Have you ever wondered what all the companies that successfully use customer engagement have in common? Could be the certainty that every customer has its own way to navigate through the purchase journey? Could be the precise setting of engagement goals based on a metrics-mapped campaign? Or rather a solid customer-centered strategy based on data? Well, the right answer might be a combination between all three with something extra.
When employees turn into brand advocates
Easy to say, harder to achieve. Given the fact that we basically are what we share on social media, it’s quite fair to say that all of us are building a personal brand with each move we make online. Therefore, companies are entitled to see their employees as some sort of brand ambassadors. Encouraging them to publicly assume the long-established identity of their workplace is not just an act of courage but also proof of confidence.
When you give a voice both to a 40 years old middle manager and a 20 years old assistant, you assume that everyone inside the company has a clear image of your vision. We are not talking about putting a fake smile on every face but rather about representing a brand in a responsible way. In order to determine the effect of employee advocacy, you need to use measurable KPIs, as social media reach, online mentions and brand engagement. Ultimately, it is about giving your business a human face with a data-driven purpose.
There’s no real impact without suitable influencers
You can’t talk about brand ambassadors without mentioning the best agents of consumer spending and social conversations: bloggers, vloggers and any other creators of digital content. Of course, you have at your disposal a plethora of famous and socially skilled individuals that know many things about fashion, technology, cooking or even parenting. It seems so easy to choose one of them, that you may wonder why we even tackle this subject. Influencer marketing is not so easy as it might seem, and you could use some piece of advice.
Actually, you might waste your budget if you will not apply the right metrics in order to find the best influencers for your campaign. Matching your niche with the right content creator is a matter of finding the proper measure of the results you want to achieve. It may be the values that you share with the influencer, the reach he or she can bring to your product, or the return rate of their visitors. One may need repeated exposures on social media in order to deliver good and lasting numbers while others can generate instant buzz with a questionable gimmick. Reputation is the point where you have to start your research.
The last resort: more experiential marketing
Turning online leads in an actual purchasing decision is some sort of sorcery. You may need to complete your online efforts with some offline action. People tend to have a better perception about brands after an event or an activation ad many of them might want to try the product that you choose to be promoted in a creative way. Inviting shoppers to have a glance of a certain brand by using their senses is a good way to establish a stronger bond then you would achieve by simply using advertising. Moreover, you have the occasion to generate virals by capitalizing on the people’s impulse to share special moments.
Engaging a big number of consumers at the same time is easier when everything starts with an exciting experience that hits social media and gets thousands of reactions in an organic way. You’re not just showing everyone the beautiful part of your brand, you empower a loyalty in a funny and memorable manner, without asking something in exchange. Statistically, the more you involve consumers in an event, the more they tend to purchase the products involved and generate a favorable return of investment.
Using digital tools to find customers, to listen to them or to interact is a mandatory strategy of our days. Combining it with offline promoting methods gives us a holistic approach that tells a complete and convincing story. The story of a brand.
