ENGAGEMENT

Accelerate your business with these expert tips on "Engagement" - take a look and discover this TIP!

WHAT IS IT?

It is a metric that indicates how much The "stickiness" of the product or service we have designed, i.e. how much it is used by your customers (or how often they buy) and tells us how useful it is to them or how "hooked" they are on it.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Unless we have a business model where we only sell once to each customer (e.g. pacemakers?), it is one of the metrics with the greatest impact on the profitability of our model, as it is 5-6 times more expensive to attract a new customer than to sell to a current one. To increase it, we need to understand what keeps customers coming back... and try to boost it.

HOW IS IT CALCULATED?

There are multiple ways to calculate them, as many as levels of 'depth' we want... and we don't usually use just one. Usually we want to measure how many times a month the customer uses our product, but also how many times they use the most important functionalities or features... etc. In addition, it is important to distinguish between engagement and retention. While engagement measures the frequency and depth of use of our product or service by customers, retention refers to our company's ability to retain customers over the long term. A high level of engagement can contribute to better retention, but they are not always the same thing. To calculate engagement, different metrics can be used depending on the type of business. For example, in a mobile application, you can measure the number of sessions per user, the average time of use, the number of interactions with certain functionalities, among others. In an online shop, you can measure the frequency of purchase per customer, the average purchase value, the conversion rate from visits to sales, among others.

It is important to keep in mind that not all engagement metrics are equally important for all businesses. We need to identify which metrics have the greatest impact on our business model and focus on improving them on an ongoing basis. In addition, we should monitor these metrics on a regular basis to identify opportunities for improvement and take actions to increase customer engagement.

Practical examples of ENGAGEMENT

Practical examples of engagement may include:

• In an instant messaging application, the number of messages sent per user per day or per week.
• In a social network, the number of times a user logs in or the time spent browsing the platform.
• On a streaming platform, the number of hours of content consumed per user per month.
• In a fitness app, the number of training days per week or the number of exercises performed per session.
• On an e-commerce site, the frequency of a user's purchase or the average shopping cart value.

In general, any metric that allows us to measure the use and frequency of use of our product or service by users can be a way to measure engagement.

Engagement in well-known companies

Some examples of well-known companies and their focus on engagement are:

1. Netflix: The audiovisual content streaming platform focuses on increasing its engagement through the personalisation of its recommended content, based on each user's viewing history. In addition, it also promotes social interaction between users through the option to share recommendations and opinions on social networks.
2. Spotify: The streaming music platform focuses on engagement through the creation of personalised playlists and the recommendation of new songs and artists based on each user's playback history. It also promotes social interaction through the option to follow other users and share playlists.
3. Amazon: The company focuses its engagement on personalising the shopping experience, showing recommended products and promotions tailored to the interests and preferences of each user. In addition, it also promotes social interaction between users through the option to write and read product reviews.
4. Instagram: The social media platform focuses on engagement through social interaction between users, promoting the creation and sharing of visual content, the ability to "like" and comment on posts, and the option to follow other users and receive notifications of their posts.
5. Peloton: The home fitness company focuses on engagement through the creation of virtual communities of users who share similar goals and motivations. In addition, the platform offers the option to follow personal trainers and receive personalised workout recommendations based on each user's preferences and goals.

Case study for an entrepreneur to improve customer engagement

Let's imagine you are the founder of an online learning platform and you want to improve your customer engagement.

Here is a possible case study for you to work on:

1. Identify the main points of interaction: First, identify the main points of interaction that your customers have with your platform, for example, the duration of study sessions, the time spent solving exercises, the number of visits to the platform per week, among others.
2. Analyse the data: Once you have identified the interaction points, analyse the data you have available to understand your customers' behaviour. Use data analysis tools to identify patterns and trends in your customers' interaction with the platform.
3. Set targets: Once you have analysed the data, set clear and specific goals to improve your customer engagement. For example, increase the number of weekly visits to the platform by 20% in the next quarter.
4. Create relevant content: create relevant and engaging content for your customers. For example, if your platform focuses on language teaching, you can create additional content such as grammar videos or conversations between native speakers.
5. It encourages interaction between users: create spaces and tools that encourage interaction between platform users, e.g. discussion forums or virtual study groups.
6. It offers incentives: consider offering incentives to your customers that allow them to feel more engaged with the platform, such as discounts on advanced courses or access to exclusive resources.
7. Follow up and adjust: Once you have implemented these strategies, track the results and adjust if necessary. Use the engagement metrics you defined at the beginning to evaluate the impact of the improvements and further optimise your strategy.

Remember that improving customer engagement is not a quick and easy process, but it is essential to ensure the loyalty and long-term success of your business.

Tools to improve engagement

There are a number of tools that can help improve customer engagement, among them:

1. Email marketing: A good email marketing strategy can be very effective in keeping customers informed and engaged with the brand. It is important to send personalised and relevant emails that keep customers engaged.
2. Social networking: Social media is an excellent channel to maintain fluid communication with customers, answer their questions, share relevant content and keep them updated on news and promotions.
3. Loyalty programmes: A well-designed loyalty programme can be very effective in keeping customers engaged and motivated to keep buying. Offering exclusive rewards and benefits is a good way to keep them engaged.
4. Relevant and useful content: Creating relevant and useful content for customers is a way to keep them engaged and increase their interaction with the brand. For example, if you are a beauty products company, you can create make-up tutorials or skincare tips.
5. Personalisation: Personalising the user experience is a way to make customers feel valued and engaged with the brand. Communication, products and services, and customer service can be personalised to offer a unique and differentiating experience.
6. Surveys and feedback: Asking customers for feedback is a way of making them feel valued and listened to, as well as obtaining valuable information to improve the user experience. You can conduct surveys, ask for feedback through social media or send emails to get their opinion.

Differences between customer engagement and customer loyalty

Customer engagement and customer loyalty are two different but related concepts in the field of marketing and customer relations:

Engagement refers to a company's ability to emotionally involve its customers with its brand, products or services in such a way that they feel committed to it and want to interact and actively participate in its online activities and communities. Engagement is measured through participation in social networks, the number of followers, likes, comments, interactions, etc.

On the other hand, customer loyalty refers to a company's ability to retain its existing customers over the long term by providing them with a quality service or product, personalised attention and meeting their needs and expectations. Customer loyalty is measured by the customer retention rate, the number of repeat customers and referrals to other potential customers.

In short, engagement seeks to generate an emotional connection with customers, while loyalty seeks to keep them for the long term by satisfying their needs. Both are important to a company's success, but have different objectives and strategies.