How small business owners can increase customer engagement online

Online customer engagement is essential for small business owners in order to promote offers, increase revenue and build customer loyalty. Let’s look at how you can increase online customer engagement for your small business.

Social media engagement

There are a number of ways that can increase the chances of consumers purchasing from your business as a result of your actions on social media. One of the simplest habits is to be responsive to customer queries posted on your social media channels. For example, on Twitter this does not just have to involve responding positively to questions about your business or reacting to feedback, you should also actively follow back customers to build brand loyalty.

One of the best ways to increase customer engagement online is by taking advantage of the large number of Twitterers who enter competitions by offering a prize representative of your brand with the stipulation that entrants must like, retweet and post the hashtag of your company name in order to enter. This is likely to elicit a reaction worth much more than the prize you offer on your social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

You should always post in a positive manner on social media. Especially when posting on local pages on Facebook. Rubbishing competing brands is a no-go as a social media strategy and should be avoided at all costs.

Promotional offers

Offering promotions in the form of discounts, BOGOF and seasonal sales are a great way to build customer engagement online. The power of promotional offers is demonstrated by the online casino industry, which thrives as many online slots are accompanied by bonuses and promotional offers. For example, the best slot sites in the UK offer a wide range of enticing incentives to players, such as 100% deposit bonuses plus free spins, no wagering free spins and daily promotions. An eye-catching promo on your social media channels offering a freebie to customers when they spend over a certain amount can work wonders for your revenue, level of customer engagement and loyalty.

You can learn from well-established companies such as Costa Coffee, which offers discounts when using the company app, an increasingly popular promotional device for businesses in the UK. You could, for example, reward customer loyalty by offering a free choice of a product or service when your customers have bought a certain number of items or include competitions for UK residents such as a prize draw. You can also increase customer engagement online via a customer referral programme, which can encourage customers’ friends and family to interact with your company and drive revenue.

Promotional offers can also be combined with company newsletters. Simply take the email addresses from your database of customers and use the opportunity to target promotional emails specifically at the customer. Personalisation of communications is an excellent way to build customer loyalty. Your email campaign could feature seasonal offers for Christmas, Easter and the summer holidays or promote your latest range of products or services. You can also build your own brand voice along with customer loyalty by sharing company news with clients, you could also take it a step further by humanising your brand. This could involve photos and updates about the office dog, particularly if it is as cute as the Dulux dog, one of the most famous company dogs in the UK!

Turning a negative into a positive

A customer engagement online strategy should also involve responding appropriately to negative customer feedback. This is not a time to put your fingers in your ears or your head in the sand. Actively responding to negative customer experiences on the Internet can result in a positive experience if you demonstrate that you are willing to rectify the matter and learn from the experience. This is of the utmost importance with around 90% of UK consumers using product reviews before buying from a business.

Hopefully, this guide will have given you some helpful tips about how to increase customer engagement online. By implementing these low-cost measures, you have the opportunity to increase engagement and revenue.