By Linda Ersbacken, Marketing Manager UK at Voyado
No company in the world is perfect, right? But some brands get it more right, more often, and those are the ones who are still seeing profits rise, despite challenging economic times. In fact, challenging times call for all brands to double down on efforts to boost customer engagement, because great customer engagement, customer experience, CX, or whatever your brand calls it, can really be the difference between boom and bust.
In this blog post, we outline a few common pitfalls. Since 2005, we have been working to create the best CXP for omnichannel retailers, but let us be honest, we have found ourselves in and climbed our way out of many of these pitfalls along the way.
So, we are sharing our knowledge, as well as what we have learned working with 300+ brands across Europe to help you avoid these mistakes. After all, nobody wants to be a lemming.
Mistake 1: No Clear Strategy
The first mistake that businesses make is not having a clear strategy for customer engagement. A clear strategy is crucial for success as it helps to align everyone in the organisation towards a common goal. Without a clear strategy, businesses will likely struggle to achieve their desired goals, and this can lead to confusion and wasted resources. Therefore, it is crucial to have a customer engagement strategy that aligns everyone in the organisation towards the same goal.
A good customer engagement strategy requires cooperation at every level of the organisation, from upper management to the sales team. The strategy should be communicated clearly to everyone in the organisation, and everyone should understand how their team is working towards the strategy. When everyone is aligned towards a common goal, businesses can achieve much better results and boost customer engagement.
Mistake 2: Working in Silos
The second mistake that businesses make is working in silos. Cooperation is essential for the success of any business, and the ecommerce team must work together with the CX, CRM, customer support, and marketing team. The product team can talk to the sales team, and so on. Cooperation should also be part of the customer experience, and in-store staff should be aware of online campaigns as well as membership offers.
Working in silos can lead to missed opportunities and can negatively impact the customer experience. For instance, if a customer buys a product in-store, the online team should be able to offer them relevant products online. It is beneficial to gather all data together from both online and in-store touchpoints so that smoother omnichannel experiences are a breeze.
Mistake 3: Not Tracking Results
The third mistake that businesses make is not tracking the results of their efforts. Retailers that don’t track the results of automations, larger campaigns, and email and SMS communication are missing out on valuable insights that could help improve their business. Tracking and analysing sales data, ecom traffic, and customer behaviour is essential.
Retailers should focus on the customer experience by tracking and analysing key metrics across all channels, and use the insights gained to make data-driven decisions. By tracking results, businesses can identify areas that need improvement and make the necessary changes. This can lead to better customer engagement, increased revenue, and ultimately, higher profits.
Mistake 4: Not Following Through with Testing
The fourth mistake that businesses make is not following through with testing. A/B testing and using control groups can help businesses to understand what works and what doesn’t when it comes to customer engagement. However, testing is a commitment that requires a lot of follow-ups and tweaking along the way. It is just as important as setting the tests up in the first place.
By testing and continuously adapting the tests, businesses can increase engagement and conversion rates, leading to increased sales revenue. For example, by continuously adapting the tests, open rates have gone up hugely, engagement has become much higher, and the sales numbers have increased. In onboarding communication tests, the customers that receive a benefit reminder email in the automation generate 66% more revenue than the customers that receive an email with an offer!
Mistake 5: Lack of customer focus
It’s simple: retailers who don’t focus on their customers’ needs and preferences risk losing business to competitors who do. By taking the time to understand your customers, and tailoring products and services accordingly, you can set yourself apart from competitors. Taking this a step further and customising the customer experience by showing the right products at the right time will both satisfy and inspire your customers.
For example, if your site search data shows that people on your site are suddenly searching for floral patterns, why not run a promotion on items to those customers? Investing in an automated AI engine that understands your customers’ intentions and gives hyper relevant recommendations can create much more relevant experiences for your customers.
Don’t be a customer engagement lemming!
Now that you know which mistakes to avoid, are you inspired to get your customer engagement on point? Perhaps your organisation has fallen into some of these traps in the past. Reflect on your own experiences and consider how your brand can avoid these mistakes going forward.
If you want to know more about how to engage your customers, including a framework based on success stories from 300+ brands across Europe, get the full guide here.
Published 15/05/2023
