Location based marketing is taking off in a big and innovative manner. Either in-store internet network or an app on the smartphone can track the location of an existing customer or one in the data base to send him/her product information. For this, vast quantity of data warehousing is necessary so that specific content can be sent at the right time and place. Existing trends may also be leveraged as Starbucks has done by tying up with Pokémon Go to deliver an all-round Augmented Reality offering. Subway meanwhile has established a system of providing free Wi-Fi in all its stores in Northern Ontario from where customers can access all kinds of information. A fourth of Target stores and six percent of Wal-Mart ones have established Bluetooth Beacons to track potential customers within a certain geographical range.

Source:https://www.loyalty360.org/content-gallery/daily-news/location-based-marketing-can-spark-customer-engage

What separates great advertising from the merely good ones, is the level of customer engagement. An example of such engaging advertising campaigns is that of Renault in the 1960s which asked customers to spot scratches on its car to avail of a fee waiver. Similarly, Coca-Cola engaged audiences to sign along a popular song. In modern times, certain methods have been identified to best execute such engagement. First of all question and answers rounds may be posed to customers on social media. This elicits real time feedback as well as conducts digital marketing. Social media can also be used to initiate contests and prizes. Unique case studies may be framed and then delivered after customer backed analysis. Reviews of all forms must be consulted. Often users vent negative feedback on social media, but instead of getting defensive, brands must embrace such reviews to rectify their processes.

Source:http://www.dealermarketing.com/customer-engagement-what-separates-good-from-great-advertising/

Some methods have been identified which will help engage with customers who are as yet undecided about their needs. Such methods can help marketers create a latent but as yet unknown demand. Sales personnel in such cases need to be the consultant who provides relevant information on basic needs rather than selling any particular item. Deep product knowledge can help customers identify their needs. A toll-free helpline must be provided by the organization so that potential customers can connect directly and address their not-so-clear requirements. For converting a customer, easy returns or exchanges must be floated. Online shopping platforms often use this theme for their digital marketing campaigns to attract newer customers.

Source:http://customerthink.com/how-to-engage-with-customers-who-are-not-sure-what-they-need/

A study conducted by Wefl has observed that shoppers who use retail apps, tend to spend more time at physical stores as well. Mobile phones present massive digital marketing opportunities to marketers if used effectively. Thus few methods have been outlined which will improve the overall mobile experience for the customer. A “store mode” must be built in to the app just as Target has created. People these days value time so apps that replace mundane manual chores using digital solutions are well appreciated by them as has been with Walgreens’s latest intervention. Walgreens has also created the Pharmacy Chat option that allows direct communication between the customer and the pharmacist. Others must replicate such in-app messaging. The check-out process must be aligned with overall customer-centricity goals as Amazon and Kohl’s have executed so well. investment must be made in to an in-app search. This will enable mobile browsers to quickly select the retailer most relevant to requirements.

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/young-entrepreneur-council/five-ways-retailers-can-t_b_14221046.html

With so many devices becoming ‘smart’ and trends such as the Internet-of-Things and constant use of mobile phones on the rise, a marketing research assignment was taken up by Vanson Bourne to study mobile engagement. Some interesting observations were made post this study. First of all, it was realized that customers are constantly seeking support regarding technical or purchase issues yet the existing CRM mechanisms are being unable to cope with this massive surge. Brands are losing their customers due to inefficient rate or quality of response to customer queries. More than ninety percent of respondents confirmed that they prefer a human on the other end of interactions rather than chat bots. It was also found out that due to the plethora of choices that people these days possess, even a single adverse experience can prove to be fatal for any brand. In fact around six-sevenths of those polled confirmed that they are likely to move on from the brand with any such experience.

Source:https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/mobile-marketing/its-time-to-mobilize-your-customer-engagement-strategy/

Increasingly, brands are using chatbots for interaction with people. These chatbots utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict human moves and provide solutions accordingly. They conduct vast level of data warehousing to store information, analyze and interact. This has led to cost reductions and ease of transactions, yet for some aspects human interaction is being missed. Customer loyalty is anyway fleeting these days, and the possibility of technical errors by these chatbots leaves marketers open to further brand erosion. Organizations are getting too dependent on machine learning or social media like Twitter. The cost is certainly one factor, but companies need to provide real time feedback to customer queries or complaints when they resort to social media. Amazon is one organization trying to put all this data collected to better use through its Echo device which plans to develop genuine human level empathy to its bots post processing and deriving meaningful business intelligence. So while these machine interactions have benefits, the human side must be cultivated in parallel by the top brands to get holistic benefits.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/customer-engagement-talking-human-still-matter/

Some brave predictions have been made for this year in trends for customer engagement. An alarming forecast is that with customers’ attention span at all time low, only listicles will engage them. Bots will be increasingly powerful as evidenced by the surge in volumes of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp data. Eerily similar to the film Her, human beings might have realistic conversations with digital assistants. Brands are optimizing their systems to gauge significant business intelligence from the huge quantities of data now available in the digital age.  Such data will further influence the use of specific behavior inducing algorithms. Pokémon Go highlighted the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) which is here to stay. Its related field of Virtual Reality (VR) though is not living up to the hype. Brands are also debating ways to streamline their communication in the best possible way to reach the final consumer. In this way brands are acclimatizing themselves to the transformations warned off by noted business writer Byron Sharp.

Source:http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/year-ahead-customer-engagement/1420449

The design and innovation consulting wing under Accenture called Fjord has conducted a study to deduce the key customer engagement trends that will come under the scanner this year. Story telling has for quite some time been a key driver of digital marketing, but there is a feeling that the approach is getting stale. Customers seem to regard expert reviews as inauthentic so instead paying attention to peer based story-doing often involving video sessions. The brand landscape has undergone this shift towards the hourglass shape where brands can be categorized under either of two segments. There is one category of large brands which indulge in several businesses, there is another that caters to specific market niche. The middle brands will either need to identify with one of the two, or simply disappear. Extreme or hyper-customer centricity developed out of algorithms to pinpoint personalized content for market segments. Yet now it is proving to be its own enemy by bombarding excess of such content, perfectly illustrated by the backlash on Airbnb. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now capturing more refined pieces of business intelligence allowing them to conduct greater customer interactions through the use of predictive analytics. Such systems include the IBM Watson, Salesforce Einstein, Microsoft Cortana and Aamazon Alexa.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah/2016/12/27/four-trends-in-customer-engagement-in-2017/#44f0bb3b18f9

The CMO at Bridgestone Americas Tires Operations has implemented fastidious customer experience guidelines within the organization which is helping the company to reach out to customers in the best of ways. There are two things on which priority is set- store experiences and social media. Individual Bridgestone stores have the freedom to take decisions as it deems appropriate in order to serve customers. Even at times when the in-store experience may take a hit, Bridgestone knows that instead of writing letters to customer care department, the modern customer will take to social media. Thus heavy monitoring of such social platforms is conducted. Angry or dissatisfied tweets mentioning the company are recorded and details sent to the store manager who can then act accordingly. Social media is also used to execute digital marketing by building brand loyalty and forging valuable partnerships with other firms.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2016/11/16/the-cmos-role-in-building-customer-experiences/#55299d2e1ba0

When social media first emerged, it was seen by many traditional marketers as a fad or even a gimmick which would pass away. They would simply indulge in it to please the younger generation. However, it has now proven to be one of the key points within the field of digital marketing. There are over a billion people who are using social media, so for brands this presents a massive frontier to let go of. Such extensive usage also generates enormous amounts of data on which business analytics is being performed by specialized players such as Crimson Hexagon. Such analytics players have now become more intelligent to the point that the insights they present carry opinions than simply raw figures as was the trend during the pioneering era. Also, the analytics is getting democratized as the same analysis gets transmitted to all kinds of firms- big or small.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2016/11/29/why-businesses-are-using-social-media-to-listen-to-their-customers/#1cb5a1935daa

The super-consumer strategy is one where marketing plans are drafted keeping in mind a select group of loyal users of the product. Such super-consumers may be found anywhere and not located via conventional marketing channels. Some such consumers could be found within the company walls themselves. This strategy can help unlock the latent energy in organizations. A perfect example would be that of United Airlines, which clearly believes that most of its customers as well as a lot of its employees, especially pilots are themselves super consumers. So the movement of customers to competitors is limited and internal employees get to appreciate cross-functionality better. On a similar vein, at beer making giant Anheuser Busch, employees as so well engaged that as an unwritten rule, they even refuse to drink competitors’ beers, even for personal or family gatherings. Such super consumer strategy allows builds greater level of empathy for the consumer. A perfect example could be the employees of Netflix themselves being binge serial watchers, were able to design products keeping such an audience in mind. Also this strategy enables the development of business innovations through creativity being inspired. Beverage brewing system creator Keurig feels that two kinds of employees get overlooked- millennials and middle managers. For the younger people to feel engaged, it is necessary to make them feel valued.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/12/the-benefits-of-hiring-your-best-customers?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date&spMailingID=16172632&spUserID=OTY0OTMwNTk5NwS2&spJobID=921921821&spReportId=OTIxOTIxODIxS0