In a world where competition is intense and customers have it all figured out, it’s easy to focus on what’s trending and achieve short-term success through it.

But, if you look at the bigger picture, gaining trust and building a long-term relationship with your customers is what really matters. 

It’s the most basic aspect of any business, yet a lot of brands are struggling to achieve it. 

Why?

Because, they fail to focus on the three key pillars of long-term success: customer engagement, customer experience, and customer satisfaction. 

Without proper strategies for each of these pillars, you will find it tough to grow your business and build brand loyalty. So, let’s take a closer look at what these aspects entail and how you can ensure long-term growth and success by implementing them.

What is customer engagement? Why is it important?

Just like the name suggests, the concept of customer engagement is all about building a relationship with your customers. It refers to the interactions and experiences a customer has with a brand across various touchpoints. 

Customer engagement is a measure of how well your business can capture and maintain a customer’s interest, attention, and involvement over time. 

For example, let’s say you manage an e-commerce brand and want to improve customer engagement. 

One of the things that you can do is send a personalized email to the customer as soon as they purchase a product. Apart from thanking them for making a purchase, your email can also include helpful information about the product like how it can be used, tips for maintenance, instructions for claiming a warranty, and so on. 

Post the purchase, you can follow up with the customer regularly to share updates, exclusive offers, and customer feedback requests while also sharing relevant, helpful content on your social media pages. 

By doing so, you are creating a positive customer experience that involves personalized interactions, continuous support, and a sense of community, ensuring that your customer feels valued and supported. 

As a result, customers are more likely to stay loyal to your brand, share positive experiences with others, and they will also consider you for their future needs. Moreover, they will also be willing to provide valuable customer feedback and suggestions to improve the business.

In other words, an effective customer engagement strategy involves nurturing relationships, showing genuine care, and providing value beyond the initial sale. 

It’s a two-way street that benefits the customer and the business too.

What is customer experience? Why is it important?

Customer experience refers to the overall journey and interaction that a customer has with a brand, product, or service. It covers every touchpoint and interaction a customer has, right from awareness to post-purchase.

While customer engagement & customer experience are similar concepts, they focus on different aspects of the relationship between brands & customers. 

Let’s consider the previous example of managing an e-commerce brand. 

To increase customer engagement, you sent personalized emails, shared helpful content on social media, and ensured healthy interactions with the customer.

Now, to improve customer experience, you can start by building a user-friendly website experience. Every product on your website will include high-quality images, detailed descriptions, customer reviews, etc.

Additionally, you can ensure that the entire checkout process is simple and hassle-free. Post the purchase, you can also provide prompt customer support, timely order fulfillment, and an easy return/refund process. 

By doing so, you are building a holistic experience for the customer that includes improved website usability, high-quality customer support, a smooth checkout process, and post-purchase assistance as well.

In short, customer experience is all about how you make your customers feel across their entire journey with you. A positive customer experience will help you to build a strong, loyal customer base and can improve your brand reputation too.

What is customer satisfaction? Why is it important?

Customer satisfaction refers to the extent to which customers are happy and content with their interactions and experiences, with a product, service, or brand.

It reflects how well a company meets or exceeds customer expectations. 

High customer satisfaction indicates that customers are happy with their overall experience, while low customer satisfaction suggests areas of improvement.

Let’s understand customer satisfaction with the same e-commerce brand example. Your customers will feel happy and satisfied when the products they receive match the images and descriptions available on your website.

Another way to improve customer satisfaction is to ensure that the products are delivered on time and the quality of the products also match their expectations. 

You can build on this by offering prompt assistance and asking for customer feedback. By doing so, you can focus on meeting and exceeding the expectations of your customers, which is what customer satisfaction is all about. 

How are customer engagement, customer experience, and customer satisfaction related?

As we saw before, regular interactions with your customers along with strategies to improve experience, will eventually contribute to high levels of customer satisfaction.

These three pillars – customer engagement, customer experience, and customer satisfaction – complement each other while also helping you build customer loyalty and achieve long-term success.

While these three concepts are quite distinct, they are also interconnected and often influence one another. Let’s have a closer look at how each pillar is related to each other. 

Customer engagement vs. customer experience:

As we know, customer engagement is all about having healthy and personalized interactions at every touchpoint. By doing so, you build a connection with the customer which again contributes to building a positive customer experience.

When customers are actively engaged through personalized interactions, relevant content, and meaningful connections, their overall ‘experience’ with the brand becomes more positive and memorable.

Thus, engaged customers will more likely have a better experience because they are actively involved in their interactions with the brand. 

When you engage in these interactions across various touch points such as email recommendations, helpful content, and social media interactions, it enhances the customer experience, making it more dynamic and layered. 

Customer experience vs. customer satisfaction:

As we noticed in our previous examples of managing an e-commerce brand, creating a positive customer experience plays a huge role in improving customer satisfaction. 

When you provide a seamless experience throughout the customer journey with a brand, it eventually leads to higher satisfaction levels, as customers feel their needs and expectations have been met or exceeded.

This creates a positive perception of the brand in the minds of the customers, resulting in improved customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction vs. customer engagement:

Customer satisfaction is known to be the foundation for customer engagement.

When customers feel satisfied with your brand, they are more likely to engage with you further, either through more purchases, referrals, or even participating in activities that you organize.

High customer satisfaction also means that customers are more likely to stick with your brand since their positive experiences have laid the groundwork for trust and loyalty.

So, when you successfully engage customers, provide memorable experiences, and ensure their satisfaction, you create a positive cycle that results in increased loyalty, repeat business, positive word-of-mouth, and sustainable long-term growth.

In other words, customer engagement, customer experience, and customer satisfaction are all connected elements that hold the key to the relationship you have with your customers.

Which is more important: customer engagement, customer experience, or customer satisfaction?

If your goal is to build a successful, customer-centric business while also achieving loyalty and long-term growth, you need all three – customer engagement, customer experience, and customer satisfaction.  

This is because these three pillars are interconnected. They can only deliver results when you implement them together to create a positive and lasting relationship with your customers. 

As we know, customer engagement is a crucial component for building a relationship and promoting brand loyalty. When customers feel engaged, they are more likely to interact with you, share their experiences, and provide valuable feedback.

Customer experience, on the other hand, is a ‘must-have’ at every touchpoint. It ensures that every aspect of the customer journey is designed to provide a positive experience.

Without this, you will find it challenging to engage customers effectively. 

Thus, customer experience is considered to be the foundation upon which both customer engagement and customer satisfaction are built. 

Customer satisfaction reflects how well your brand meets or exceeds customer expectations. High customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and repeat business. 

So, rather than trying to figure out what’s more important, you should develop a culture where these elements work together to provide customers with high levels of satisfaction, memorable experiences, and genuine engagement.

Examples of good customer engagement, customer experience, and customer satisfaction

Having a balanced approach toward each of these ideas is crucial for the long-term growth and success of any company. Let’s have a look at some real-life examples of brands that have successfully incorporated each of them.

Customer engagement example

UK Tool Centre, an e-commerce platform that offers a huge range of over 42,000 products, wanted to improve engagement on one of its product pages. 

The page offered a brand of woodcare products called Cuprinol and had a filter menu right at the top. It was theorized that this filter menu was distracting users from exploring the products. 

So, the company ran a test where they compared the original product page (control) with another version of the page (variation). 

In the original version of the page, the filter menu was placed just above the Cuprinol listing.

In the variation, the filter menu was completely removed from the page, making it easier for the users to explore all the products. 

Once the test was conducted, the variation saw a 27% increase in engagement on the product page. 

This was possible because the company identified the needs of its customers and removed distractions from the page. Users were now able to have a better look at the products, which again increased engagement on the page.  

Through this simple customer engagement strategy, UK Tool Centre was able to encourage healthy interactions with its audience. 

Customer experience example

Buyakilt.com, an online Kilt and Scottish Highland Dress retailer, had multiple category pages along with many more subcategory pages.

The company wanted to test whether a new product filter would make it easier for customers to find what they were looking for. 

With the help of VWO, they ran a test to confirm whether this change would improve customer experience, and in turn, increase conversions. 

The new variation included a product filter, which allowed users to shop by kilt type, kilt pattern, and so on.

After the test was completed, Buyakilt.com registered a whopping 76.1% increase in revenue. Moreover, they also saw a 26% increase in conversions along with a 19.76% increase in shopping cart visits. 

One of the main reasons for this success was that a simple feature offered an easier way to take action, thus improving the overall customer experience. 

Customer satisfaction example

Archive Social is a US-based brand that helps organizations fulfill their legal requirements and avoid lawsuits on social media. 

The company wanted to improve lead generation through its pricing page and also increase conversions from a banner form on its home page.

Working with the VWO team, Archive Social made some observations about areas that needed improvement. These areas were affecting conversions and were also preventing the company from satisfying customer expectations. 

To begin with, they noticed that the email form field was shown at the very button of their home page banner. This made it difficult for users to differentiate the field from the rest of the page.

They ran a test with a new variation where the email field had better placement and visibility. After running the campaign for 27 days, the variation saw a massive increase of 101.68% in terms of clicks on the email field. 

Next, Archive Social ran a test on their pricing page. Here, the variation included a completely revamped page where the primary CTA button was highlighted and the pricing options & features displayed were extremely simple.

After running the test for seven weeks, the variation saw a huge jump of 64.76% in conversions and visits to the ‘Thank you’ page.

In their final campaign, the company wanted to increase traffic to the gated content on their ‘Resources’ page. To do so, they created a new variation by adding the ‘Resources’ category to the top navigation bar.

They ran this campaign for 10 days and registered a 73.30% uplift in traffic for the new variation. Thus, Archive Social understood the needs of their audience and the results clearly show that they also satisfied customer expectations. 

The above examples prove that no matter the industry, you can always achieve long-term growth by focusing on three basic aspects of any successful business – customer engagement, customer experience, and customer satisfaction.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

There’s no harm in seeking more information. But actionable tips are more helpful for starting to learn something new. 

The same principle applies to customer engagement in marketing. Consuming theories and data around the concept can enrich your knowledge and enhance your awareness. But it is practical tips that will actually fuel your customer engagement engine. 

If you are reading this blog, it means you’re here for actionable customer engagement tips. You’re in the right place!

We are about to discuss proven tips that can help you win customer trust, encourage brand loyalty, and ultimately boost revenue growth for your business. 

Keep reading…

Idea 1: Craft a customer-focused content marketing strategy

With online customers being more aware today, content forms the bedrock of your creative customer engagement ideas. However, mere content creation will not garner attention, let alone foster the desired engagement. To attain your engagement objectives, you must center your content around the customers. 

Begin by sketching a typical buyer persona and leveraging data to understand customer requirements, interests, motivations, and aspirations, constructing a good customer engagement strategy. Moreover, try different content formats for various channels and touchpoints: 

Interactive content

Quizzes, polls, surveys, and interactive videos encourage active participation, keeping customers engaged while collecting valuable insights.

Visual content

Infographics, images, and videos are more appealing and shareable, grabbing attention and conveying information quickly.

User-generated content

Sharing content created by customers, such as reviews, testimonials, and social media posts is a part of successful brand engagement activities.

Educational content

How-to guides, tutorials, and informative articles position your brand as an industry expert and provide value to your audience.

Storytelling

Current digital engagement ideas center on content that connects emotionally with customers, making them more invested in your brand.

Live streaming

Live videos on platforms like social media offer real-time interaction with customers, thereby forming an integral part of your good customer engagement strategies.

In addition to determining the type of content you create, make decisions about posting frequency, distribution strategy, and performance measurement. Also, don’t confuse personalized content with your content marketing strategy. While personalized content is crucial for delivering tailored experiences to your audience, your overarching content marketing strategy should exude empathy through compelling storytelling and reflect the personality of your brand. 

Idea 2: Gamify customer experiences 

Gamification is one of the innovative customer engagement ideas gaining momentum among many businesses. If you have not tried it yet, here are a few ways you can use gamification to engage customers:

• Run social media contests where you challenge followers to share product unboxing videos to win free tickets to your company’s meet-and-greet or virtual events. 
• Add treasure hunts during special events like sales or anniversaries and offer personalized rewards to the winners.
• Organize quizzes to test visitors’ knowledge about your brand and offer special discounts based on their scores. 

If you want to make gamification an integral part of customer experience on your digital property like your app, consider launching it as a feature. Suppose you run an online newspaper website where you want to introduce badges for readers using the app. These badges might include titles like ‘Engaged Reader,’ ‘Category Expert,’ and ‘Social Sharer,’ rewarding users who actively participate in discussions, specialize in specific categories, and share articles on social media.

Readers can see their badge collection on their profiles and compare them with others in a friendly competition. Additionally, you could create a leaderboard to showcase the top badge earners. 

However, these ideas to engage customers can’t be shipped hastily. They must be tested and iterated upon to achieve the desired outcome. Using server-side testing on VWO, you can not only create features like this but also improve its development through incremental releases, feedback collection, and continuous iteration. To know how it works, request a demo now. 

Idea 3: Constantly gather customer feedback

A robust customer feedback loop is indispensable for your consumer engagement strategies to show the desired result. Encouraging customers (especially existing customers) to share their opinions and actively listening to their feedback demonstrates that their voices matter, thereby improving customer satisfaction.

Implementing changes or enhancements based on their suggestions not only addresses their needs but also showcases your brand’s commitment to continuous improvement. This collaborative approach will help you win loyal customers and increase customer engagement.

Deploying tools like exit pop-ups for departing visitors, incentivizing customer surveys, utilizing live chat for real-time insights, or sending regular feedback forms via email are effective feedback collection methods. These brand engagement ideas help uncover valuable customer perspectives that can be used to refine your customer engagement strategies effectively. 

If you want to get started, you can consider creating an on-page survey where you ask visitors what they liked about your website, if they faced any problems trying to look for something, and what they think can be improved. This feedback is your treasure trove of insights to guide your website optimization efforts. Fresh out of the experience of navigating your website, visitors will remember the details and share their honest opinions. Check out more about on-page surveys now. 

Idea 4: Humanize your brand communication

Whether you are in B2B or B2C, maintaining detached and emotionless communication won’t cultivate valuable customer relationships. Instead, humanizing your communication builds a brand personality that resonates on a personal level, transcending mere product or service associations to cultivate customer engagement.

Begin by strategically infusing a human voice into your content. For your blog, establish a distinctive storytelling style that connects uniquely with your target audience. Infusing empathy into your blog posts strikes an emotional chord, moving beyond mere facts.

On social media, establish exclusive online communities, such as dedicated forums or groups on social media platforms. These spaces not only provide customers with a platform to connect with each other but also foster a deeper connection with your brand. Hosting interactive webinars or Q&A sessions within these communities can further enhance customer engagement and foster a sense of brand belonging. Transparency is key; being authentic resonates with customers who seek genuine interactions when shaping effective customer engagement strategies.

Creating videos and podcasts ranks among the proven user engagement ideas today. Just scroll through your feeds on various social media platforms to see. They lend a human face and voice to your message, fostering a sense of familiarity similar to interactions with friends and family.  These are some good examples of customer engagement that can make your communication more relatable and impactful.

Even if you are in B2B, an empathetic and human-like brand voice is crucial. People don’t suddenly change upon entering the office. Major corporations are shifting away from traditional client communication due to the evolving B2B marketing landscape. So, why not join in? Experiment with creative client management activities that resonate with your audience, building loyalty in the process. 

Idea 5: Personalize customer experiences 

Now we come to the sensational part of online marketing today – personalization of customer experiences. Starting from the relevant content users read on social media to the offers they receive in emails and products they are recommended when checking out from a website- these are all due to personalization of their experiences at every touch point of their online journey with a brand. 

Thanks to robust database software like Customer Data Platforms that make customer engagement possible by gathering user data from various sources, segmenting them, and creating Single Customer Views (SCVs). For example, you can transfer these customer profiles to your Data Management Platform (DMP) and launch targeted ads for specific user segments. Similarly, these SCVs can be exported to email automation platforms to launch personalized email newsletters for different segments of customers. 

On our VWO platform, you can leverage all three capabilities, VWO Data360 (CDP), VWO Personalize, and VWO Testing. Taking customer profiles from the CDP, you can launch personalization campaigns and even run A/B testing campaigns. 

Here is an example of customer engagement. Let’s say you own a holiday booking site. Using data from the CDP, you want to display curated travel packages – hiking and safaris, romantic honeymoon getaways, and family travel vacations – to specific audience segments. In this scenario, VWO Personalize can help you launch these targeted segment-specific marketing campaigns.

On the other hand, suppose you want to test whether offering discounts to a segment of your customers can boost sales of your adventure vacation packages. In that case, you can use VWO Testing to run a test and determine if showing a discount in the variation improves your metrics. Take a free trial today.

Idea 6: Create loyal advocates

If you have customers who really like your brand, make sure to nurture those relationships and make them stronger. Keep in touch with them, get their feedback on your latest product launches, and give them special attention, so they know you appreciate them. This will help you convert your existing customers into brand advocates who will support you every step of the way. Here are some great consumer engagement activities to make them feel super special:

Exclusive previews

Offer them exclusive access to new products, services, or features before they’re available to the general public. This makes them feel valued and appreciated.

Surprise gifts

Occasionally send them small surprises like personalized thank-you notes, phone calls, gifts, or samples. These unexpected gestures can go a long way in winning loyal customers.

Customer appreciation events

Organize special events or webinars exclusively for your dedicated existing customers, where they can interact with your sales team and learn more about your products or services.

Seek their input

Involve your long-term existing customers in decisions like product names, features, or future offerings. This gives them a sense of ownership and importance.

Referral program

In addition to these loyalty programs, you can launch referral programs that encourage existing customers to refer new customers to try your brand’s products or services by offering rewards and incentives.

Conclusion 

A popular saying goes, “The best time to start is now”. Taking a cue from this, you should not delay launching or improving your customer engagement plans any further. Start moving before your customers consider switching to your competitors due to not getting what they need from your brand. And if you think VWO can help you in executing your customer engagement activity, consider taking a free trial. Explore all its features and decide if it’s a great fit for your business. 

Frequently asked questions

In a city dominated by competitive shops that are all about selling, this bookstore thrives by offering more than just books. They host book clubs where readers can engage in lively discussions, invite local authors for talks, and organize contests and quizzes.

In short, they create a literary heaven for customers. They believe exceeding customer expectations matters, and the rest will follow. 

As brands compete neck-to-neck increasingly every day, how do the winners set themselves apart? By placing customers at the center of their business. Building a solid customer engagement strategy is the key to fostering a sense of belonging among your audiences and transcending competition. 

In this blog, we explain overarching strategies on how to increase customer engagement and help your brand become a favorite among customers.

Top 5 strategies to increase customer engagement

Leverage user behavior analytics

The foundation of any successful customer engagement strategy lies in understanding your audience. Research your target demographic’s preferences, behaviors, and pain points. This knowledge will help you tailor your customer engagement plan and establish meaningful customer relationships.

Utilize visitor behavioral analytics to comprehend how visitors behave on your digital properties, what prompts increased interaction, and where they encounter friction. By delving deep into visitors’ behavior, you will gain insights into the improvement needed to enrich their online journey with your brand. 

Bear Mattress, a New Jersey-based online mattress-selling company, uncovered interesting visitor behavior on its website with the help of VWO Insights. They observed reduced user interaction with the cross-sell section, ineffective product-centric copy, and reduced engagement due to missing product images in key sections on the product page. These observations led to a solid hypothesis that resulted in an A/B test generating a 16% increase in revenue. 

While heatmaps illustrate various levels of visitor interaction through colors, session recordings allow you to observe users engaging with your website elements. This is just the beginning; VWO Insights offers an array of other features for user research on both website and mobile. To explore them all, start a free trial today! 

Set clear and practical objectives

Set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (SMART) goals for every customer engagement campaign. For instance, while offering frequent discounts and cheap deals might appear conducive to quick revenue growth, it could negatively impact your brand reputation and profitability. Instead of solely concentrating on metrics tied to your paid advertising, set objectives that provide a more comprehensive view of whether your customers are truly committed to your brand or not. 

Further, defining the corresponding metrics becomes important to get better results from your consumer engagement strategy. Regularly evaluating and adjusting these metrics may be necessary to ensure they are in line with the most recent advancements in your business and industry innovations. Read this blog to learn which customer engagement metrics are worth monitoring. 

Map customer journeys

Plot out your customers’ journeys from discovery to post-purchase. Identify touchpoints where customer engagement can make a difference and create strategies tailored to each stage. Let’s understand with an example. 

Samantha is a 30-year-old marketing professional looking for stylish workwear to buy online. This is how her journey from decision-making to purchase and post-purchase might look like and how brands can improve her experience across touchpoints. 

Awareness:

• Touchpoint: Instagram sponsored post
• Action: Sarah sees a post showcasing trendy workwear styles from the retailer.
• Improve customer experience: Craft visually appealing and informative posts that showcase various workwear styles, highlighting the unique features and quality of the products.
• Offer: Include a special offer or promotion code for first-time visitors who come from the Instagram post.

Interest and evaluation:

• Touchpoint: Visits the retailer’s website
• Action: Browses through the “Workwear Collection” section, looks at product images, reads descriptions, and checks prices.
• Improve customer experience: Enhance the website’s user interface for easy navigation. Implement high-quality product images, detailed descriptions, and a clear sizing guide.
• Offer: Provide a virtual try-on feature that allows customers to see how the workwear items would look on them.

Purchase:

• Touchpoint: Adds a tailored blazer and trousers to the cart
• Action: Proceeds to checkout, enters payment details, and confirms the purchase.
• Improve customer experience: Streamline the checkout process by minimizing steps and offering multiple payment options. Include a progress indicator to show customers where they are in the process.
• Offer: Offer an option for expedited shipping for those who need their workwear items quickly

Post-purchase:

• Touchpoint: Order confirmation email
• Action: Receives an email with order details, expected delivery date, and a discount code for her next purchase.
• Improve customer experience: Personalize the order confirmation email with the customer’s name and ordered items. Include a link to track the order’s delivery status.
• Offer: Suggest related products that complement the purchased items, encouraging cross-selling.

Engagement and loyalty:

• Touchpoint: Follows the retailer on Instagram and subscribes to their newsletter.
• Action: Receives personalized product recommendations based on her purchase history.
• Improve customer experience: Send personalized newsletters with relevant content, such as styling tips, outfit inspiration, and exclusive offers for loyal customers.
• Offer: Provide early access to new collections and special events for newsletter subscribers.
  

Advocacy:

• Touchpoint: Receives her order, which includes a thank-you note and a referral discount.
• Action: Shares a photo of her new outfit on social media, praising the retailer’s quality and service.
• Improve customer experience: Include a handwritten thank-you note in the package, expressing gratitude for the customer’s purchase. Personalize the note by referring to the specific items bought.
• Offer: Provide a referral discount not only for the advocate but also for the referred friend, encouraging them to share their experience with others.
  

Now let’s say you own a SaaS company and you want to lay out a highly effective client engagement strategy. You can map any customer journey like this to tailor experiences at each stage of their journey with your brand. The crux is that no matter which industry you operate in, with the right customer engagement strategy, you can boost brand trust and encourage loyal customers to advocate for you. 

Create segments for tailored experiences 

You have performed user research and mapped the customer journey. Now you must be wondering how to drive customer engagement. The answer is segmentation. It’s only once you segment your visitors into different cohorts (based on similar preferences, attributes, and more) that you can deliver tailored experiences to them. This is one of the most effective customer engagement strategies that align your campaigns and communications with customers’ requirements, behavior, and purchase history. 

Imagine owning an OTT platform. You would want to personalize every piece of content, starting from the homepage to cater to each viewer’s preferences. If you identify a segment of viewers as a fan of romantic comedies (from their watch history), consider showing more of such recommendations. Utilizing their location data, you can also suggest trending movies or web series from their country, such as France. 

Now, suppose you’re interested in running a personalization campaign that offers a 10% discount on subscription plans for viewers from a new market in the Nordic countries like Norway. This can be accomplished through personalization. Even better, if you’re utilizing a customer data platform, you can leverage single customer views (SCVs) to create more intricate segments based on the extensive data you have about your new and existing customers. 

Building upon the same example, you could decide to target this discount offer specifically to individuals aged 25-45 in Oslo, Norway, who access content via mobile devices.

This data-driven approach to increase customer engagement can set you apart from the competitors. From collecting and segmenting data to launching personalization campaigns, VWO Data360 and VWO Personalize can work together to elevate your customer engagement marketing strategy. Explore how it works by taking a free trial now. 

Craft a definitive omnichannel strategy

Once you have implemented all of the above steps, it’s time to create an omnichannel customer engagement strategy. This strategy should clearly outline:

1. The main and secondary (if applicable) buyer personas, along with their behaviors and interests.
2. How you’ll engage these personas at different touch points throughout their purchasing journey and beyond across devices.
3. Methods to seamlessly connect interactions across multiple channels, ensuring a flawless and delightful experience.
4. The different opportunities you’ll harness, like product launches, relevant events, retargeting, etc., to enhance consumer engagement.
5. An actionable plan for customer engagement that you can put into action right away.

And while you are trying your best to increase engagement with customers, bear in mind the power of A/B testing across your digital properties. 

A/B testing deciphers the preferences and behaviors that truly resonate with the audience. This empirical approach sidesteps guesswork, infusing data-driven precision into customer engagement marketing strategies. In the long term, the insights gained from A/B testing cultivate a culture of continuous improvement, aligning optimization ideas with evolving customer preferences. As a result, businesses fine-tune user experiences and improve conversion rates, all while ensuring high customer engagement.

Mediereich, a German eLearning company, conducted a split URL test on its homepage which increased visitor engagement by 40%. That’s not all. Due to this change, the home page’s year-on-year value skyrocketed by an incredible 106.42%, going up from $2,149.72 to $4,436.41. This underscores how enhancing engagement will directly influence your revenue metrics. And it is experimentation that makes it possible. 

Three steps to build a customer engagement strategy 

We have shared overarching strategies on how to create online customer engagement. Now we quickly tell you three key steps you must take to build a robust customer engagement strategy.

Conduct in-depth behavioral research

Gather critical visitor data tailored to your business. In addition to customary metrics from customer loyalty programs, social media interactions, and customer support, focus on the aspects shaping customer-brand engagement. Survey responses, heatmap analysis of website behavior, and funnel analysis help uncover user preferences and identify any friction they encounter.

Link insights with metrics

Convert insights from observed visitor behavior into defined objectives with corresponding metrics. For instance, if funnel analysis reveals that existing customers are dropping off from the product page prematurely, your objective should be to retain customers on the page and reverse the drop-off. As a result, you can run a test with an optimized product page and set ‘increase in Average Order Value (AOV)’ as a metric to measure the change in visitor behavior.

Analyze and refine continuously

Once you have run an experiment, uncover loopholes and areas for improvement. Through iterative cycles, refine your ideas and devise improved strategies to optimize conversions. This ongoing process ensures that your engagement strategies remain dynamic, effective, and aligned with ever-evolving customer behavior.

Customer engagement strategy examples

Optimizing your website/app 

Whether focusing on messaging, UI, or UX, every aspect of your website or app contributes to shaping customer perceptions. To optimize engagement, the aim is to enhance these components, streamlining the customer journey for ease and providing immersive experiences that retain their interest. 

For improved engagement and delightful experiences, consider targeting the following opportunities:

1. Provide relevant, valuable content across blogs and resources to captivate customers and provide value. 
2. Personalize customer touchpoints based on individual needs, devices, locations, and industries to deliver context-rich communication. 
3. Employ incentives throughout touchpoints, such as freebies, exclusive coupon codes, expert consultations, and referral rewards, to entice prolonged interaction with your digital platforms. 

Incorporating these tactics into your engagement strategy ensures extended customer stay time on your site/app, resulting in improved engagement metrics. 

Emails 

Despite being a conventional method of customer communication, emails remain a remarkably relevant example of customer engagement strategies. Marketers and customer-facing representatives heavily rely on emails for communication. These customer emails can generally be categorized into:

• Newsletters
• Welcome/Signup Emails
• Thank You Emails
• Abandonment/Recovery Emails
• New Product/Service Launch Emails
• Feedback/Survey Emails
• Transactional Emails

To maximize engagement through the email channel, remember these guidelines:

1. Craft compelling subject lines for higher open rates.
2. Optimize emails for mobile viewing, as over 50% are accessed on mobile devices.
3. Stand out in crowded inboxes by providing value and utility—keep content informative, interactive, and non-promotional.
4. Utilize customer stories and social proof to build trust.
5. Personalize emails based on interests and behavior for enhanced relevance and engagement.

Chatbots 

Given the trust and preference it has earned from customers, incorporating live chat for improved engagement is a clear decision for businesses.

Apart from immediate issue resolution, companies can elevate user engagement through strategic retargeting of returning visitors, providing personalized recommendations, sharing valuable resource links, and guiding traffic to essential site pages.

Social media 

In today’s social media-driven world, a big part of how companies engage with users happens on these platforms. This affects how customers interact with brands overall. In this noisy environment, it’s really important for businesses to regularly and meaningfully connect with their followers.

Though there’s no surefire method for getting lots of engagement on social media, these tips are a good starting point for building strong interactions, engaging customers, and keeping people interested:

1. Stay responsive to mentions so you know what your audience is saying and can interact with them.
2. Use trending topics to talk about things that matter to your audience and industry.
3. Be consistent in posting, so your audience remembers you.
4. Address customer complaints in the comments, showing you’re listening and caring.
5. Share stories about your customers and employees to make your brand more relatable.
6. Make your posts interactive with polls, quizzes, and contests to show you value your audience’s opinions.

Videos 

Videos, the most preferred content by consumers, now make a conspicuous part of the customer engagement strategy framework. Brands increasingly invest in video marketing for higher engagement. Whether on your website, app, or social media, videos excel due to their captivating, shareable, and on-the-go nature. 

To harness this growing engagement avenue, constant innovation is key. Alongside product and educational videos, consider interactive formats like Q&A sessions or ‘Ask Me Anything’ with experts. Experiment with user-generated content (UGC) videos, inviting followers for short video contests.

Video testimonials shared on social media are highly effective, showcasing happy and loyal customers for greater engagement compared to text-based testimonials. Depending on your business, explore vlogs and webinars, offering in-depth content that retains audience attention better than lengthy blog posts.

Way forward

Customer engagement programs are the key elements that can help a business improve its bottom line. When companies focus on their customers rather than getting caught up in competitor comparisons, they thrive on unparalleled customer satisfaction. This approach leads to relevant interactions and long-lasting customer relationships. Having seen how VWO can increase your customer engagement, you will only benefit from making it a part of your business strategy. Start a free trial today to take the next step.

Frequently asked questions

Customer engagement metrics and analytics play a pivotal role in measuring and optimizing the effectiveness of marketing strategies. A range of consumer engagement metrics, such as customer engagement success metrics and brand engagement metrics, help businesses gauge the level of interaction and interest their customers have with their brand across various touchpoints. 

To leverage these insights effectively, companies rely on customer engagement analytics to analyze vast amounts of data. Understanding customer engagement analytics and how to analyze engagement data allows businesses to uncover patterns, preferences, and pain points within the customer journey. Armed with such knowledge, marketers can fine-tune their campaigns to create personalized experiences that resonate with customers, resulting in higher brand loyalty, increased retention rates, and improved overall business performance.

In this article, we will explore the significance of customer engagement, delve into the key metrics used to measure it and understand how analytics can unveil valuable insights to drive growth and improve customer engagement.

Understanding customer engagement

Customer engagement refers to a customer’s emotional connection with a brand, product, or service. It goes beyond just purchases and involves interactions across various touchpoints of online business, such as social media, email, website, and customer support. Engaged customers tend to be more often loyal customers, spend more, and are more likely to recommend the brand to others. It is, therefore, essential for businesses to quantify and measure customer engagement effectively with the right KPIs.

The power of customer engagement metrics

Client engagement metrics are quantifiable data points that indicate the level of involvement and interactions between customers and a brand. These metrics provide a comprehensive view of how customers interact with a brand and help in evaluating the success of customer engagement analysis strategies. Let’s delve into some of the key consumer engagement metrics with examples.

Customer retention rate

This metric calculates the percentage of customers who continue to do business with a company over a specific period. A high retention rate implies that existing customers still find value in the brand, products, or services, and are likely to remain loyal.

Let’s consider a fictional online streaming platform that offers video-on-demand services through monthly subscriptions. To calculate the customer retention rate and to measure customer loyalty and engagement, we’ll look at a specific time period (e.g., one year) and compare the number of customers at the beginning and end of that period.

Example data:

• At the beginning of the year (January 1st), the company had 10,000 subscribers.
• During the year, it acquired 5,000 new subscribers.
• At the end of the year (December 31st), it had 12,000 subscribers.

Calculating customer retention rate:

Step 1: Find the total number of customers at the beginning of the year. Initial customers (January 1st) = 10,000

Step 2: Find the number of customers at the end of the year. Final customers (December 31st) = 12,000

Step 3: Calculate the number of customers gained during the year. Customers gained = Final Customers – Initial Customers Customers Gained = 12,000 – 10,000 = 2,000

Step 4: Calculate the customer retention rate. Customer retention rate = (Customers gained / Initial customers) * 100 

Customer retention rate = (2,000 / 10,000) * 100 = 20%

Interpreting customer retention rate

In this example, the streaming platform’s customer retention rate is 20%. This means that, over the course of the year, the company was able to retain 20% of its initial customers, while 80% of its original customers did not continue their subscriptions.

Significance of customer retention rate in measuring customer loyalty and engagement

The retention rate is a customer engagement tracker for measuring customer experience, satisfaction, and loyalty because it indicates how well a company can retain its existing customer base over time. A higher retention rate signifies a more engaged and satisfied customer base, while a lower rate may indicate issues with customer experience or dissatisfaction.

Actionable insights from customer retention rate

A high customer retention rate (e.g., 70% or above) suggests that the platform is doing an excellent job of engaging its customers, providing compelling content, and offering a seamless user experience. In contrast, a low retention rate (e.g., below 50%) may raise concerns about the quality of service, user engagement, or content, leading to customers seeking alternatives elsewhere.

Customer churn rate

The churn rate is the opposite of retention rate. It measures the percentage of customers who stop engaging with the brand or cancel their subscriptions over a given period. A high churn rate signifies a lack of engagement from the monthly active users.

Let’s consider a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that offers a subscription-based project management tool. At the beginning of the month, the company had 1,000 active subscribers. By the end of the month, 100 of these subscribers canceled their subscriptions or stopped using the service.

In this example, the churn rate for the project management tool is 10% for the month. This means that 10% of the customers who were either daily active users at the beginning of the month discontinued their subscriptions or stopped engaging with the service.

A high churn rate can be a red flag for the business as it suggests that customers are not finding enough value in the product or service, leading them to leave. To address this issue, the company needs to focus on improving brand engagement, providing better customer support, and enhancing the product to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Lowering the churn rate is vital for sustained business growth and profitability.

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

CLV is the projected revenue a customer is expected to generate over their lifetime as a customer. It takes into account factors such as average purchase value, purchase frequency, and customer retention. A high CLV indicates a strong customer engagement strategy and profitability.

Let’s illustrate this concept with an example:

Imagine a subscription-based meal kit delivery service. For simplicity, let’s assume the average customer pays $100 per month for their subscription, and the average customer remains subscribed for 12 months.

CLV = Average Purchase Value x Purchase Frequency x Customer Lifespan

CLV = $100 (average purchase value) x 12 (purchase frequency) x 1 (customer lifespan)

CLV = $1,200

In this example, the CLV of a customer for this meal kit delivery service is $1,200. This means that, on average, each customer is expected to generate $1,200 in revenue over the course of their subscription.

A high CLV suggests that the company has a strong customer engagement strategy and is doing well in terms of customer retention. This indicates that customers are satisfied with the service, making repeat purchases, and staying loyal over an extended period. It also implies that the company is likely to be profitable since the revenue generated from each customer exceeds the cost of acquiring and serving them.

Businesses can use CLV as a crucial metric to guide their marketing efforts and increase customer loyalty through relationship management. By focusing on increasing CLV through better engagement, customer satisfaction, and retention strategies, companies can enhance their long-term profitability and build a loyal customer base.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net Promoter Score is a popular metric that measures customer feedback, brand loyalty, and advocacy. It involves asking customers how likely they are to recommend the brand to others on a scale of 0 to 10. Customers are categorized as promoters, passives, or detractors based on their responses. A higher NPS indicates better customer engagement and satisfaction.

Let’s consider an example of a software company that provides project management tools. They conducted an NPS survey and received responses from 500 customers.

• Number of Promoters (score 9-10): 300
• Number of Passives (score 7-8): 100
• Number of Detractors (score 0-6): 100

To calculate the Net Promoter Score, use the following formula:

NPS = (% Promoters – % Detractors)

In this example: NPS = (300/500*100) – (100/500*100) = 60 – 20 = 40

The higher the NPS, the more engaged and satisfied customers are, which bodes well for the company’s growth and excellent customer service success too.

Once the Net Promoter Score is calculated, the next crucial step is to analyze the results and take appropriate actions. Here’s how the software company can interpret and act on the NPS results:

• Identify areas of improvement: The company should pay attention to the feedback provided by detractors and passives to identify pain points and areas that need improvement. This feedback can help the company address issues, enhance the customer experience, and boost engagement.
• Nurture promoters: Promoters are the company’s most valuable assets. The company should engage with them, leverage their positive sentiments, and encourage them to spread positive word-of-mouth. Building a community of brand advocates can significantly impact customer acquisition and retention.
• Follow-up surveys: Following up with customers who provided low NPS scores can help the company understand their concerns better. A well-handled follow-up can turn a detractor into a promoter, showcasing the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction.
• Benchmarking and tracking: The company should regularly track NPS over time to monitor changes in customer sentiment. This allows it to assess the effectiveness of improvement initiatives and measure the impact of engagement strategies.
• Aligning NPS with business goals: Integrating NPS into the company’s overall business goals ensures that customer engagement is given due importance in decision-making and resource allocation.

Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)

CSAT gauges the satisfaction level of customers engaged with a specific product, service, or interaction. It typically involves a post-purchase survey where customers rate their experience on a scale. High CSAT scores imply positive engagement experiences.

Time spent on platform

This metric measures the average session duration of time customers spend on a website, app, or other platforms. Usually, it is assumed that the longer the time spent, the more engaged and interested the customers are in the brand’s offerings.

Let’s consider an online news website. By analyzing user behavior, the website tracks the time users spend on the site during their visits. If the average session duration is found to be 5 minutes, it suggests that, on average, visitors spend 5 minutes browsing through articles and content on the website during each visit.

A longer average session duration in this case indicates that users are actively engaging with the news articles, reading in-depth content, and potentially exploring multiple pages on the site. This suggests a higher level of interest and engagement with the website’s news content.

On the other hand, a lower average session duration may indicate that visitors are not finding the content compelling enough to stay on the site for an extended period. This could be a sign that the website needs to improve its content quality, user experience, or navigation to keep visitors engaged for longer durations.

By monitoring and analyzing the average session duration of active users, businesses can gain insights into how engaging their website or app is for users. They can then use this information to optimize the user experience, improve content relevance, and enhance engagement, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Click-through rate (CTR)

CTR measures the percentage of customers who click on a specific link or call-to-action in an email, advertisement, or website. A higher CTR indicates higher engagement with the content.

Let’s say a company runs an email marketing campaign to promote a new product. It sends the email to 1,000 subscribers, and within that email, there is a link to the product page. After analyzing the campaign, it finds that 100 subscribers clicked on the link.

CTR = (Number of Clicks / Number of Impressions) x 100 CTR = (100 / 1,000) x 100 = 10%

In this example, the CTR for the email campaign is 10%. This means that 10% of the recipients who received the email clicked on the link to visit the product page.

A higher CTR is generally considered a positive sign, as it indicates that the content or offer resonates well with the audience and encourages engagement. A lower CTR, on the other hand, may suggest that the content needs improvement or that the target audience is not finding the content relevant or compelling.

By tracking customer engagement via CTR, businesses can assess the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and make data-driven decisions to optimize their campaigns for a better conversion rate.

ArchiveSocial is a SaaS-based social media archiving solution, headquartered in the USA. The company more than doubled its CTR and streamlined user experience on its website using VWO’s testing capabilities. You can read more about this here. 

Social media engagement

This metric measures the level of interaction (likes, shares, comments) that a brand’s social media posts receive. It reflects how well the content resonates with the target audience.

Let’s consider a fashion brand that posts a picture of a newly launched dress on Instagram. After 24 hours, the post receives 500 likes, 200 shares, and 50 comments. In this case, the engagement rate can be calculated by adding up all the interactions (likes, shares, comments) and dividing that by the number of followers.

Total Interactions = 500 (likes) + 200 (shares) + 50 (comments) = 750

Assuming the brand has 10,000 followers on Instagram:

Engagement Rate = (Total Interactions / Number of Followers) x 100 Engagement Rate = (750 / 10,000) x 100 ≈ 7.5%

In this example, the engagement rate for the fashion brand’s post is approximately 7.5%. This metric provides insights into how well the dress resonates with the brand’s audience. Higher engagement rates indicate that the content is compelling and captures the audience’s interest, potentially leading to increased brand awareness and customer loyalty.

Customer engagement analytics: Measure customer engagement with the power of data

While customer engagement metrics provide valuable insights into customer interactions, customer engagement analytics takes this further by leveraging data to uncover trends, patterns, and predictive insights into customer health. Here’s how customer engagement analytics can enhance the understanding of customer engagement:

Identifying customer segments

Analytics can help businesses identify different customer segments based on their engagement behavior. This customer segmentation also allows companies to tailor their marketing efforts to meet the specific needs and preferences of each group.

For example, let’s consider an eCommerce company that sells various products online. Through analytics, it discovers that it has two main customer segments: tech-savvy millennials who prefer trendy gadgets and accessories, and budget-conscious families who primarily shop for home essentials and discounted items.

With this customer segmentation insight, the company can now tailor their marketing efforts accordingly. It might create personalized email campaigns for tech-savvy millennials featuring the latest gadgets and promotional offers. Simultaneously, it can run social media advertisements and discounts targeting the family segment for home essentials.

By customizing marketing strategies for each customer segment, the company can effectively reach the right audience with the most relevant messaging, increasing the chances of higher customer engagement scores, conversion rates, and overall, customer satisfaction scores.

Personalization

By analyzing customer data, businesses can gain insights into individual preferences, purchase and feature usage history user behavior, and interactions. Armed with this information, companies can offer personalized recommendations and experiences that enhance engagement.

Say an online streaming platform collects customer data, including the genres of movies and TV shows users watch, their viewing history, and favorite actors. By analyzing this data, the platform identifies that a particular user enjoys action and comedy genres, frequently watches movies on weekends, and follows a specific actor.

Armed with these insights, the streaming platform can offer personalized recommendations to this user. For instance, the platform may suggest newly released action-comedy movies starring the user’s favorite actor, or curate a playlist of weekend binge-worthy content in these genres. As a result, the user is more likely to find content that aligns with their interests, enhancing their overall engagement with the platform.

By leveraging customer data to deliver tailored experiences, businesses can build stronger connections with their customers, increase customer satisfaction scores, and foster loyalty. Personalization can lead to higher retention rates, increased conversion rates, and ultimately, improved business performance.

Predictive analytics

Customer engagement analytics can predict future customer behavior based on historical data. For instance, it can help identify customers who are at risk of churning or those likely to become high-value customers, enabling proactive measures.

Let’s continue our previous example of the streaming platform. By analyzing customer engagement data, the company identifies a group of customers who have shown a decline in their usage patterns, have stopped engaging with new content, and have not renewed their subscriptions in the past. Based on this data, the analytics model predicts that these customers are at risk of churning.

With this insight, the streaming service can take proactive measures to retain these customers. It might send targeted email offers with personalized recommendations, inviting them to explore new content that aligns with their previous interests. It could also offer active users a special discount or extend their subscription for a limited time to entice them back.

Similarly, customer engagement analytics can also identify customers who exhibit vital engagement behaviors, such as high usage frequency, active participation in loyalty programs, and positive feedback. The analytics model predicts that these customers are likely to become high-value customers who are more likely to upgrade their subscriptions, make repeat purchases, or refer others.

Recognizing the potential of these customers, the streaming service may choose to offer them exclusive rewards, early access to new content, or premium features to further enhance their loyalty and encourage them to continue their engagement.

In both cases, customer engagement analytics provides valuable insights that enable the business to take targeted and proactive actions to reduce churn and maximize the value of customer loyalty, ultimately leading to improved customer retention and increased revenue.

Optimize marketing efforts

Analyzing online engagement metrics can reveal the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, allowing businesses to optimize their marketing strategies, for better engagement and higher returns on investment.

For example, let’s consider an eCommerce company running a digital marketing campaign to promote a new product line. By analyzing user engagement metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and time spent on the campaign landing pages, it can gauge how well the campaign resonates with the target audience.

If the CTR is low and users are not spending much time on the landing pages, it indicates that the marketing message might not be compelling enough or that the targeting is off. In response, the company can make adjustments to the campaign, such as refining the ad copy or targeting a different audience segment. They can A/B test these changes to validate their effectiveness.

On the other hand, if the conversion rates are high, indicating that many users who clicked on the ad actually made a purchase, the company can deduce that the campaign is effective in driving sales. In this case, they might consider increasing the budget for the campaign or extending its duration to capitalize on its success.

Furthermore, user engagement metrics can help identify which marketing channels or platforms are performing well and which ones need improvement. For instance, if the company finds that its social media ads are driving significant engagement and sales compared to its email marketing efforts, it might allocate more resources to social media advertising.

By continuously analyzing user engagement metrics and making data-driven decisions, the eCommerce company can fine-tune its marketing strategies over time, leading to better engagement rates, increased customer acquisition, gaining more loyal customers, and ultimately, a higher ROI on their marketing investments.

Measure customer journey

Analytics can provide a comprehensive view of the customer journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase support. Understanding this journey helps identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.

Let’s consider an online electronics retailer. By utilizing analytics, the retailer tracks customer interactions at various stages of the journey. It monitors website visits, product views, cart additions, and completed purchases. Additionally, it analyzes customer service interactions after the purchase, such as inquiries and support requests.

Through analytics, the retailer discovers that many customers abandon their shopping carts just before making a purchase due to unexpected shipping costs. This is a pain point in the customer journey as it hinders conversions.

Armed with this insight, the retailer decides to offer free shipping on orders above a certain value. As a result, cart abandonment rates decrease, and more customers complete their purchases.

Furthermore, the analytics reveal that customers who engage with the retailer’s post-purchase support team are more likely to become repeat customers. Recognizing this opportunity, the retailer invests in enhancing its customer support services, leading to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Contorion improved the product detailed pages on its website based on insights from VWO’s session recordings. It ran A/B tests which led to an increase in the add-to-cart click rate. You can read the full story here.

Customer engagement is a vital aspect of any successful business, and understanding its impact is crucial for growth and sustainability. By leveraging customer engagement metrics and customer engagement analytics, businesses can track customer engagement and gain valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and sentiments. 

Armed with this data, companies can make informed decisions, optimize marketing efforts, create personalized marketing messages, and deliver personalized experiences, ultimately fostering stronger relationships with customers and driving long-term success. Remember, the key to thriving in a competitive market lies in listening to your customers; you can get the most valuable customer engagement indicators from these conversations to improve customer experiences.

FAQs

This article explores the various benefits and importance of customer engagement, backed by examples and key points, to demonstrate how it can be a game-changer for businesses.

Why is customer engagement important?

Let’s understand with an example.

Imagine a coffee shop that focuses on personalized customer experiences and engagement. They make an effort to remember their regular customers’ names and preferences and engage in genuine conversations. This personalized experience and customer engagement approach creates a strong emotional bond with the customers, making them feel valued and appreciated.

One day, the coffee shop introduces a new menu item based on customer feedback collected through surveys, social media, and customer interactions. They actively involve their customers in the decision-making process, making them feel like they are part of the coffee shop’s growth and success.

As a result of this effective customer engagement strategy, the coffee shop sees a significant increase in customer loyalty. Regular patrons are more likely to bring their friends and family, share positive experiences on their social media channels, and become brand advocates. This word-of-mouth promotion attracts new customers, contributes to building strong customer relationships, and ultimately drives up sales and revenue.

In contrast, a coffee shop that does not have a customer engagement strategy in place may not understand its customers’ preferences, leading to a stagnant menu and an indifferent atmosphere. This could result in a poor customer experience with many customers feeling disconnected and turning to competitors who make them feel more valued.

Through systemized customer information and relationship management, the first coffee shop in the example enjoys continuous growth, a strong community of loyal customers, and a thriving reputation in the local market. Needless to say, customer retention becomes easier for them.

8 major benefits of customer engagement

1. Strong customer relationships and increased customer loyalty

Customer engagement plays a pivotal role in fostering stronger relationships and improving customer loyalty. By going beyond mere transactions and actively engaging customers across multiple channels and touchpoints, businesses can build a deep connection with their audience. 

For example, a clothing retailer could engage customers through personalized recommendations based on their preferences and shopping history, creating a sense of exclusivity. This personal touch can enhance customer satisfaction, leading to increased loyalty and repeat purchases.

2. Increased customer retention and reduced churn

A significant advantage of customer engagement is that engaged customers are more likely to stay loyal to a brand, resulting in reduced churn rates. By consistently nurturing customer relationships and addressing pain points, businesses can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

For instance, a software company can provide proactive customer support, offering assistance and resolving issues promptly for better customer engagement. This entire customer experience contributes to customers feeling valued, leading to higher retention rates and reduced customer churn.

3. Cross-selling and upselling opportunities

Another benefit of engaging with customers includes the uncovering of valuable customer insights including their preferences, behaviors, and buying patterns. By analyzing customer engagement data, businesses can personalize their recommendations and accurately target cross-selling and upselling offers. 

For example, an eCommerce platform can suggest complementary products or offer exclusive deals based on the customer’s browsing history and past purchases. This approach of using customer data not only increases the average customer lifetime value but also delivers relevant recommendations that resonate with customers, resulting in higher conversion rates. Many successful brands use VWO’s personalization capabilities to optimize and increase customer engagement on their website. This free trial lets you explore this important capability.

4. Increased subscribers and enhanced audience reach

Customer engagement can significantly contribute to expanding a business’s subscriber base and reaching a wider audience. By consistently delivering valuable and relevant content through various channels, businesses can attract and retain subscribers. 

For marketing campaigns, for instance, a fitness brand could offer a monthly newsletter with workout tips, healthy recipes, and exclusive discounts. By delighting the audience with engaging content, businesses can establish themselves as industry experts and build a loyal subscriber base, increasing their brand reach and influence.

Take travel operator Thomas Cook, for instance. As per an article in MarketingWeek, Thomas Cook implemented a targeted lead generation campaign and travel survey to establish direct relationships with its target audience. The customer engagement campaign captured information on customer requirements and buying intentions to better understand their purchase lifecycle. A nurture program delivered personalized messaging and increased user engagement by leveraging customer data.

The improved customer engagement as a result of this campaign collected over 15,000 leads, resulting in increased email engagement rates and open rates. Click rates were significantly higher than the national average, achieving an ROI of 7.5:1 within three months post-registration. The data collected was incorporated into Thomas Cook’s newsletter program and overall CRM strategy.

5. Shorter purchase cycles and improved conversion rates

Customer engagement is not limited to existing customers; it is equally effective in shortening the sales cycle and converting prospects into customers. Well-planned and executed engagement strategies can inform, educate, and address prospects’ needs, positively impacting their purchase decisions. 

For example, sales teams of SaaS companies could offer free webinars and demo sessions to educate potential customers about their product’s features and benefits. By engaging prospects throughout their buying journey, sales teams can establish trust, overcome objections, and accelerate the decision-making process, resulting in shorter purchase cycles and improved conversion rates. Thus, the byproducts of a successful customer engagement strategy are many.

Medienreich Training hypothesized that displaying their best-selling training topics would reduce the effort that their website visitors had to put in to search for these and offer a better experience to them. They A/B tested this hypothesis using VWO and found it to be true. It led to a 40% increase in visitor engagement on their homepage. 

This was the control:

This was the variation:

You can read all the details of this case study here. 

6. Brand evangelists and word-of-mouth marketing

Customer engagement benefits extend to turning customers into brand evangelists, actively promoting and recommending a business to others. By consistently engaging customers and providing exceptional experiences, businesses can create a community of highly satisfied loyal customers who willingly advocate for the brand. Brand loyalty is a huge deal when you are surrounded by cut-throat competition.

For example, a hospitality chain that engages guests through personalized services and memorable experiences (like a surprise cake on the customer’s birthday!) can generate positive word-of-mouth referrals, attracting new customers and enhancing brand reputation. These brand evangelists become a valuable marketing asset, driving organic growth and expanding the loyal customer base.

7. Establishing a distinguishable brand identity

Customer engagement also matters because it plays a crucial role in establishing and perpetuating a distinguishable brand identity. A well-thought-out engagement strategy that aligns with customer needs and preferences enables businesses to communicate their unique value proposition effectively. 

For instance, a skincare brand that consistently engages with customers through educational blog articles, social media content, and personalized skincare consultations can create a distinct brand identity as a trusted skincare expert. This helps customers differentiate the brand from competitors and fosters a sense of identification, leading to increased brand loyalty and recognition.

8. Enhanced customer service and satisfaction

Why is engagement in customer service important? Why does customer engagement matter so much now? If you are ticking all the boxes of a basic customer support checklist, that should be it, right? Wrong. 

A Zendesk report mentions that 81% of customers say a positive customer service experience increases the chances of them making another purchase. This is because effective customer engagement enables businesses to proactively interact with customers, anticipate their needs, and offer support beyond traditional channels. 

For example, a telecommunications company that engages customers through social media platforms and live chat support ensures quick and convenient access to assistance, increasing customer satisfaction. By providing excellent customer service and maintaining ongoing engagement, businesses can build trust and boost engagement, customer comments, loyalty, and positive customer experiences.

We hope the above points have answered why customer engagement, with its numerous advantages, has emerged as a powerful strategy for businesses. You can leverage these benefits by putting in place strategic efforts in the direction of engaging customers continuously and consistently.

What is an effective customer engagement strategy?

The most effective customer engagement strategy varies depending on the nature of the business and its target audience. However, a combination of the following strategies tends to be highly effective:

1. Personalization

Tailor experiences to individual customers’ preferences, purchase history, and behavior. Use data analytics to understand customer needs and offer personalized recommendations, content, and promotions.

2. Omnichannel approach

Provide a seamless experience across various channels like website, social media, mobile app, email, and in-store. Allow customers to interact with your brand through their preferred channels for improved customer engagement.

3. Interactive content

Create content such as quizzes, polls, and customer surveys. When customers interact with this content, it not only helps gather valuable insights into the customer journey but also makes the engagement experience more enjoyable. Customer questions can come as a goldmine of insights into your brand experience.

Conclusion

Remember, a positive customer engagement strategy can be pivotal in helping brands connect with their customers in a way that makes them want to continue to be their customers. If you put in the effort to engage customers across various channels and touchpoints above and beyond what’s necessary to get them to make a purchase, you are likely to form stronger relationships with them. If you interact with them regularly about what’s relevant to them, keeping in mind their needs, priorities, motivations, and aspirations, you constantly remind them that you care. 

Once you start offering more to engage your customers than just your product or service and adding value to their lives (or business), your customers are convinced to automatically turn to you whenever they think of making a purchase. This is why customer engagement is so important.

FAQs

Or can you?

A quick question: What does your “unsubscribe” page look like? The catch is that businesses often overlook the power of this marketing instrument. When designed and used right, your “unsubscribe” page can help manage the contact’s base, optimize a conversion rate, and make consumers think twice before leaving you.

Download Free: Website Redesign Guide

In this guide, you’ll find alternative business goals to accomplish with an “unsubscribe” page and learn how to design it so that it would serve to save relationships with your customers.

The role of “unsubscribe” pages in customer retention, compliance, and user experience

An “unsubscribe” page opens when a user clicks on a corresponding link in newsletters or sales emails. Its primary purpose is to confirm that a person wants to break up with your business and stop getting messages from it.

But experienced marketers look beyond this traditional notion.

They use “unsubscribe” pages as a chance to retain subscribers, offer alternatives for better compliance, or capture user feedback to improve the experience for future subscribers.

Not only can a well-designed “unsubscribe” page convince users that they should stay on your mailing list and keep receiving value, but it also helps you clean the contacts’ base. Only those loyal to your brand or interested in your products will stay, which is an excellent way to focus on proper segmentation and protect your business emails from being reported as spam.

For many brands, an “unsubscribe” page is a chance to create a positive user experience. It’s the last touchpoint of a user with your business emails, so it needs to be good enough to leave a positive impression about your brand. While your newsletters may not be attractive to unsubscribers anymore, your value proposition might.

Five extra goals to accomplish with your “unsubscribe” page

Think of an “unsubscribe page” as a tiny yet significant step to adopting a culture of experimentation in your organization. It’s a tool helping you improve user experience with no risks to your business. It’s your chance to learn more about the target audience and optimize all the processes to their needs.

Ensure that you use “unsubscribe” pages to their full potential. An efficient page can help organizations accomplish at least five business goals:

1. Gather feedback

Use an “unsubscribe” page to ask subscribers for valuable feedback. Most templates include the “I no longer want to receive your newsletter” option, but it doesn’t tell anything about the reasons why a person leaves you. Their feedback should allow you to learn and improve the user experience.

So tailor the answers to “Why unsubscribe” to your business needs. Keep the form simple and with the possibility to give open-ended responses. Make those questions optional, and let unsubscribers know their feedback will help you become better.

You can also capture user feedback on the unsubscribe page by quickly building and running VWO’s on-page surveys.

2. Offer alternative subscription plans

Some users might disagree with the frequency of messages they get from your organization. Or, they’d like to choose the types of emails to get from you. Use an “unsubscribe” page to offer them alternative subscription plans and the opportunity to change newsletter preferences. And yet, the “Unsubscribe” option should still be there.

But what is the best alternative? The answer to that lies in testing/experimentation. Use A/B tests to show different alternatives and deploy the ones that are most suitable to your business.

3. Take leads to other channels

Unsubscribing from your newsletters, users might still want to hear from your organization but from channels other than email. Show them other possibilities to stay in touch with your brand: add social media buttons, links to your community, or landing pages to your “unsubscribe” page design. Motivate consumers to stay with you there.

4. Make them rethink about unsubscription

When designing your “unsubscribe” page, please keep in mind all possible scenarios. Sometimes, a user might hit the link by accident, with no intention to unsubscribe. Or, they might change their mind on the way to the page. 

Or, you can offer them some added value so they would like to stay with you. Think of a final, too-good-to-refuse offer. In the beginning, write a friendly text saying you’re sad to lose the subscriber. Come up with a reason that could make them think twice about breaking up with your organization.

5. Reinforce brand identity

Unsubscription from your newsletters shouldn’t make you give up caring about the user experience. As you know, a customer journey goes far beyond subscribing and unsubscribing to emails. Use the design of an “unsubscribe” page to reflect the corporate identity of your organization. Personalize it, thank a user for the time together, show that you still care — it’s all about your brand authenticity and reputation.

How to design “unsubscribe” pages to make them work

And now, for the most interesting part –

Depending on your business goals, from those mentioned earlier, consider the following tips on designing an “unsubscribe” page to get the most out of it

1. Brand it

Make sure your “unsubscribe” page looks original and refers to your brand identity. Please don’t make it another gray “You’ll no longer receive our emails” web page. Design it with brand colors, images, icons, and any other key brand assets.

Online graphic design tools, instruments like an icon maker, and libraries of customizable email and web templates will help you brand a page the best way possible.

2. Allow staying with you

When designing, please avoid one-click unsubscribe buttons – create a page where a user can confirm the cancellation. Therefore, you’ll save consumers from accidental unsubscriptions. Make sure that your unsubscribe page is in compliance with internet laws (like GDPR, CCPA, etc.) that matter to you.

Also, a good practice would be organizing your “unsubscribe” page so that visitors might change their decision and re-subscribe again. Present a field or a bright “re-subscribe” button after final confirmation. You never know the user’s true intentions, so always leave yourself a chance to recapture those in doubt.

3. Leverage personal touch

Personal touch and compliments are what matters, especially when it comes to sincere goodbye. Make your “unsubscribe” page clean, simple, up to a point, yet personal. Users should know you’re sad that they are leaving, but you understand and value their decision.

Think of writing a text that would look and sound like a human, not a robot. Avoid long paragraphs with professional slang and jargon in complex sentences. Use words with a positive context to win subscribers’ favor, but remember your brand tone of voice.

A charismatic image or GIF, brand colors and fonts, and a straightforward but honest message — all of them promote your brand identity and make users remember your organization even after they’ve unsubscribed.

Download Free: Website Redesign Guide

4. Use humor if appropriate

Interactive content elements such as GIFs, quizzes, memes, and short videos are your chance to grab users’ attention and motivate them to take the desired action. Consider implementing them in an “unsubscribe” page design if the communication tone of your brand allows it.

Even if a user still decides to unsubscribe, such content tricks are a great way to humanize the experience, make them smile, and build a positive image of your brand. They’ll leave your email subscription with a complimentary view, which is critical for marketers working on brand awareness and trust.

But there’s a catch.

Humor is a subjective thing, so be careful when choosing jokes or funny memes/videos for your “unsubscribe” page. Use them only if you’re sure the target audience is on the same wavelength as you. The best option would be to use A/B testing to understand a user’s reaction to such content.

5. Offer alternatives. Always

When designing your “unsubscribe” page, leave room for words or buttons that would allow you to hold users.

• Allow them to choose what they want to get from you: Offer alternative subscription plans or an opportunity to pick the frequency of getting your brand emails.
• Include links to buttons to your social media accounts: It will help you hook users and convert them via alternative communication channels.
• Add links to your landing pages: Play on their FOMO (fear of missing out), engaging them to visit your website once again.

In a word

An “unsubscribe” page is not just for confirmation that a consumer wants to leave your organization. When designed right, it can make subscribers change their mind, take them to other sales channels, or offer them alternative options to stay with your brand and therefore optimize your conversion rate by far.

Do your best to brand it for better identity and user experience, add personality and humor whenever appropriate (remember to test it to see how it goes), and think of a “What’s in there for me?” option to offer on the page that motivates unsubscribers to stay.

Download Free: Mobile App A/B Testing Guide

Choosing the right A/B testing tools for mobile apps can be overwhelming for product managers, app developers, and app marketers alike. This is largely because zeroing in on the ideal tool or platform for your unique testing requirements depends on a plethora of parameters, some of which tend to get ignored if you make hasty or ill-informed decisions.

In this blog, we have compiled a list of the top 10 Mobile App A/B Testing tools and how to choose a tool to help you save time and avoid any unnecessary hassle. 

Top 10 A/B testing tools for mobile apps 

Here’s a list of popularly known tools for mobile A/B testing tools for app experimentation along with their pros, cons, and pricing.

1. VWO Mobile App Testing

VWO Mobile App Testing is a robust solution for mobile app optimization. From experimenting with multiple variations of in-app user experiences (both user interface and server-side experimentation) to testing key features pre and post-launch, you can do it all with ease. 

Whether you wish to test basic UI changes such as CTA or banner copy, color, and placement, or make drastic optimizations to your search engine algorithms, game experiences, and beyond, you’re well equipped to steadily grow your app conversion rates, engagement, usage, and retention.

You can also combine the mobile app testing tool with VWO Insights which offers heat mapping, session recording, and form analytics capabilities so you can gather actionable insights on your app’s user experience and convert them into optimization opportunities.

Pros:

• Advanced options for segmentation and targeting that allow you to segment your users based on their behavioral attributes and target them exclusively.
• Integrates with all major analytics platforms so you can capture and analyze the relevant data required to make informed experimentation decisions. 
• VWO’s SDK for mobile app A/B testing is open-source and lightweight (approx 200KB for Android and 285KB for iOS) and only uses about 100KB or 300KB of RAM for the iOS and Android apps. 
• VWO offers 24*5 (& exceptional response time) with optimization experts assisting you throughout your journey to ensure you yield the desired results from your campaigns. With a CSAT of 98% (as compared to the industry average of 94%), VWO’s support team takes complete ownership of resolving all pitfalls you may come across, thus ensuring you make the most of your mobile app optimization program

Cons:

• Don’t have a forever free plan like other product offerings.

Pricing:

Offers enterprise plan that costs $1,595 per month and is billed annually. This plan includes the ability to track up to 50,000 users each month. Check out more about pricing and plans.

2. Optimizely

Optimizely offers a cross-platform solution for feature flagging and experimentation that allows you to run UI-based as well as server-side experiments and mitigate risk while launching features. You get access to full-stack and multi-channel experimentation capabilities, phased feature rollouts, the option to make instant app updates, and more with Optimizely’s mobile optimization offering. 

Pros:

• Easy SDK integration that reduces the time to go live with experiments.
• An option to integrate with data warehouses such as Snowflake, which can improve data analysis.
• Ability to target features based on specific locations, demographics, or any custom attributes.

Cons:

• Running software can be costly for small businesses.
• Using Optimizely effectively requires technical expertise, which can be a barrier for non-developer teams. 

Pricing: 

They offer a free rollout plan valid for 7 days that allows you to evaluate their basic capabilities.

3. AB Tasty

AB Tasty offers UX analytics, experimentation, personalization, and feature flag management capabilities that allow you to optimize end-to-end experiences on your mobile app. Using these, you can create user segments, offer unique experiences for various segments of your user base, and experiment with features before rolling them out. 

Pros: 

• User-friendly dashboard with a variety of features like a dedicated code editor. 
• Simple one-tag implementation to do the initial setup.
• Availability of a variety of targeting options, making it simple to reach diverse customers and segments.

Cons:

• The pricing is not transparent.
• There are superior options available in the market for recording sessions and creating heatmaps. 
• Lack of in-depth integration with third-party tools like ContentSquare for intelligence and analysis.

Pricing:

You can avail of a custom quote from their website based on your unique users/month and other requirements.

4. Adobe Target

Target is a testing and personalization platform from the house of Adobe. Target integrates seamlessly with Adobe Analytics and Adobe Audience Manager. It can be used for optimizing your app experiences based on your user behavior to improve engagement. 

Pros:

• Experiments can be easily set up and deployed. 
• In-built custom segmentation and audience targeting.

Cons: 

• Target does not offer feature management capabilities, so you might opt for a different tool. 
• Lacks post-segmentation capability.

Pricing:

Adobe Target follows a usage-based pricing model that is determined by three key factors: product option, number of monthly visitors, and platform (Web/Server/Mobile).

5. Firebase A/B Testing

From the house of Google Optimize, Firebase A/B Testing provides both experimentation and feature management capabilities. Since it’s offered by Google, it integrates seamlessly with all other tools from Google, such as Google Analytics, so sourcing data and drilling insights for your campaigns will not be an issue. 

Note: Google has decided to sunset Google Optimize and Google Optimize 360 in September 2023. If you are a user, you can move to VWO with just one click.

Pros: 

• The app owner can easily roll back any features if they experience issues during testing by monitoring the app’s stability.
• Setting up and deploying experiments is easy. 
• Minimal impact on website speed (497 ms), which is significantly less than other available tools.

Cons:

• There is a limit of 300 total drafts, running, and completed experiments for A/B Testing.
• A/B Testing is restricted to 24 experiments at once, but ending a running test can make room for a new one.
• Firebase experiments can have a maximum of 8 variants, including the baseline.
• Limited options for targeting an audience for an experiment. 
• Firebase lacks the facility to schedule testing campaigns.
• It doesn’t have the option of creating mutually exclusive groups for testing.

Pricing: 

The spark plan of Firebase A/B testing is available for free.

6. Leanplum

Leanplum, a subsidiary of Clevertap, specializes in web and mobile app A/B testing coupled with multi-channel lifecycle marketing, enabling seamless personalized mobile experiences from start to finish. Its toolkit encompasses mobile app A/B testing facilitated by an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, comprehensive post-experimentation reporting featuring funnel and cohort analysis, as well as retention and revenue monitoring. The platform allows the creation of personalized user experiences within the app.

Pros:

• Excellent tool for basic operations like creating visually appealing emails, analyzing basic metrics, and audience filters
• Maneuvering tools is difficult without a dev support team.
• Ease to create and deploy custom messages as per customer behavior.

Cons:

• Missing features such as static audience lists, transparent email performance reports, and conversion attribution.
• The cloud version is difficult to operate with a limited interface functionality. 

Pricing:

Leanplum is available for demo on request and offers custom pricing.

7. Amplitude

Amplitude is a product analytics platform with various offerings that include data analysis, data management and integration, data unification using CDP, feature management, and experimentation. It allows you to run simple UI/UX-based app experiments as well as feature experiments on search algorithms and product recommendations. The product depends on sequential testing and T-tests for statistical outcomes of experiments like the A/B test.

Pros: 

• User behavior analysis and app A/B testing analysis from a single platform, which overcomes data silos and gaps.
• Elegant data visualization to comprehend customer behavior data from various touchpoints

Cons:

• Difficult to migrate data in and out of the platform.
• Overwhelming and confusing experience because of too many features packed into a single platform.
• Unavoidable tech dependencies to slice and dice data and create customized dashboards.

Pricing: 

The pricing is not public, and the experimentation feature is offered at custom prices and in tandem with Amplitudes’s growth and enterprise plans.

8. Taplytics

Taplytics is an A/B testing platform that offers feature management, feature rollout, and client-side and server-side testing. You can deploy A/B tests and personalized experiences on iOS, Android, and mobile web with a code-variable library and visual editor. The platform employs Z-Score and Two-Tailed T-Test to assess experiment performance.

Pros:

• User-centric workflow to deploy code-free and code-based experiments. 
• Very specific control over who you’re reaching, even down to individual email addresses.

Cons:

• Limited third-party integration option, needing workarounds to get things done.
• Can’t break down reports by individual users; only session-level data is available for analysis.

Pricing:

The pro plan starts at $500/month. While the enterprise plan and custom plan depend on the client’s needs. 

9. Apptimize

Apptimize serves as a versatile cross-channel A/B testing solution, facilitating experimentation across various platforms including apps, mobile web, web, and OTT. Its main features include creating omnichannel personalized users, and management of feature releases. You can do it all through a single dashboard for comprehensive testing and management.

Pros:

• User-friendly dashboard that allows you to manage multiple experiments on different channels with ease.
• Assists in anticipating potential feature failures before their release.

Cons:

• Apptimize might not be the best choice in terms of pricing, as it could exceed the budget for certain businesses.
• Developers require time to understand how the platform operates to deploy tests effectively.

Pricing:

Apptimize provides free feature flagging. For more advanced features like cross-platform A/B experiments, they offer custom pricing and plans.

10. LaunchDarkly

LaunchDarkly focuses on helping you optimize your mobile app with ease. It provides tools for managing feature flags and enhancing mobile app performance on a larger scale. You’ll have the power to control every aspect of your app’s features, from development and testing to deployment and performance evaluation. This control empowers you to reduce potential risks and confidently launch your features.

Pros:

• Ease in the implementation and instant toggling on and off of feature flags.
• Ability to directly resolve bugs and issues without needing to resubmit the app or wait for approvals from the app store.

Cons:

• User creation and management system exhibits disorderliness, as it inadvertently exposes ongoing tests to every newly registered user.
• Overwhelming experience due to the many options available for configuring a target.

Pricing:

You can get started with a free trial or avail yourself of the starter plan at $8.33/month (limited to one member) to try out its basic functionalities. However, this pack does not include experimentation features, for which you will have to upgrade to a higher plan. 

Know how high-performance teams launch features 

We have a 60-minute recorded webinar about feature rollout that can help your product launch. In this webinar, Sonil Luthra and Rohan Shorey from VWO talk about how to introduce new features effectively. They use some real-life examples and even discuss how a well-known brand did it. They’ll also answer any questions you have about getting your new feature accepted and how well it performs. This webinar will give you new ideas and understanding to make your product even better.

Watch: Feature rollout – How high-performance teams launch features

How to choose the right mobile app A/B testing tool?

The ideal Mobile App A/B Testing platform is robust enough to offer extensive testing functionality that allows you to optimize your end-to-end in-app experiences as well as feature management capabilities so you can manage your entire feature lifecycle. Ultimately, the aim is to figure out the right variation of in-app experiences and features in order to optimize your app for improved engagement and conversions. 

To select the tool best suited for your CRO roadmap, consider the following parameters.

1. Use case at hand

Mobile App A/B Testing has a myriad of use cases similar to the A/B testing of the mobile web version. For you to be able to select the right tool for your business, you need to first have a clear understanding of the use cases you want to tackle (at least the ones you wish to begin with). Once you are clear about that, you are automatically a step closer to narrowing down on the tool that offers maximum capabilities that cater to your requirements.  

Some of the most common use cases of mobile app A/B testing include:

a. eCommerce

i. Eliminating friction in key user flows

For today’s on-the-go buyer who demands seamless shopping experiences, friction in user interactions and flows, especially one as critical as checkout, can lead to frustration and loss of interest, which ultimately increases your abandonment rate. In fact, did you know that mobile has the highest cart abandonment rate (beating tablets and desktops) of 85.65%? A/B testing your eCommerce app’s user flows can help you radically reduce drop-offs and abandonment rate, by paving the way for a delightful user experience.

Mobile app A/B testing tools allow you to create two or more variants of your user flows so you can pit them against each other and deploy the one that leads to the maximum improvement in your key user engagement metrics. Furthermore, your tool must also enable you to segment your users based on their purchase and browsing behavior, and other demographic attributes so you can target them with the most relevant variation and figure out what works for which group.

ii. Optimizing for the efficacy of search and product recommendation algorithms

Should your product recommendation algorithm be based on shoppers’ purchase history, trending items, or the most popular products from a particular category? How should your search algorithm categorize products, decide their relevance to a specific search query, and on what criteria should they be ranked on the search results page?

With mobile app A/B testing, you shouldn’t have to rely on guesswork or best practices to find the answers to the above questions. While testing UI-based changes is one use case that a robust tool caters to, it also allows you to experiment with your critical algorithms, including product recommendation and search, so you can strategically improve their efficacy. By testing multiple versions of your algorithms, you can figure out which one proves to be the most effective for your store, whether it is in driving upsell/cross-sell or fetching the most relevant search results.

b. Gaming

i. Experimenting with in-app features before deploying universally 

Universally deploying a new feature in your game can be quite tricky. You could either hit the jackpot and instantly watch your app usage and engagement levels jump up, or, on a more realistic note, it may or may not drive the results you thought it would. Therefore, mobile app A/B testing tools allow you to reduce the risk associated with launching in-game changes and updates by experimenting with them and rolling them out in stages to one or more of your user segments. If it performs well, you can go ahead and deploy it for all users; if not, you can always collect feedback, incorporate it, improve it, and relaunch the enhanced app version with confidence.

Mobile app A/B testing tools also offer extensive feature lifecycle management capabilities wherein you can roll out features in stages, test them out on a particular user segment, and even use feature flags to manage them at runtime and control and/or modify who gets access to it.

ii. Streamlining in-app pricing strategy 

To maximize engagement on your gaming app as well as revenue, you might have to experiment with multiple pricing strategies, for different user segments as the same model might not work for both disengaged and loyal gamers. Therefore, choose a mobile app A/B testing tool that allows you to test your dynamic pricing algorithm to figure out which one drives the best results for which segment.

iii. Offer personalized gaming experiences

In today’s day and age, mobile app gaming experiences demand hyper-personalization, and rightfully so. To create an enticing gaming environment that keeps gamers hooked, you cannot possibly rely on a single strategy. Using a mobile app A/B testing tool, you can test all dynamic elements of your gaming app and deliver personalized experiences based on each gamer’s level in the game, engagement score, and other attributes. This way, you can constantly discover and deliver what your users expect from you to keep them engaged. 

The bottom line is that whichever use case you want to achieve with mobile app A/B testing, you want to be sure of it beforehand so you can make a strategic decision of choosing the right one based on your requirements. 

2. Integrations and plugins offered by the tool

You want to make sure that whichever tool you opt for is the right addition to your tech stack, meaning that it integrates seamlessly with your other analytics, marketing, and sales platforms, so you don’t have a hard time accessing the required data and feeding it into your app optimization pipeline. For example, the most important one would be your analytics platform, so you can use it to generate insights about your website traffic and target audience, which will then form the basis for crafting hypotheses.

For this, create a list of tools you currently use and look for the ones supported by the experimentation platform you are evaluating. If you own an eCommerce business, you might also want to ensure that whichever eCommerce platform your store is built on (such as Shopify or WooCommerce) is also supported.  

VWO, for instance, integrates with all major web analytics tools, eCommerce platforms, CSM platforms, sales, and ABM platforms.

3. Size, RAM usage, and performance of the SDK

The SDK supported by the platform deserves your attention as well as it can impact your app’s performance. Here are the parameters that you must evaluate it for: 

• The SDK must be lightweight, so it does not have any significant impact on the size of your app. 
• Should not use a lot of RAM as mobile devices anyway have scarce RAM availability. 
• Must perform well and be easily available at all times. VWO’s SDK for mobile app A/B testing is available even without an active internet connection and is tested extensively to get rid of all bugs that might negatively impact your app’s performance.

4. Reporting capabilities

It’s important to pay heed to understanding the computation of A/B test results and generation of reports as it determines the impact of your experimentation. Statistics is the backbone of A/B testing, which is based on the calculation of probabilities. However, there are multiple approaches to interpreting probabilities in A/B testing – the most common ones being Frequentist and Bayesian models.

Make sure you find out whether the tool you have shortlisted uses the Frequentist or Bayesian statistical model. Traditionally, most tools used the Frequentist model wherein test results are based solely on the data from the current mobile app experiments and do not take into account any previous data. The Frequentist model is based on running a particular test for a specific period of time and until statistical significance is reached so enough data can be collected to rightfully calculate the probability of one variation beating the other. However, it does not quantify the difference between the two variations keeping in account the uncertainty involved with the amount of data you obtained in a test. 

The Bayesian statistical model, on the other hand, provides a natural way of learning by allowing you to feed in your beliefs from similar previous experiments into the model as prior, combine it with data from the current one, and then compute the test results. The probability of your hypothesis being correct is computed based on evolving data and informed by what’s happened up to that point. 

VWO’s Bayesian-powered statistics engine, SmartStats, helps you make smarter conversion rate optimization decisions by not only giving you the probability of one variation beating the other but also the potential loss associated with its deployment. With SmartStats, you can move away from relying solely on reaching statistical significance or running tests for a set period of time and can conclude tests faster and expect more accurate results. SmartStats helps you make intelligent business decisions, faster and gain a competitive edge over your competitors. 

Imagine a scenario where you are not sure whether providing an add-on offer with your service can lead to more sales. You planned to do an A/B test to test this hypothesis by allocating one-half of traffic to service with add-on (Variation A) and the other half without add-on (Variation B). 

A traditional Frequentist test would only provide a yes/no answer if variation A is different from variation B. Also, the test results are valid only after you have obtained a sufficient number of visitors in your test.

However, VWO’s Bayesian powered statistics engine, SmartStats, provides you the odds of one variation beating the other and also the underlying potential loss in sales associated with each variation. Both metrics remain valid throughout the duration of the test. 

With SmartStats, you can move away from binary outputs to more interpretable metrics.

Download Free: Mobile App A/B Testing Guide

5. Your budget

Needless to say, your budget is a huge factor to consider in choosing a tool. Based on the specific use cases you want to tackle and the features you require, you will have to look for a tool that fits the bill as well as fits well into your budget so you can drive significant ROI from your experimentation program. 

Especially if you are just starting out with mobile app optimization, opting for a comparatively expensive tool might not yield you a significant ROI. Instead, start with a tool that offers a free trial, so you can assess all its features comprehensively and decide whether it meets your requirements. VWO, for instance, offers a free trial that your team can utilize to run a few campaigns and figure out if your unique needs are met.

6. Support and assistance offered by the platform

When evaluating a tool, people often overlook the level and quality of support that the platform offers. However, it is a critical factor that plays a major role in determining the testing velocity and scale of your optimization program. If you receive dedicated, expert assistance throughout your journey, you will be able to achieve your goals more efficiently and grow your efforts with time. 

Moreover, if you’re new to mobile app A/B testing, you might need some help in setting up the first few campaigns and generating ideas to do an A/B test So, make sure you opt for a tool that offers the best-in-class support (quick response time, maximum availability, sufficient self-help resources, omni-channel support, CSAT, and so on) so you can not only get up to speed but also drive the intended results effectively.

Even if you are somewhat experienced and well-versed with A/B testing your mobile app experiences, you might need extensive support immediately after signing up for a new tool. To that end, make sure you opt for a tool that offers dedicated support, quick TATs, and effective resolution to help you troubleshoot all your experimentation roadblocks.

Truth be told – you need a tool that’s all-encompassing. There isn’t one factor mentioned above that’s less important and you shouldn’t have to compromise on the quality of testing or your requirements. 

Conclusion

Choosing the right tool that best aligns with your experimentation goals is only the first (although extremely crucial) step towards improving your app’s key metrics. Leveraging the tool successfully means closing the optimization loop by investing time and effort in everything from benchmarking your KPIs to documenting your learnings and feeding them back into your testing roadmap. Sign up for a free trial with VWO to do this with ease. 

Frequently asked questions

There are plenty of push notification tools in the market for both—web and app. However, selecting one out of a myriad for your specific CRO roadmap is a tricky yet crucial step. It depends on many factors, such as your use case, the kind of push notifications you need to send, etc. 

Download Free: Push Notifications Guide

We have discussed some of these factors in detail in the following sections.

How to choose the right tool?

An ideal push notification tool primarily ensures that your message is directly delivered on your audience’s device. For example, you must know that if your audience is a cross-device user (like the majority of us), they have opted-in on every device so that your message doesn’t end up having a fate similar to that of a promotional email that gets buried forever in the spam folder of your mailbox. 

It is a vast landscape no doubt, and therefore we’ve curated important considerations that you must take into account, before zeroing in on the right tool for your business.

1. Identify your use case:

What is that you want to achieve using a push notification tool? Your use case could range from gauging behavioral attributes of your audience, their purchase history, location, to alerting them for their bank transactions, etc. You can create triggers as per your use case such as a trigger for spending a certain amount of time on a landing page, creating an account, abandoning cart, etc., for your eCommerce site users, who’ve opted-in. 

Here is a real-life example of Ubisoft, which is a leading creator, publisher, and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands in gaming. Ubisoft’s research showed that the primary reason people visited their website was to find more information about particular games offered by the company. 

This is when they realized that they needed to find smarter and faster ways to give quicker updates about various games to its subscribers. Using VWO Engage, Ubisoft websites get an average click rate of 17%. This is a big deal compared to the average click rate of most emails, which is between 2 to 4%. 

2. Tool preference:

With a use case in place, it’s easier to pick the push type among mechanical and behavioral tools. Mechanical push notifications are list-based, event-triggered, and are immediate. For example, transactional messages that banks send out to you are mechanical ones. Behavioral push notifications are personalized messages that are based on your past activity on a website.

For instance, a cart abandonment event on an eCommerce website that keeps nudging you for making a purchase.

3. Ease of use:

Push notifications are a popular channel for their ease of use. Ensure that the one you are considering is compatible with all the browsers that your target group uses. An ideal tool comes along with easy to install directions, supported by documentation to help you sail through the process seamlessly.

4. Audience segmentation: 

You can target your message effectively using audience segmentation. Pick a tool that offers customized segmentation, similar to the segmentation in email, such as, demographic, location, device, campaign activities like click-rate, and other behavioral triggers.

Impegio is Italy’s largest and most comprehensive search engine to find jobs. They aggregate job listings from thousands of websites, including employment boards, recruitment firms, associations, and company career pages. They sensed that there is a need to increase user retention and drive user loyalty. By employing a combination of VWO Engage’s audience segmentation feature, they were able to send relevant push messages based on a user’s interest.

Impegio presently gets an average click rate of 15% from their push notifications, which is astounding if you compare it with the open rate for emails which is as low as 2-3%.

5. Actionable marketing analytics:

If you don’t know how the recipients of your push message are engaging with your message, you are effectively taking a leap into the abyss of nothingness. You must ensure the tool you are picking is a guide to your campaigns—which one is performing well, which one needs to be optimized, which one needs to be discarded—you should have every decision backed by insights and data.

6. Testing push notifications:

Formulating high-performing push messages is a time-intensive process that needs a lot of care and iteration. If you are an experimentation greenhorn, there is software that offers all-in-one conversion growth, ranging from insights derived out of analytics to hypothesis creation, and running an A/B test. The process facilitates optimization of your web push notification message for better performance and ensures a holistic upliftment of your CRO efforts.

Download Free: Push Notifications Guide

VWO Engage – a push notification tool that stands apart

With VWO Engage, you can choose your target audience, define entry and exit triggers, track your campaigns with in-depth reporting, and benefit from highly personalized interaction. Additionally, it offers segmentation based on various parameters such as geolocation, elements clicked, page visits, JavaScript/API cookie. 

You can use VWO Engage to send rich push notifications with image, text, and CTAs, without being dependent on a developer or even a designer. 

When clubbed with other VWO capabilities, VWO Engage can make your push messages more precise and effective. You may rapidly test a winning version of a push message for sending out to your subscribers or even test/analyze different landing pages for the same push notification. It offers a free trial without any limits, so you can try it right away.

Other push notifications tools

Here is a list of other push notifications tools renowned in the market. We’ve included their functionality and pricing information for your consideration.

1. WebEngage

WebEngage is a mobile push notification tool that offers one-time, triggered, recurring and transactional push notifications for enhanced engagement and UX. You may add your message with CTAs and images yourself to launch a campaign, without seeking any help from a developer. It also allows you to boost your push notifications delivery. You get a free demo of WebEngage followed by monthly charges by requesting a quote.

2. PushEngage

PushEngage is a web push notification tool that offers personalized web push notifications for your subscribers, using segmentation and autoresponders. They offer a free trial with a limited number of notifications, and offer unlimited messages with a monthly plan starting at USD 25.

3. PushAlert

PushAlert is a web push notification tool to target users with real-time push messages for increased engagement and lead conversions. It also offers automated dynamic segmentation based on device, on-site behavior, location, etc. Their basic plan starts at a monthly USD 12 for 3000 subscribers.

Conclusion

Choose a tool that best fits your requirements and budget. Think of this exercise similar to that of choosing a partner that understands your company’s ever growing needs and helps you deliver and exceed its business objectives. But, do remember that the chosen tool doesn’t guarantee a boost in your engagement unless you have invested yourself in understanding the fundamentals of effective messaging. Here are 3 tactical ways to craft effective notifications.

Besides this, monitoring your users’ behavior, studying reports for insights, and optimizing for the best messages to engage and re-engage your users will lead you a long way! 

In this exclusive webinar, Rishi shares his nuggets of wisdom on copywriting and how to harness its limitless potential in boosting conversions. 

Rishi talks about how he discovered his passion and knack for copywriting and what his professional journey of over a decade has looked like. He emphasizes leveraging copywriting as a conversion catalyst and shares some actionable insights and tips for writing copy that converts.

Download Free: A/B Testing Guide

Following are the key takeaways from the session:

Rishi’s introduction to copywriting

Rishi was initially never a copywriter. In fact, he stumbled upon copywriting while working in CRO. Over the years, he discovered that while running A/B tests, copy was seldom the focus. However, his own tests based on ideas and hypotheses around copy always had the best statistical outcomes. And that’s how he came to realize the importance of copy from a conversion perspective and began to focus on it.

The underestimated power of copy

To illustrate the power of copy, Rishi shared an example from one of his clients, Walkin Wheels, where his team used a rather unconventional approach to redo their category page. 

Originally, the category page featured their star products, highlighted their features, and had bold CTAs to direct visitors to the product pages. Rishi’s team decided to run an experiment to see how the visitors would respond if the page highlighted the story of the brand instead of marketing any products at all. 

They removed the products from the page, added a ‘See Products & Details’ CTA at the bottom, included videos, a picture of the founder, and a team picture. The new page focused on what the company is all about and why they exist. By making the brand’s story the hero of the page, they noticed an uplift of 28% in their conversion rate.

This success story is evidence that copy can make a remarkable difference in conversion rates. However, in order for copy to do so effectively, it needs to be optimized and well thought-through. And the first step towards writing copy that converts is understanding buyers’ psyche. 

Rishi shares the 12-point checklist that he has been using for years to write impactful and conversion-oriented copy. 

Buyers are skeptical of ‘too good to be true’

Buyers are extremely wary of any unrealistically great offer or even surprisingly premium features of a product that might seem too good to be true. Even the fact that you are way better than your competitor might potentially be a disadvantage if you don’t address it, as buyers might doubt that an offering as good as yours could be a hoax.

Therefore, whether it is in terms of product quality, features, or even your terms and policies, anything that could come across as unrealistically good should be appropriately addressed in your website copy.

Buyers find expertise sexy

Buyers are drawn to experts’ opinions, and as a brand, if you can demonstrate your expertise, it would add to your credibility and get buyers to trust your word. However, merely stating that you are an expert isn’t enough. Your copy must reflect your competence and convince the visitors that you are an industry leader. 

Take this example from Casper. The headline reads, ‘We slept on more than 60 different pillows to find a fill that thrills’.

They are clearly demonstrating their expertise. And when you are on this page as a potential buyer, you know that this pillow is the best because they’ve tested all the other alternatives out there.

Shoppers are influenced by implied messages

While you want your copy to be crystal clear, you also need to bear in mind that explicitly stating everything in detail might end up doing more harm than good. It’s always advisable to treat your prospects as smart individuals capable of filling in the blanks, and if you let them draw their own conclusions, you have a better shot at getting them to convert. 

Here’s an example of a headline that reads ‘There are over 120 energy drinks on the market. We’ve tried them all’. Compare it to an alternative headline that says, “There are over 120 energy drinks on the market, ours is the best’. 

While the first headline is subtle, the second one is the stated option where the marketer is spoonfeeding readers the idea that their brand is the best. According to Rishi, this is very ineffective. As much as possible, you want to go for the implied version of your copy and let customers fill in the blanks.

We root for people who beat the odds

As humans, we are fundamentally wired to root for those who beat the odds, and as a brand, you want to make sure your story reflects how you overcame certain challenges to get where you have. Every business has some or the other instance where they have beaten the odds, and this sometimes gets overshadowed by their achievements. 

Rishi suggests that you recollect such instances in your journey and incorporate them into your copy. Once done, your copy will speak volumes to your visitors about who you are as a brand and what you stand for. This works wonders in helping you form a deeper connection with them.

Readers and buyers love surprising details

Rishi believes that there are always tons of surprising and exciting details about any product that can get visitors interested in it and willing to engage with the brand. Discovering what those are is the first step of the exercise. Introspecting, talking to your team, and interviewing your customers can enlighten you with interesting details about your products that even you might find surprising. 

Editor’s tip: You can also run On-Page Surveys to collect first-hand information from your visitors on their preferences. 

Once you have created a list of those, make sure your copy reflects them so you can utilize every opportunity to surprise and delight your audience and get them interested in your offerings.

We are visual animals

Since visuals are far more successful in capturing human attention and invoking an emotion, Rishi strongly encourages supplementing text with visuals wherever possible or using copy to evoke powerful visuals that elicit the desired reaction from your audience. 

Editor’s tip: See how visitors are engaging with the images and copy on your page with Heatmaps. Start your free trial today!

Buyers need the motivation to break a habit

This point is a reminder that no matter what product or service you are offering, there will always be people ready to turn it down. It could be because they are in denial of the problem, or have already figured out a workaround for the same. In both these cases, you need to motivate them enough to go out of their way and consider your offering. 

Editor’s tip: Use Funnels to see where people are dropping off and find out why. Take an all-inclusive and guided 30-day free trial with VWO Insights. 

Rishi, therefore, highlights that in most cases, your competitors are not just companies who sell the same product or service. You are also competing against the lack of motivation among your prospects to consider a new way of performing a certain task or recognizing a new problem that might require a solution. And addressing this adequately in your copy will work to your advantage by highlighting the real need for your product and motivating your audience. 

The example Rishi shares is that of a company selling hybrid exercise bikes. Their competition is not other companies that are also selling adult hybrid exercise bikes, but people who use workarounds because they have figured out other ways of being healthy. They might run on a treadmill, go for a jog outside, or do other forms of exercise. 

However, if they use a treadmill or go out for runs, one of the downsides is that they might be hurting their joints as research shows that running on the road or a treadmill puts a lot of pressure on joints, whereas bikes ease that pressure. 

So, Rishi’s hypothesis is that instead of talking about competitor bikes or how amazing your own bike is on the product page, why not talk about the fact that it puts a lot less pressure on your joints if you ride a bike? That’s a much more persuasive message because you are trying to compete against you running on a treadmill and not other brands.

Download Free: A/B Testing Guide

Shoppers love personalized experiences

Rishi believes that personalized experiences can go a long way in uplifting conversions. Not everyone in your target audience might have the same preferences; therefore, try to personalize your product page or sales pitch copy to accommodate for different segments in your audience group and engage better. 

Rishi shared an example of how his team redid the product page for an air purifier brand. They acknowledged that the page receives two kinds of visitors. Some very methodical people appreciate technical details about the product, and then some merely want a quick summary. And so they decided to create two versions of their sales pitch copy for the same page. 

They redid the product page and asked the visitors, ‘How much time do you have?’ If they clicked on ‘I have two minutes’, they showed them the shortened version of the sales pitch. And if they selected, ‘I have time’, they presented the more detailed version of their sales pitch. This test improved sales of this product by 30%, and it happened solely by personalizing experiences for the consumer.

Buyers love the idea of discovery

People enjoy discovering something rare and exclusive that most others don’t have access to. It makes them feel good about themselves and instills a sense of achievement in them. Therefore, if your copy can position your product/service as something rare and make your audience feel as if they’ve stumbled upon something worthy, they are most likely to stick around and explore it.

We buy from people we like

Rishi emphasizes the fact that since the buyer and seller are socially distant when it comes to eCommerce, it can be tough to create a relationship deeper than a transactional one. Therefore, he believes that website copy must be leveraged impactfully to communicate your brand’s authentic personality and inject a sense of likeability towards the brand so that the customer enjoys interacting with you.

Editor’s tip: A/B test your site copy to figure out what makes your audience click.

Buyers are curious

While leveraged extensively in advertising, buyer curiosity is something copywriters can benefit from even for creating delightful digital experiences. Rishi highlights that humans are naturally wired to be curious, and as a copywriter, one must ensure that the copy they write invokes their visitors’ natural sense of curiosity that entices them to explore your offerings.

Rishi’s advice on:

Telling a story with constraints on the number of characters 

Rishi believes that limitations around the length of the copy aren’t something that should hold copywriters back. In fact, he encourages letting the buyers decide the type and length of stories they want to read and urges copywriters to figure out a clever way of asking them if they want to skip to the important stuff or have time for a detailed pitch. And irrespective of the choice of the buyer, you must customize your copy for both scenarios. He adds that you mustn’t have one sales pitch and force-feed it to every buyer because every buyer is different.

How to keep quirky content from being misinterpreted by the audience

The cornerstone of giving your brand a personality is letting your authentic and human self shine and reflecting it in your copy. Rishi emphasizes that if your brand is a quirky one, go ahead and ensure your copy reflects that. However, if that is not the case, do not force quirkiness in your copy (even if it improves conversion rates), it’s fake. 

The bottom line is that buyers’ purchase decisions are more often than not driven by emotion and are based on likeability. They are drawn to brands that are not afraid of showcasing their authentic personality to their customers. As a brand, the closer you are to being your authentic self, the higher your chances of striking a chord with your audience are higher. 

Copywriting for a B2B business: Does the same checklist hold true?

Rishi believes that as long as you are selling to humans, whether it’s a committee of humans or an individual, the same copywriting principles apply. While certain aspects would inadvertently require modification for a B2B environment, the fundamentals of the checklist remain the same. You are still addressing a human in a different context, and therefore, it majorly boils down to fitting the checklist pointers in context for your brand and figuring out what works best for you.

Crafting conversion-centric copy within SEO constraints

Rishi thinks that while writing copy, SEO deserves paramount importance. He also believes that creativity blossoms within limitations and these constraints are what bring out the best in a copywriter. He goes on to admit that some of his best work has been produced within one constraint or the other. 

VWO and copywriting 

We integrated Open AI’s GPT-3.5 Turbo API with our Visual Editor so that every time you decide to run a test or deploy a change, you can generate copy recommendations in a language of your choice. This means you cut down on time spent brainstorming on variations and alternatives by having a library of AI-generated ideas available at your disposal. 

Whether you are looking to optimize headlines, CTA text, product descriptions, or any other text on your site, you can quickly generate alternatives and either directly deploy them or test them against your original copy, both without any developer help. Either way, by automating this aspect of experimentation, you make your CRO program more efficient and agile. You can start a free trial straight away to check this feature for yourself or request a demo from our experts.