Ghosted by Customers? Here’s How You Can Win Them Back

Refresh your customer engagement strategy to avoid getting ghosted!

Not seeing results when you’re trying to build customer relationships? It’s probably time to update your customer engagement strategy — As a Salesforce Partner, V5 Digital knows how vital it is to engage your customers effectively and intelligently.

It was going so well. You and your customer both seemed committed, invested, and bought in. Then suddenly, it’s radio silence on the other end, no communication and no explanation. You’re left wondering, “What happened? Is it something I did?” Sure, it might not be you, but more likely, it is your fault. The good news is there is something you can do about it: refresh your customer engagement strategy. As the great Yogi Berra once said, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

If your customer has stopped engaging, they have a need that you aren’t meeting. We found that 73% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. But, 71% of marketers say that meeting customer expectations is more difficult than a year ago. So, where do you go from here?

As a Salesforce Partner, V5 Digital can help you see a 360° view of your customers

What is an effective customer engagement strategy?

A customer engagement strategy is a set of tactics and approaches that a business uses to interact and build relationships with its customers. It involves creating meaningful and valuable experiences that foster customer loyalty, satisfaction, and advocacy.

However, as customers progress, they can lose interest due to changing priorities and needs, poor customer service, better offerings elsewhere, or because they haven’t heard from you in a while.

A well-executed customer engagement strategy keeps customers interested throughout their journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase support.

However, to build lasting customer relationships, an effective strategy must also continuously improve and adapt to meet changing needs — keeping the fire burning.

Brands that do this understand the importance of feedback and listening, deep customer understanding, proactive communication, and out-of-the-box content and experiences.

Keep your customers curious with a well-executed customer engagement strategy

How you can get ‘lost’ customers back

If you’re reading this and remembering the once-good times with that special someone (ahem, customer), it may be time to consider refreshing your customer engagement strategy. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you win them back. Here are six ways to rekindle the flame.

1. Conduct new customer research

Gain a deeper understanding of your target audience with customer research. Gather feedback through surveys, interviews, or focus groups to learn their needs, preferences, and pain points. Use this information to refine your customer engagement strategy and align it with their expectations.

2. Segment your audience

Divide your customer base into segments based on similar characteristics or behaviour. This segmentation allows you to tailor your messaging and engagement strategies to specific groups. By understanding each segment’s unique needs, you can develop personalized approaches to reach them effectively.

3. Launch targeted re-engagement campaigns with exclusive offers

With this segmented data in hand, you can then create compelling offers, promotions, or exclusive incentives to entice lapsed customers back. Use personalized and timely communication channels, such as email or retargeting ads, to reconnect with these customers, remind them of the value your business provides, and how you can solve a problem they have.

4. Encourage user-generated content

People love seeing how others like them are using your products, and it gives your marketing efforts a more authentic feel. You can encourage customers to contribute their own content, such as reviews, testimonials, or social media posts featuring your products or services. User-generated content adds authenticity and social proof to your brand, while also fostering a sense of community. This is a great way to keep customers engaged — and help them feel recognized.

V5 Digital helps our clients create user-generated content that inspires trust

5. Be more interactive

Don’t just market to your customers — have fun with them. Update your customer engagement strategy with interactive experiences that go beyond traditional marketing. Create quizzes, polls, contests, or interactive videos that allow customers to actively participate and provide feedback. Interactive experiences create a sense of involvement and captivate attention, resulting in higher engagement levels.

6. Take an omnichannel approach

Instead of just sticking with the channels you know, go where your customers are most active. Consider incorporating messaging apps, chatbots, or social media platforms that better connect with your target demographic. Experiment with different channels to meet customers where they spend their time.

Build a relationship that lasts

So, you’ve put yourself back out there. How do you know it worked? We found that 83% of marketers are using insights into customer needs and expectations to adapt their strategies and make the most of every interaction.

Without clear metrics and analytics, it can be difficult to know which strategies are working and which are not. This can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities for growth. Remember to continuously analyze customer feedback and engagement metrics to measure the effectiveness of your refreshed strategy. Stay agile, adapt to evolving customer needs, and experiment with new ideas to keep your customer engagement strategy dynamic and effective.

Refreshing your customer engagement strategy can help you stay relevant, captivate your audience, and drive customer loyalty. Don’t just let your customer slip away. Like Yogi said, it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

Remember, you're not alone in this endeavour. V5 Digital, a Salesforce partner, is here to help you navigate the tricky terrain of customer engagement. Our team of experts is dedicated to helping you understand your customers better, anticipate their needs, and deliver strategies that not only meet but exceed their expectations.

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This article was written by Meredith Turner for Salesforce and adjusted for the V5 Digital audience.

How Content Marketing Is Like A First Date

Content Marketing: Where Every First Date Leads to Engagement

It’s Friday. You’re finally going out with that person you met online. You’ve been talking for weeks, and you’re excited to see them in person at last. The outfit you’ve chosen is perfect. That fresh haircut is serving you well. One spritz of perfume, and then you’re out the door.

Only, when you get to the bar, your date isn’t who you thought they were. They don’t look anything like their picture, you can’t get a word in edgewise, and you can’t get out of there fast enough.

Sound familiar? This kind of interaction is all too common in the dating world, and unfortunately, it happens a lot in the world of content marketing too.

5 Main Reasons Content Marketing Is Like a First Date

Marketing is about building relationships. All too often, marketers treat it as an opportunity to hijack the conversation and aggressively pursue the customer. But this doesn’t work in dating and definitely won’t fly in marketing.

The goal of marketing and dating are the same: a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship. But more than that, there are five main reasons content marketing is like a first date.

1. Gradual Connection. Like two people on a first date, it takes time for your customers to get to know your business. Sharing openly and honestly is the only way to build that connection over time.

2. Fostering Engagement. Allowing your customers to join the conversation is crucial for making them feel valued. It’s like a conversation with a date where you ask them more about themselves.

3. Building Credibility. It takes time for people to believe and trust what you say. Credibility is built slowly by sharing valuable information in conversation or online content.

4. Gaining Trust. In dating and marketing, you have to share about yourself and show that your actions match your values before dates or that customers will trust you.

5. Succeeding with First Impressions. Your date wants to know they aren’t wasting their time with you, and your customers want to know they’ve come to the right business for the help they need. To reassure them, you need to give a good first impression that puts them at ease.

Content Marketing: The First Date That Leads to Lifetime Customers

The similarities don’t end there, and there are many steps you can take in your content strategy, so your brand doesn’t get ghosted.

Understanding Gradual Connection

Long-term relationships are comfortable, but first dates can be anxiety-inducing and awkward. It can be difficult to find common ground and build a connection when you don’t know someone. The same is true of marketing and customer acquisition.

Your content needs to make a good first impression. When potential customers come to your website or see your social media posts, it’s about building a gradual connection with them. Here’s what you need to remember when it comes to that connection.

Building a Bond Takes Time

While love at first sight may exist in romance novels, it’s not so common in marketing. Building a connection takes time. Your customer needs to get to know your brand through your content. That’s why creating quality content is important – you’re sharing why you’re trustworthy.

Your brand voice and the information you share show your customer that you know what you’re talking about and they can trust you. You can’t build this connection with just one blog post. Showing up consistently and sharing high-quality content is the only way.

Creating Trust, One Content Piece at a Time

Don’t Rush Expectations

You wouldn’t expect a marriage proposal at the end of the first date, so don’t look for your customers to purchase after seeing your content for the first time.

Creating high-value, search-engine-optimized content is crucial to getting your customers to your website. But once they’re there, don’t assume they’ll buy immediately.

Instead, give them opportunities to continue the relationship. Encourage them to follow you on social media or sign up for your newsletter. Give them some space to get to know your brand. And while you’re doing that, continue sharing information that answers all their questions.

V5 Digital can help you court potential customers with creative content

Focus on the Audience

A common break-up cliché is, “It’s not you. It’s me.” But in content marketing, it’s not about you. It’s your audience. Focus on their needs as you’re creating content. Think about what questions they have. What resources will help them most?

Once your SEO content brings them to your website, how will you nurture the relationship? It would be a shame to bring your audience to your site only to lose them once they’ve found the answer to one question. Ask yourself how you can continue to serve them once they find your content.

Fostering Two-Way Engagement

You’ll get the first date if you have a great online dating profile. But if you spend that whole first date talking about yourself, you’re not going to get a second one. The same is true for content marketing. Fostering two-way engagement is how the relationship is built.

To Keep the Conversation Going in Your Marketing:

• Inspire Engagement from Your Audience. Ask questions in your content and encourage readers to comment or interact with your posts. Create interactive content like quizzes.

• Don’t Just Talk About Yourself. Instead, think about why your audience came to you. Answer their questions, solve their problems, or simply entertain them.

• Connect with Mutual Interests. Share your company values in your content and actions. These will help you connect with your ideal customer.

• Listen to Your Audience. If you find you’re getting a lot of similar questions from your audience, it’s a sign you need to make some content around those questions. Don’t be afraid to survey them to find out what they need from you.

• Use Emotional Language. Your audience found you online because they have a problem they need to solve. Their problem may be business as usual to you, but it’s something that’s a concern for them, and they want to feel like you understand where they’re coming from.

• Appropriately Respond. Whether they’re leaving comments on your posts or their feedback shows they need something that hasn’t been addressed, make sure you respond.

V5 Digital generated great engagement by asking followers to post their favourite emoji on #WorldEmojiDay

Building Credibility

Have you ever noticed that “be yourself” seems to be the go-to advice for dating, brand building, and pretty much everything else? There’s a good reason for that, which all comes down to credibility. Your audience needs to be able to trust you, and you have to build credibility with them for that to happen.

To Build Credibility:

• Be Authentically You. Being yourself is important because your audience knows when they see a faker. Share openly and honestly about your brand and what it stands for.

• Don’t Sugarcoat Your Business. You don’t have to make your business overly attractive or acceptable to people who aren’t your ideal customers. Focus on sharing the truth about what you do with the people who need your product or services.

• Don’t Undersell. You work hard, so don’t price your services cheaper than they should be or undervalue what you do. Part of being yourself is knowing your worth.

• Be Honest & Kind. Keep your messaging true to your company and what you do, and be nurturing and generous in the information you share.

Gaining Audience Trust

Once you’ve built your credibility, you can finally gain the trust of your audience. Think about trust in a relationship. You don’t just give it on the first date. That first date is probably in a neutral location because of how little trust justifiably exists. People earn trust over time through actions and authentic connections. The same is true for building trust with your audience.

To Gain Your Audience’s Trust:

• Be Respectful and Understanding. Show your audience you know where they’re coming from. Listen to their feedback.

• Respond Quickly. If they come to you with a question, they respect your knowledge. Hiring a community manager to respond to their questions quickly can help you become their go-to source of information.

• Be Consistent. Make content consistently by following an editorial calendar and regularly responding to questions and comments (including those on social media).

• Backup What You Say with Actions. Anyone can hop on the internet and say whatever they want. The brands that do what they say they’re going to do are the ones people trust.

V5 Digital offers Community Management Services, letting you concentrate on your business.

Succeeding with First Impressions

Now, back to the first date. It’s your one shot to make a good first impression. The same is true for your company’s content. So, how do you get your audience to return after the first impression?

Ask for Continued Interaction

Encourage your audience to comment on your posts, follow you on social media, and sign up for your newsletter. Make it clear that you have more content on the way to answer their questions, and they won’t want to miss it.

When creating your editorial calendar, think about how to make one post into a series. It will get your audience to keep coming back to learn more.

Link to your older posts in your newer posts where appropriate, and continue to give your audience more reasons to stay on your site and learn more about your brand.

Get creative with old links in new posts!

Using Calls to Action After Trust is Built

After you’ve built trust with your audience, they’re more likely to follow your calls to action. So don’t worry about selling in your posts. Instead, focus on giving your audience more valuable information.

Not many customers purchase after reading one blog post. Focus on putting your calls to action where you’ve already built trust. A newsletter is a great place for that. Those subscribers are already interested in what you do, and they trust you with their email addresses. They’re more likely to follow a call to action than a casual blog reader.

Follow Up & Reach Out

When you receive questions or comments from your audience, respond quickly, and follow up later to see how they’re doing. Ask if they need more help or how applying your advice went for them.

Follow-up shows that you care about how they’re doing and that they aren’t just nameless followers to you. It shows your brand truly cares and can be a game-changer in building trust.

Get the Second Date

Here's to making every interaction count!

Every business can and should use marketing, but it’s not all created equal. Your audience wants authenticity and a connection before they open their wallets. Taking the time to make a good first impression is the first step to building customer loyalty and mutually beneficial relationships.

Love these ideas but just don't have the time to implement them? The V5 Digital Team is here to help. We specialize in crafting an authentic and engaging content strategy that resonates with your target audience. Our goal is to facilitate a genuine connection between your brand and your customers, one piece of content at a time.

Let us handle your content marketing while you focus on what you do best. Contact us today for a free consultation.

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This article was written by Lindsey Miller for DigitalMarketer and adapted for a V5 Digital Audience.

Top 12 Digital Marketing Trends In 2023 You Should Know About

Digital marketing trends are like waves in the ocean – those who ride them reach new heights, while those who ignore them get left behind

The marketing and advertising landscape is constantly evolving. With the continuous emergence of new technologies and changes in consumer behaviour, it’s super important to stay ahead of the curve by staying on top of the latest digital marketing trends.

But, as digital marketers or business owners, it can get a little challenging to catch up with everything happening so fast.

So, to help you get a head start and stay ahead of your competition, Mongoose Media, created a comprehensive list of the top trends in digital advertising that we at V5 Digital found particularly useful.

From advances in AI to leveraging content marketing and influencer collaborations, these strategies have the potential to amp up your marketing efforts and build a winning digital marketing strategy for your business.

So let’s take a deep dive into each one of them and help you become more strategic about how best to capitalize on modern technologies!

12 Top Digital Marketing Trends

Here is a list of the top digital marketing trends with detailed insights you need to pay attention to in 2023:

1. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

The use of AI and machine learning is probably the most popular trend, which is gaining traction in digital marketing at the moment.

Unlock the Potential of Intelligent Conversations with Chat GPT!

With algorithms controlling what social media posts you engage with, which search results surface, and even determining the ads that appear before your eyes, AI-driven marketing ensures a tailored experience for customers everywhere.

This amazing technology can help organizations optimize their marketing campaigns with predictive analytics and advanced data insights.

Plus, AI can also be used to automate mundane tasks such as content curation, customer segmentation, & personalization to facilitate better engagement with customers.

AI content creation tools such as Jasper, ChatGPT, and Midjourney are already revolutionizing how digital marketers create written content and images at 10x speed.

This is definitely going to be one of the hottest trends in advertising in the coming years.

2. Immersive Experiences

Immersive experiences are becoming an increasingly important part of digital marketing these days as they enable customers to interact with a brand on a more personal level.

Customers today don’t just want to browse through products. Instead, they look for an emotionally engaging experience that adds to their overall satisfaction.

Some of the best tools to offer immersive experiences are:

Virtual Reality – VR helps customers immerse themselves in a virtual environment and see what it would be like if the product was bought.

Augmented Reality – AR helps customers to virtually experience the product in their own physical environment.

You can now experience a brand in 360°

Using AR and VR, marketers can create interactive video ads and pop-up stores where customers can try and interact with products before buying them.

And this is exactly what happens in the metaverse. It’s a virtual world where people have digital avatars, which they can use to interact with other people and visual projections of products, play games, participate in virtual events, and buy or sell virtual assets.

This might sound unreal, but it’s all happening. As a matter of fact, brands like IKEA, Nike, and Amazon are already using AR to offer such virtual product experiences.

Immersive experiences like these create an interactive, real-world-like environment for customers to explore and gain insights about products/services, enhancing the user experience.

3. Content Marketing

Content is said to be “king” and definitely one of the most powerful digital marketing channels for engaging customers and driving conversions.

However, besides increasing engagement and conversion, content marketing is essential for another strong reason: brand awareness.

Did you know that it takes an average user 5 to 7 instances of interaction before they can remember a brand?

This is why it’s important to consistently create high-quality content that resonates with the target audience and helps them get to know your business better.

Content marketing is the art of engaging, educating, and inspiring your audience with relevant content

Content marketing should be an integrated part of any digital marketing strategy in order to build brand awareness, generate leads, and increase conversions.

In addition to traditional content such as blog posts, emails, and social media posts, marketers should also consider creating interactive content such as webinars, live product reviews, quizzes, and polls in order to increase engagement.

All of these make for an excellent customer experience and build long-term brand loyalty.

If you're not sure how to create this valuable content feel free to contact V5 Digital who specializes in content marketing strategies tailored to your business needs.

4. Chatbots & Voice Assistants

Chatbots and voice assistants are gaining prominence as they help companies provide a more personalized experience for customers.

Chatbots use AI-driven algorithms to provide personalized customer service with automated responses, while voice assistants interact with customers in a more natural way.

V5 Digital helped create a clever Chatbot for Pupkewitz Megabuild

Both chatbots and voice assistants help organizations save time and money by automating mundane customer service tasks while providing a more personalized experience for customers.

By doing so, they help customers pass through the sales funnel in a personalized and immersive way, which ultimately helps drive more conversions.

This is why these two have become essential tools of conversational marketing in the modern digital marketing world.

5. Influencer Collaborations

The power of influencer marketing lies in the authenticity and influence of individuals who can sway opinions and inspire action

Every day, you see content creators promoting clothes, accessories, tech gadgets, or any other product. Whether it’s an Instagram post, Facebook story, TikTok, or YouTube video, you will come across such collaborations.

What does this tell you?

It tells you that influencer marketing is an essential part of digital marketing today.

Influencers can help create buzz around a product or service on different social media platforms, attract more people to your website, and drive conversions.

How?

The explanation is simple; customers today are more likely to trust an influencer than a brand when it comes to recommendations.

This is why many brands and organizations have started leveraging influencer collaborations and making them a vital part of their digital marketing efforts.

Besides more awareness, businesses can also use influencer collaborations to get honest reviews from trusted figures in the industry before they launch their product or service.

6. Live Video/Streaming

Live streaming is yet another powerful form of digital marketing and a hot trend in the digital advertising world.

Streaming live content allows brands to engage with their customers in real-time and build a strong connection with them. Plus, it also helps customers get answers to their queries and encourages more conversations around the product/service.

Brands can stream live content on various social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This can be in the form of product demonstrations, Q&A sessions, webinars, interviews with industry experts, and more.

Marques Brownlee reviews the Apple HomePod 2 to his 3.3 million followers

But why is it recommended?

Because the algorithm of most social media platforms pushes live content to its news feed and ranks it higher than older content.

This means it will be easier for brands to reach their target customers with live content.

And it’s not just all in theory.

Live commerce is a whole new industry that has gained huge traction in China and is slowly spreading to other regions.

In 2023, the total live commerce market in China is projected to cross $700 billion.

Imagine the impact you can have if e-commerce brands add it to their digital marketing activities.

7. Email Marketing

There may come a hundred new trends in digital advertising, but email marketing is the “never-gonna-die” classic digital strategy.

Even today, in 2023, it remains one of the most effective ways to reach customers and promote products/services.

Why?

Because it’s a more direct marketing tool as compared to other tools like Google ads, sponsored posts in social media feeds, or TV ads.

Emails are highly targeted and personalized messages.

Emails don't just carry messages, they carry the personality of the brand

This is why businesses (especially e-commerce businesses) use email campaigns to build relationships with customers, announce new product launches and upcoming sales, offer content upgrades, and send other personalized messages.

It is a cost-effective way to reach out to existing and potential customers, build long-term relationships, and drive more sales.

8. Omni-present Social Media Marketing

No doubt, social media has become an integral part of digital marketing.

However, just a few years ago, only Facebook was the key platform for brands.

But now, many businesses are focusing on developing an omnipresent social media marketing strategy.

This means they now try to be present on every social media platform. From Instagram to Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, and even Pinterest, businesses have started creating their presence on all these platforms.

This omnipresence helps brands ensure that their content reaches a wider audience and is visible in multiple places. This increases brand awareness, encourages more customer engagement, and helps increase conversion rates.

9. Short Form Video Content

It’s no surprise that video content has become one of the most popular forms of digital marketing.

But what’s different today is the type of videos being created. Users no longer want to watch long videos and instead wish to consume content in short bursts.

In the TikTok era, brands don't buy attention, they earn it with creativity

This is why TikTok rose to fame and became the most popular app in 2019 and 2020.

TikTok’s popularity moved businesses towards creating short, eye-catching videos for social media marketing. These videos range from product/service demonstrations to funny skits and even customer testimonials.

However, what happened afterwards is even more interesting.

After the meteoric rise of TikTok, Facebook and Instagram introduced “Reels,” and YouTube launched “Shorts.”

Why?

Simply because short videos are effective; they are great for grabbing the attention of viewers, quickly conveying a message, and engaging customers in an interactive way.

So, short video content is a hot digital marketing trend, which is here to stay!

10. LinkedIn

This might come as a surprise, but LinkedIn is now one of the most important platforms for marketing teams.

It is no longer a site for job hunting, business-to-business collaborations, or data collection. In fact, it has become a hub for individuals and businesses to share digital content in the form of short posts, blog posts, images, and videos.

Entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and business profiles can use the platform to post relevant content and reach out to their target audience, build relationships with potential customers, and generate leads.

The power of LinkedIn marketing is not in selling, but in building relationships that sell

Plus, you can direct all of your followers to your website and get free organic traffic.

So, if you have not yet started using LinkedIn for digital marketing purposes, now is the time to do it.

It’s definitely going to be one of the top trends in advertising in the near future.

11. Voice Search

With voice search becoming increasingly popular, digital marketers need to factor this in while creating their marketing strategies.

Voice search is, essentially, the process of using voice commands to search for something on the internet.

For example, if you wanted to know about a local restaurant, you would say something like, “Find me a good restaurant near me,” and the voice assistant would display the best results based on your query.

This has now become one of the most popular ways to search, and businesses must create strategies that include voice search optimization.

This means optimizing your content, website, and other marketing materials for voice search. This will help you appear higher in the results when someone uses voice search to look for something that your business offers.

12. Inclusive Marketing

Inclusive marketing is the art of speaking many languages in one message

Finally, there is the concept of inclusive marketing, which is becoming increasingly important for businesses.

Inclusive marketing refers to creating content and campaigns that are sensitive to people of all backgrounds and cultures, regardless of gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, age, or race.

This is important because it allows businesses to create content that resonates with a wider audience and reach out to customers who may have felt excluded in the past.

Furthermore, it helps create an environment where everyone can feel included and accepted, which can be beneficial for businesses in the long run.

So, these are some of the most promising 2023 trends in digital advertising that businesses should look out for.

Remember, these trends will not be the same for all businesses. You should take the time to analyze your own business and create strategies that are tailored to its needs and goals.

Interested in implementing any of these trends into your marketing strategy? Feel free to book a no-commitment consultation with V5 Digital below.

Contact Us

This article was written by Lauren Petrullo for DigitalMarketer and adapted for the V5 Digital Audience.