6 Tips to increase e-commerce customer engagement

As an e-commerce entrepreneur, you know that customers are the lifeblood of your business. Finding new customers is more time-intensive and often costly, but by increasing your e-commerce customer engagement, you will amplify the number of repeat customers.

Engaged customers are your best friend – they will shop with you more often, spread the word to their friends and help bolster your social feeds, showing that you put your customer first. But if you don’t know where to start, these tips will help you increase your e-commerce customer engagement, whatever the size of your store.

1. Find your voice

Too often, new brands try to replicate the powerhouses such as Amazon or bend over backwards to sound professional, but the result can often be quite cold. Your customers aren’t other businesses, they are people just like you.

Try to tailor your content so it comes across as friendly and conversational, and with its own unique personality. The result will be content that is read from start to finish, not passed over as dull and uninspiring.

2. Remember who your customer is

One of the most tried and tested ways to drive customer engagement is to remember that your customer isn’t just your customer. They are a full and complex person.

When you started your e-commerce store, you should have done some intensive work, profiling who your customer is and how they can be leveraged. Don’t forget that. If you are selling baby clothing, for example, you are selling to mums – they are likely a certain age, incredibly busy and looking for hacks to help in day to day life.

Remember who your customer is, and offer additional content that fits them, not just your product. By relating to them as a person, they will relate to you as a brand.

hello@unicornaccounting.co.uk

3. Social Media Marketing

You cannot hope to drive e-commerce customer engagement simply through your website and newsletter. Social media is everywhere and if your e-commerce store isn’t on relevant platforms, you are missing out on existing customer engagement and capturing a whole new pool of potential shoppers.

E-commerce sites do great engaging on Facebook and Instagram so set up a comprehensive social media planner and make sure to follow up every comment in a timely fashion.

4. Reward your Customers’ Loyalty

To further engage your existing customers, reward them for their previous purchases. You can do this through a stamp-card system i.e. buy 5 get 1 free, or through discount codes sent out through your newsletter.

Many e-commerce sites also find success through a refer-a-friend scheme, by offering a discount or benefit to the customer and the referral. You know your customers best, but make sure to find a way to reward them if they shop with you time and time again.

5. Mobile or Bust

In 2020, more than half of internet browsing is done through our mobile phones, and that number is only set to climb. You cannot expect to have happy and engaged customers if your main site loads lickety-split and your mobile site is a broken mess.

Take the time, or hire a developer, that can correctly optimise your site for mobile devices, making it simple to use and easy to share. It’s one of the easiest ways to grow your e-commerce business and still often overlooked.

6. Straight to your Inbox

It’s a balancing act to send the right amount of emails to a customer, but a monthly newsletter goes a long way. Showcase new and upcoming products, show top reviews on existing lines, and invite the customer to get in touch with a strong Call to Action (CTA).

You can combine this with some of the other elements by including details of your referral scheme, loyalty-based discount codes or some of your content from social media.

Next Steps

For the small entrepreneur, e-commerce customer engagement is key. You can’t beat Amazon in many regards, but you can offer something different with its own personality and promises.

If you’re ready to try and reach your brand’s true potential, our team of e-commerce specialist accountants can help you move in the right direction. Get in touch today to speak to us about international expansion, growing your bottom line or tax credits for research and development.

The best time to act is now.

hello@unicornaccounting.co.uk