Six Ways to Increase Customer Engagement for Small Businesses

by Startacus Admin

Keeping customers engaged is vital for any small business - these basic tips will help you do just that

As a small business owner, you may find it difficult to reach certain audiences within the market. Even so, you could struggle to reach your audience. This can result in you losing interest in the business, but don’t admit defeat! There are many ways you can increase your customer engagement. First things first, understand your market and audience. Conducting fruitful market research is a great way to expand your audience and reach new customers. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to engage. Keep reading for six ways you can increase your customer engagement as a small business. 

Social Media 

Many small businesses that operate either online or offline use social media as a tool to foster engagement within their audience. The use of social media has increased over the past decade, and more so very recently due to the rise in influencer marketing. Social media marketing is used as a tool to help spark engagement among customers and foster relationships between businesses and customers. 

You can use many different social media platforms to your advantage, and we recommend that you do this sooner rather than later. When customers see your products and services online and see you engaging with customers, they are more likely to trust you as a result. This will not only drive your engagement but also increase sales. What more could you want?

Have a great website

Secondly, we recommend that you create a fabulous website that showcases all your products and business information. One of the main things that business owners fall short of is a great website, but this is of no use. Your website should be great as this might be the first mode of contact for many of your customers. With this, what’s the use of a rubbish website when it might only scare your customers away? From the first immediate contact, your customers should grow trust for your business which will end in a sale if you’re lucky. Some top tips for a great website are to have your contact details, have a great navigation system so customers can find what they’re looking for and make it look great. 

Email Marketing

It’s important to remember that not all of your customers are going to see you on social media. This might be because they don’t have social media, but it could also be down to the nasty social media algorithms that might be hiding your posts. A great way to increase customer engagement is to use email marketing services. Email marketing acts as a newsletter whereby you can send your customers information about your products and services while keeping them up to date with business news and gossip. Choosing an email marketing service can be difficult, so make sure you do your research! 

Loyalty Program

Another way to increase your customer engagement is by creating a loyalty program for your customers. As well as increasing engagement online, we need to be engaging our customers in person. Within a loyalty program, you would create a system whereby you would provide your customers with points, discounts or free items for their continued custom. Loyalty programs are used by small businesses around the world and it ensures that your loyal customers stick with you.

Business Collaboration

We believe that you can increase customer awareness and trust by collaborating with other businesses. This is open to interpretation and can be used as freely as you want. Generally, small business collaborations usually consist of two to five businesses who all throw their expertise and products into one. You can collaborate with other businesses to create one product, or you can offer a competition for your customers where they would win one item from each business taking part in the collaborative process.

We absolutely love this idea and it’s something you should definitely consider. The type of collaboration briefly mentioned also works very well on social media platforms such as Instagram. Lately, we have seen competitions whereby those who enter must follow each business account on Instagram and share it with their friends. With this, you’ll be sure to increase engagement and gain a larger following as a result. 

Personalise Your Business 

Finally, one of the core engagement opportunities that many businesses forget is personalisation. This is a very broad topic, but businesses have proven to do better in sales and engagement when they personalise the business. For example, you can brand your business in such a way that relates to specific consumers in the market. As well as this, you can personalise your own business by sharing staff on social media and frequently engaging your customers more closely. You can share their reviews, and even get your staff to take over your social media platforms for the day. 

What is your strategy to increase your small business engagement?

 

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Published on: 23rd February 2021