There’s a lot of noise online. 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are produced every day, and US adults spend an average of almost 12 hours per day consuming media.
Weighed down by information overload, consumers are unsubscribing from social media, websites, and apps. 56% of “digital natives” have either cut back or stopped using social media entirely due to ads in their feed, and 26% of consumers unsubscribe from emails due to the heavy amount of communications.
Here are some tips that could prevent consumers from saying goodbye with that one-click breakup.
Deliver an Individualized Experience
69% of consumers want an individualized experience, yet only 40% of brands offer this kind of customer journey. Adopting an individualized approach to your marketing allows you to deliver 1:1 experiences and stand out from the online noise.
To be successful with individualization, employ the following:
- Use data-driven techniques such as cross-channel deployment and machine learning to predict customer behavior and deliver interactions that are relevant to your customer in real-time throughout their customer journey.
- Collect customer data at all digital touch points in real-time to build rich, detailed customer profiles. This will enable you to make data-driven decisions and deliver omnichannel experiences.
- To keep up with customers as they engage with your brand, use data systems that calculate intent and provide a single customer view along with fast access to insights.
- Delivering an individualized customer experience involves knowing a lot about your customers. Make sure you have permission to collect customer data and explain from the outset what you’d like the data for.
Individualization is a time-consuming and resource-heavy process. Get started now by auditing your customer profiles to see if you have an accurate view of your customers. Look at digital channel pairs to evaluate if a user’s actions in one channel influences interactions in another. This insight will help you engage with customers whenever and wherever you wish.
Stay on Their Radar with Web Push Notifications
Reach consumers in a non-intrusive manner and keep them engaged with your brand through web push notifications. Publishers use web push notifications to promote new content (90%) and reader retention (30%). While 25% of consumers are okay with receiving web push notifications from retail apps or websites, there’s a thin line between delivering relevant engagement and irritating users. Here are a few things to note when using web push notifications:
Permission: Before asking consumers for permission to activate web push notifications, ensure they’ve indicated some interest in your content or spent some time on your website. When you decide to ask for permission, display a notification informing consumers about the value of receiving web push notifications before the activation prompt.
Timing: 45% of consumers feel they are being spammed if they receive a push notification at the wrong time. While most consumers prefer to receive web notifications in the morning (38.6%), its best to experiment with different times and days of the week to see what works best for your customers.
Richness: Enrich your web push notifications with images, emojis and CTA buttons to add context, create a deeper relationship with subscribers, and drive further engagement. The average rich push notification has a CTR of 9.12%, while a simple push notification has a CTR of 6.88%.
Note that sending a high number of web push notifications will lead people to unsubscribe. Stick to 1-5 notifications per day, using audience segmentation to make them personalized and relevant.
Nail Content
For consumers, 60% of the content created by the world’s leading 1,500 brands is clutter that has little impact on their lives. To stand out, you need to create content that consumers find valuable, unique, and interactive. Below are some tips on the types of content that keeps consumers engaged.
- Authentic content: 90% of consumers believe content helps brands break through the online clutter. Produce documentary styled videos or articles that tell stories, connect customers to your brand, and speak to them on a personal level. Keep in mind that authenticity is about walking your talk, so ensure that the stories you tell reflect your culture – as in Nike’s Kaepernick campaign.
- Unique content: To get subscribers hooked on your platform, give them content they can’t find elsewhere. From its Stratos space jump to extreme skiing, Red Bull delivers unique content celebrating its commitment to extreme sports – keeping customers highly engaged. To create memorable content, put your customers first, find untold stories, and stick to ideas that are organic to your brand.
- Interactive content: In a world of static content, 81% of respondents say interactive content effectively captures audience’s attention. KLM ’s interactive content pieces have received more than half a million visits, with average engagement time of more than five minutes. When considering interactive content, start with your customer data to see from their interactions what they want most.
Content is no longer about words or quantity – it’s about relevance, creating experiences, and promoting empathy.
Build an Online Community
These days, consumers want to engage with their ‘tribes’. That’s why providing an online community where like-minded folks can connect is a smart way to increase retention and encourage a stronger relationship with your brand. 58% of consumers say they’d likely spend more money on a brand’s products and services if they were part of its community. Here’s how Sephora uses its Beauty Insider Community to increase consumer loyalty.
The beauty brand’s community platform has its own customer service team available every day of the week. To win with online communities, create educational resources for subscribers and help them find answers to questions fast. These efforts provide real value for consumers and can foster a powerful and genuine brand impression.
Additionally, give subscribers the opportunity to dialogue with your brand and each other by creating groups and asking for their thoughts on trends. From beauty advice to mom talk, Sephora’s Beauty Insider Community hosts groups tailored to subscribers’ interests.
While encouraging open dialogue, maintain a safe and comfortable atmosphere for subscribers to talk about issues that matter to them. Enforce community guidelines and monitor the conversations within groups to ensure a positive experience for all.
To go one step further, host offline events so your online community can meet each other in real life. Offline events give you the opportunity to have conversations with your customers and help your community bond. This adds a layer of exclusivity and offers value for community members.
It’s a Noisy World
In a world where consumers crave simplicity and minimized noise, the way brands interact with consumers determines if they’ll capture their long-lasting attention. To stay in their good graces, allow customers to control how often they receive your emails, use advanced segmentation techniques to send personalized messages, and focus on building a genuine relationship with them. Leave your obvious door-door sales tactics… well, at the door.