Up Your Engagement: 3 Ways to Reward Behaviors You Want Customers to Repeat
Building a real relationship with your customers isn’t always easy. People expect brands to have ulterior motives and are always waiting for the sales pitch. To really engage, you have to know who they are, what they want, and where to find them.
You also have to inspire them to respond. How can you do that?
Personalize Your Comments
Social media is all about engaging conversation. Allow your team to join the conversation. Your followers will tweet out all kinds of personal information you can respond to without being intrusive or pushy. Avoid personal tragedies and look for happy moments or everyday observations.
Be sure to respond when followers retweet or share your content. Follow back everyone who shares one of your links or mentions your brand, and say thank you.
Why it works: No matter how many followers you have, social media can leave you feeling like you’re talking to yourself. It’s easy for comments to be overlooked and get no response. When a brand responds, it’s flattering and often beneficial. While you are being exposed to your follower’s audience, they are also exposed to yours.
When you respond with a personal comment, it’s human nature to respond back, and to seek new ways to engage. Consumer studies reveal that personalization leads to a higher response rate.
Be Generous with “Likes”
Hitting the like button shows your customers you’re paying attention to them. Be cautious about liking personal family photos. Look for those that show the photographer’s skill (like weather, sunsets, or landscapes), or those that feature pets or possessions.
If appropriate, ask permission to share their photos with your audience. For example, if you’re in the automotive industry, share user car or truck photos and give them credit…but not photos of their teenage daughters (too creepy).
Why it works: People are proud (but not protective) of cars, crafts, food, Christmas decorations, small dogs dressed as costumes, and other things that don’t compromise their identity or put them at risk.
By sharing things they are passionate about, you validate their feelings and acknowledge their skills, or show off their toys to a larger audience. Either way, it’s personal and lets them know you’re paying attention and interested in the same things. If you’re lucky, they’ll respond by posting more of the same – and by sharing your similar content.
Make Personal Thank You Cards
Sending out a simple “thank you” when a customer shares your content is great, but sending a personalized card is much more memorable, and you can do it in seconds using Canva.com or a similar program, as long as you prepare in advance.
Find background photos and load a bunch of templates with everything but the name. Use different phrases, such as:
- “[NAME], thanks for the retweet! – We appreciate it. -[URL or company name]”
- “Thanks for sharing the love, [NAME]. We love you back! -[URL or company name]”
- “Happy Birthday, [NAME]. Hope it’s the best one ever! -[URL or company name]”
- “Congratulations, [NAME]. What a beautiful baby! -[URL or company name]”
- “Congratulations on your promotion! That’s like a burger with EXTRA bacon! -[URL or company name]”
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