Creative Ways To Engage With Local Customers Online

Engage Like Never Before

In today’s environment of 24/7 online access and an app for everything, local businesses can’t afford to stay offline! Engaging with your customers online can reap major benefits in actual sales. Customers who feel connected to you will think of you first when they need what you offer – and that’s a powerful thing! Let’s take a look at just a few ways to engage with customers online!

Build a Community or Group,

There are several great ways to build an online community to more effectively interact and engage with your customers. Forums have been around for years and are still a widely used method of engaging with customers and allowing customers to engage with each other. Forums will likely still be around for the foreseeable future, but many companies are now finding it more advantageous to connect with customers on various social networks.

Customers are already on these social networks every day, so instead of relying on customers to regularly visit your forum to interact and engage with you, why not bring the conversation to them on their social networks of choice? Google+ Communities, Facebook Groups, and LinkedIn Groups are just a few of the many social networking sites that allow individuals and companies the ability to set up topic or brand communities.

Celebrate Together

Did you just reach 5,000 registered users on your site? Did you attract 25,000 new visitors to your site last month?  When your company reaches milestones like these, celebrate your success with your customers and make them feel like they contributed to your success.

The reason some people are so passionate about sports is because they feel as if they are literally part of their favorite sports team. When the team wins, they win. Instead of saying, “The Cowboys played a great game last night,” a real Cowboys fan will say “We played a great game last night.” That’s the mentality you need to develop with your customers—make them feel part of your winning team, and thank them for helping your site to be a success.
– via Bplans Blog

Your Virtual Home Base

You probably care about what your customers see when they first walk into your store. Have you paid the same attention to what your customers will see when they first arrive at your website? Even if you don’t sell online, your online home base is a representation of your brand and tells potential customers what to expect if they visit you in person. Here are just a few ideas from business owners who have been successful.  Consider using these ideas to your advantage to connect with customers before they ever step foot in your store!

Quote Them

“We’ve found that actively quoting customers/clients is one of the best ways to get them to actively engage our blog. Most of the time they will come back monthly to check the site. The more you quote people and the companies they are working on, the more they will come back. It’s a great technique to get them also to share information about your company and the amazing time they’ve had with it.” ~Peter Daisyme, Host

Answer Their Questions

“Turn to your clients and customers for their burning questions and make a point to answer them through a video or written post. Keep a running list of content ideas and who had the question so you can reach out when the post goes live.” ~ Kelly Azevedo, She’s Got Systems

Make Your Clients Part of the Site

“A great way to get clients to read your blog is to make them a part of it. One example is to creatively profile them. Do a Q&A that allows them to speak to their business acumen, but in a unique way. Also, ask them to be regular guest bloggers. For example, if you have a client that can speak to innovation in technology, create a monthly feature in which they provide a 350-500 word entry.” ~ Megan Smith, Brownstone PR
– via Small Business Trends

What are you doing to engage with customers online? Could your store benefit from a more thorough online presence?