Engaging Clients – Building Your Brand!

Engaging Clients refers to how we communicate with our clients and prospects.  There is no doubt that the popularity of the Social Media has made it possible to engage customers in an open forum.

With more than 600 million users of one social media site alone, customer engagement opportunities are endless.  What’s new in the sales process is how were providing that extra level of customer service and how were responding to the content posted by our customers.

Customer service is the steps that we marketers take to enhance the customers experience as it relates to the enjoyment of our products or services.  Although a relationship between customers and marketers is formed during this step it’s usually one of business and it does not always lend itself to ongoing engagements.

Customer engaging takes it one step further.  We all agree that service is vital to an organization’s ability to generate on-going revenue.  It however does not always create loyalty.   The Social media has given organizations the ability to take service to a higher level.

In a competitive business arena reaching the masses is a necessary element to creating an online reputation and growing a business(Customer Base).  Social media allows for cost-effective marketing globally .   It’s also effective in distinguishing subtle differences between competitors.

Social media is a transparent open forum for honest communication with clients and prospects who post content about products and services.  It enables visibility instantly by selecting the like and retweet options; once this is accomplished you have an audience and a target groups(Leads).

Engaging customer via the social media is a forum that’s designed to create, stimulate and or influence a customer’s behavior.  There are five stages to effective Internet Social Media Marketing, they are; Awareness, Consideration, Inquiry, Purchase and Retention.

It’s important to establish systems to encourage customer flow-through that cycles the engagement process towards the ultimate goal.  Customer Retention and the SALE!

1. The Awareness begins at the onset of establishing an Internet presence.  It’s pretty simple, solicit followers, ask your clients to “like” you online.  You become visible to their followers and the awareness begins.  Monitor the online content sharing website related to your business, engage and respond to comment, continue growing you brand online.  Manage them……often!  Remember every follower is a lead that can result in sales.
2. Consideration this is where the creativity begins, establish offers, surveys and interesting blogs that create conversations about your product or service.  Always welcome the feed back!
3. Inquiring Minds Want to Know – What’s in it for me?  Create contest to capture information about your followers, example:  If they get 10 people to follow you, offer discounts and gift certificates.  The key is that in order redeem the prize the new contacts has to email you directly; this is the opportunity to collect their email information for a future email campaigns and for future incentives to use your product or service. The prize doesn’t have to elaborate, just interesting to your followers. Make it fun, it’s the game of creating an online reputation.
4. The Purchasing Power using social media is amazing. The goal is to utilize the Internet as a sales tools;  create packages, special offers and discounts that can only be redeemed from your social media site or your company website or by getting additional followers(Leads).  Each time the package is redeemed, chatted about it’s an engagement online that will be visible to  an endless followers and groups.  “Again inquiring minds want to know”, others will begin to follow you and increase your qualified leads and generate more traffic.
5. Retention involves connecting all your internet tools; your company website, other social content websites and blogs about your product or service.  As you move forward and become more involved in social media, you’ll discover you have a lot to say.  It’s doesn’t always have to about your organization.  Pubic events both local and national are great opportunities to increase traffic and build your “Internet Presence” using key words and phrases.   The goal is to stay abreast of what’s already being said in your community and lend your voice and your brand to the conversation.

Remember we have to engage our customers where they are……Online @ Social Media Sites!