When it comes to connecting with your customers, there is no shortage of platforms which to communicate upon. With the use of hashtags, finding those within your target market has never been easier on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and even LinkedIn. Yet, there’s still a  barrier between you and your customers that a simple ‘like’ or ‘retweet’ doesn’t eradicate.

To fully know your customers — from their pain-points to their wants and needs — you must go deeper. How does a business connect with those they hope to win over and create longstanding business-to-consumer (B2C) relationships in a highly digital world?

For starters, finding other avenues to engage with customers aside from any social media platform is a must. With such a wide variety of tools and strategic routes a business can take, crafting a list of 3-5 goals you hope to achieve through enhancing your customer engagement. This way, you’ll be able to streamline efforts across your team and stay organized when it comes to sifting through data in the weeks to come.

The days where consumers want a business to be just that and nothing more are long gone. Now, creating a personalized and connected experience for your customers regardless of where they’re coming in contact with your business is crucial. Initially, you’ll want to make sure your business has a strong sense of fundamental values that are highlighted throughout any and all interactions customers may have with your business.

With GDPR in full swing, digital marketers have had to shift gears to ensure they’re being compliant at all times. Luckily for you, there are numerous other ways to connect with your customers and gain new, loyal fans along the way.

If you haven’t started collecting your customer’s mobile numbers when they visit your store or download an eBook from your website, now is a great time to start. With mobile phone numbers, you can easily reach out to re-engage a customer who hasn’t visited your site or your store in a while, or to follow up on a recent experience they had with your business.

By contacting them via the platform they already agreed to when providing you with their number, you’re GDPR-compliant from the jump. Utilizing text messaging is the new wave of digital marketing, but it has to be done with thought and some general strategy for it to be effective. Once you’ve figured out your goals for texting, make sure you’re hooked up with a platform that will enable your team ease of access and usability to communicate with your customers from.

Texting is on the rise when it comes to B2C communications, especially as we power through the first quarter of 2019. With over 2/3 of the world’s population owning a smartphone, mobile is the move to make when it comes to gear up for heightened customer engagement. Simply throwing texts out to reap immediate benefits will no longer be effective or wanted by consumers. Tune into the feedback of businesses who have tested the path of mobile, and recreate a test of your own.

Most importantly, remember that all your customers are diverse, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to engagement. Ensuring your online reputation matches the quality of the services you provide while optimizing your communication strategy for mobile can drastically affect your return on investment. Not only that, but you’ll have earned your customer’s loyalty through their business. With ReviewPush, we take the stress out of managing and optimizing your online presence. With the ability to text new and returning customers along with a dashboard that organizes every review you’ve received from a multitude of sites, we can’t wait to show you what all we can do.

Lee McNiel