What is digital customer engagement?
The definition of digital customer engagement may differ from business to business, but at its core it's the process of interacting with customers on digital channels and trying to get them to engage with your branded experiences. These experiences may include:- Interacting with a virtual agent to book travel plans
- Responding to a Twitter poll
- Receiving an email with discount offers on the customer’s favorite brands
- Interacting with a photo frame on Instagram
- Reading a blog post that tells the customer how to get the most out of their recent purchase
- And so much more
Examples of effective digital customer engagement
Examples of exceptional digital engagement abound. Here are a few to get you thinking.Netflix
Netflix is often held up as an example of a brand that has flourished by providing personalized experiences, and their approach to digital customer engagement has disrupted the video rental, movie, and network and cable TV industries.If we both searched Netflix for "action films," our results would probably look very different. That's because the company uses sophisticated algorithms to predict what viewers will like based on past viewing history. This hyper-personalization led one executive to declare that there are now "33 million different versions of Netflix."[2]But the personalization doesn't end with individual recommendations. Netflix also uses aggregated viewing history to predict what types of original programming customers will like and then commissions production companies to make them.Key takeaways: Digital customer engagement is best when it's personalized and proactive.Warby Parker
Warby Parker is another brand that disrupted an industry through digital customer engagement. The eyewear industry was predominately brick and mortar until they entered the scene. After all, most people want to try on glasses before they buy them.The business solved this problem through augmented reality. Customers can virtually try on glasses to see how they might look, and then have the top contenders sent to their homes so they can try them on in person and make a final decision. Without the engaging virtual reality, it's doubtful that as many customers would make it to the "home try on" phase.Key takeaways: Use advanced technology to digitally engage your customers and help them move through the sales pipeline.Taco Bell
You may remember when a Taco Bell Snapchat lens went viral a few years ago. For Cinco de Mayo, Snapchat users could take a selfie, turn their heads into giant tacos, and then share the result with friends.Now, allowing customers to turn their heads into giant tacos may sound silly, but the campaign was highly effective. The lens was viewed 224 million times. [3] That's a lot of engagement and impressions! And you can bet more people grabbed some Taco Bell that day than would have otherwise.Key takeaways: Be creative with how you engage your customers on social media and don't be afraid to have some fun.4 signs your contact center is on the path to digital customer engagement success
1. You have a digital customer engagement strategy and plan
Although digital customer engagement might be an art form, it still needs structure in order to be effective. Successful brands outline goals for customer engagement and use those to keep them on track.Once goals have been established, the plan needs to outline the steps that will be taken to achieve them. Contact centers may want to have an engagement plan for every channel that rolls up into a cohesive strategy. They should also account for things like how they'll solicit feedback from customers (an important form of engagement) and what role outbound campaigns will play in the overall strategy.2. You personalize customer experiences
Today's consumers want to feel like businesses recognize them and understand their needs, especially if they are long-time customers. As we saw from the Netflix example, personalization can be a powerful way to digitally engage with customers. Conversely, acting like customers are strangers every time you interact with them could send them out the door to a competitor that is better at providing personalized engagement.According to a Salesforce study, 66% of consumers expect businesses to understand their individual needs. In other words, they want personalization.There are several ways contact centers can improve their personalization game, including the following:- Integrate contact center solutions with CRM systems. CRM systems contain a wealth of information that contact center agents should have easy access to. Data such as purchase history and transcripts from past customer service interactions enable agents to tailor experiences for each customer. This information can also be used by self-service channels to personalize DIY experiences.
- Route customers to agents they're more likely to "click" with. A customer service interaction can feel more personalized (and satisfying) if customers and agents are able to build an easy, natural rapport. Intelligent AI routing increases the likelihood of this happening by including factors such as customer sentiment and preferences into the routing logic.
- Ensure agents have strong soft skills. A robotic or indifferent conversation can feel highly impersonal, not to mention frustrating and unsatisfying. This can be especially true when the conversation is happening in written form. Personalization requires agents to have strong soft skills like empathy and active listening so that customers feel heard and understood.
3. You use modern contact center technology
Digital customer engagement requires contact centers to have up-to-date systems so they can meet customers where and how they want to be met. If your contact center has the following capabilities, you're on the right track.- Multiple digital channels. Digital engagement needs to be convenient for customers, which means being able to connect in their channel(s) of choice. Providing email and chat support is a good first step but contact centers should also determine how emerging channels such as messaging and SMS fit into their digital customer engagement strategy.
- Omnichannel customer experiences. The multiple channels discussed above need to be integrated so customers can move across them seamlessly. Without omnichannel capabilities, customers will find the need to repeat themselves when they switch channels.
- Smart self-service. Part of engaging customers on their own terms is empowering them to handle their own matters. According to Gartner, 70% of customers use self-service channels during their resolution journey. However, for this form of digital engagement to be positive, customers need to be successful at finding their own resolutions. Good self-service design is crucial. Without it, you may find your customers disengaging from your relationship.
- AI analytics. To have meaningful digital customer engagements, you need to understand customers’ preferences and needs. This requires lots of data and the right tools to analyze it. AI-powered analytics solutions can give businesses the customer insights they need to make effective digital connections with their customers.
4. You're committed to proactive customer service
Being proactive about anticipating customers' needs is a hallmark of great digital customer engagement. Because 90% of people needing help never initiate contact, reaching out to customers before they know they have a problem can strengthen relationships and enhance your brand's image. With the right proactive outreach, such as an outbound dialer, or proactive conversational AI, contact centers and customer service organizations can notify customers via email, text, or phone about issues such as event cancellations and product recalls.But sometimes being proactive means engaging customers earlier. For example, if you make your knowledge base available for search engines to index, your customers can find answers to their questions on search results pages rather than being required to go to your website. Now that's convenient digital engagement!Digital customer engagement is a dynamic area that is always evolving. To learn about some recent trends, read Fresh Ways to Energize Your Digital Customer Engagement.And to learn about more digital engagement best practices, watch How to Surprise Your Customers: Analytics in the World of Digital Engagement.[1] Twilio: State of Customer Engagement Report 2022 (2022)[2] The New York Times: Giving Viewers What They Want (2013)
[3] Adweek: Taco Bell's Cinco de Mayo Snapchat Lens Was Viewed 224 Million Times (2016)
