't just about selling; it's about building a relationship where customers feel like part of your brand's story. Personalized emails can lead to deeper engagement, more fruitful conversations, and ultimately, a loyal customer base that sees your brand as a partner in their success.
Interactive email widgets
If you have no idea what an interactive email widget is, buckle up.
Mixmax has neat email engagement tools you can use to boost reply rates like one-click Polls and Surveys. You can add polls and surveys directly in your email so your prospects and customers can easily click their answers instead of having to manually reply to your emails.
This not only increases engagement rates by simplifying the feedback process but also provides valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviors.
Multichannel outreach
Don't limit your conversations to just one platform. Customers are everywhere – on email, social media, phone, and even SMS. Multichannel outreach means meeting them on their turf.
If you’re using Mixmax, you can set up multi-channel sequences that automate your outreach via different channels. Click here to learn more.
| Related post: How to Master Multi Channel Prospecting in Outbound Sales |
Data analysis
Delve into the data you have on customer interactions, sales, and feedback. Analyze patterns to understand preferences and customize your engagement strategies to match customer expectations and improve satisfaction.
Here are a few examples of metrics you can track and analyze to boost customer engagement:
- Email tracking: Monitor and track email opens, clicks, and response rates to assess the effectiveness of communication and follow-up strategies.
- Engagement score: See which one of your prospects or customers is the most (or least) engaged and plan your next action accordingly (e.g., if a prospect or customer is highly engaged—has opened your emails several times—pick up the phone and call them or check in with them by sending a well-timed email).
Mixmax's Contact engagement scoring feature
- Sales conversion rates: Analyze the ratio of leads that turn into actual sales to determine the effectiveness of sales tactics and customer interactions.
- Customer retention rates: Track how many customers continue to use your product or service over time, which can indicate the success of customer success initiatives.
- Upsell and cross-sell success: Evaluate which strategies are most effective at encouraging customers to purchase additional features or products.
- Outbound sequence analysis: Evaluate which sequences of outbound communication (calls, emails, follow-ups) yield the best customer engagement and conversions.
- Renewal rates: Track the frequency and consistency of subscription or service renewals to gauge long-term customer commitment.
- Customer feedback analysis: Systematically analyze feedback from customer interactions to identify common themes or issues that need addressing.
Educational content
Share insightful and relevant content that educates customers revolving around pain points, industry trends, or other related topics. This approach is nurture-based and establishes your brand as a valuable resource, helping build trust and authority.
Educational and engaging customer content can be in the form of:
- Customer success articles
- Tutorial videos
- Product newsletters
- Product usage reports
- Blog posts
- Webinars (more on this later)
- Podcasts
- Industry guides and reports
- Infographics
Once you've decided what forms of content make the most sense for your customers, you can create an email nurture sequence for them, which in turn increases your content's visibility and can significantly expand your brand's reach.
Timely emails
Determine the best time to send emails by analyzing customer behavior patterns and preferences. Ensuring that your emails arrive when customers are most receptive can greatly increase the chances of engagement.
You can use tools like Mixmax’s “Recommended Send Times” feature that recommends the best times to send an email based on past interactions with your prospects and customers.
Mixmax’s Recommended Send Times feature
Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs)
Hold structured reviews with clients to discuss their use of your product or service, challenges faced, and plans for the future. These reviews can strengthen the relationship and identify upsell or cross-sell opportunities.
Keep in mind that quarterly business reviews don’t actually have to occur every quarter. But checking in with your customers a couple of times a year (or however many times makes sense to you) is important for a healthy relationship.
You can schedule automated emails to check in with your customers at different intervals. But make sure you personalize them, even if they're part of a sequence (Mixmax lets you do this easily for each individual recipient within a sequence) ⬇️
Mixmax sequence personalization
Gathering feedback
Develop a system for gathering and analyzing feedback from customers across all touchpoints. Use this feedback to refine your customer experience and product offerings continuously.
The easiest ways to get feedback from your customers is either setting up a meeting with them (which might be difficult) or sending them a survey.
You can use tools like SurveyMonkey to send surveys, or, as mentioned earlier, you can insert a survey directly in your email with Mixmax (as shown below).
Mixmax’s in-email survey feature
Hosting events
Hosting events like webinars, workshops, or seminars is a great way to engage with customers. When planning these, focus on content that delivers value, such as hands-on training, industry insights, expert advice, or interactive Q&A sessions.
These events offer a platform for customers to interact with your experts, provide feedback, and discuss their experiences with peers, fostering a community around your products or services. Post-event follow-ups can continue the conversation, turning a one-time event into an ongoing dialogue.
P.S. You can check out Mixmax’s webinars here.
Sharing customer success stories
Sharing customer success stories is a powerful tool in your engagement strategy. By showing real-life examples of how customers have used your product or service to solve a problem, achieve a goal, or improve their business, you provide proof of your value proposition.
Mixmax's link previews email enhancement feature
These stories resonate with both prospects and existing customers; they serve as endorsements and can be a source of inspiration for others facing similar challenges.
LinkedIn engagement
Engaging with customers on LinkedIn means sharing helpful tips, talking about what's new in your industry, sharing new features, and congratulating customers when they reach certain milestones.
LinkedIn is a great place to make strong connections because it's where professional discussions take place. By being active and sharing relevant content, you show that you’re an expert in the field and that you're excited about your customers' success too.
| Related post: 16 LinkedIn Message Templates That Don’t Scream “Prospecting” |
A/B testing
A/B testing is a simple way to compare two different versions of something to see which one works better. For customer success teams, this could mean sending out two versions of an email to see which one gets more responses or helps solve customer issues more effectively.
It's all about making small changes—like two different subject lines or two different calls to action— and seeing what your customers prefer. By doing this, you can make sure you're always using the best approach to keep your customers happy and engaged.
Community building
This is about bringing your customers together so they can chat with each other, share their own stories, and help each other out. It's like making a club where everyone has something in common – they all use and love your product or service.
This club can be online, like a group on a social network or a forum on your website. When customers talk to each other and share tips, they feel more connected to your brand, they stick around longer, and they might even tell you new things they want that you hadn't thought of before.
Customer support chatbots
Implement intelligent chatbots to provide instant support to customers. These bots can handle common questions and problems, providing quick solutions and freeing up your customer service team to handle more complex issues.
You can use apps like Intercom to set this up.
Loyalty/referral programs
Loyalty programs are a way to give a little back to the people who keep choosing your service or product. With these programs, you can offer points, discounts, or gift cards to customers who come back or tell their friends about you.
It's a win-win: your customers get something extra, and you get more sales and new faces. These rewards make customers feel like they're part of a special club, making them more likely to stick with you and spread the word.
How to implement a customer engagement plan with Mixmax
Implementing a customer engagement plan can set your team up for success. Here’s how you can get started with Mixmax's sales engagement platform to streamline the process:
- Set clear goals: Decide what you want to achieve with your engagement plan. Is it more sales, better customer satisfaction, or something else? Set specific, measurable goals.
- Understand your customers: Use data to learn about your customer's needs and preferences. Mixmax can help by providing insights into customer interactions.
- Personalize communication: Craft messages that speak directly to the customer’s interests. With Mixmax, you can automate personalized emails at scale.
- Engage across channels: Don't just stick to email. Reach out on social media, phone calls, and other platforms. Mixmax allows you to manage multi-channel outreach seamlessly.
- Measure and adapt: Use Mixmax’s analytics to track how your engagement strategies are performing. Look at open rates, response rates, and conversion rates. Adjust your plan based on what the data tells you.
- Train your team: Make sure your customer success team knows how to use Mixmax to its full potential. Regular training sessions can help.
- Gather feedback: Use surveys and feedback tools to learn what customers think about your brand. Mixmax’s one-click survey feature can increase response rates.
- Review and improve: Regularly review the entire customer journey and identify areas for improvement.
