Let’s admit it; though many other things contribute to ruined eCommerce business-customer relationships, poor or lack of communication (from the retailer) often adds insult to injury.
No wonder eCommerce retailers are increasingly adopting Always-on communications and customer relations over old-school campaign-centric communications.
The advent and surge of multiple customer engagement platforms has made it easier for retailers to maintain constant communication with prospects and customers.
Keeping would-be buyers and clients on the loop is important, not only in increasing business-customer interactions but also in breaking the “chronic silence” common in eCommerce dealings.
Always-on interaction is also an invaluable marketing tool. Well planned continuous customer updates in all stages of the customer journey can improve CX and reduce churn. It is also makes it easier to focus on each customer and underpin your brand’s message from time to time.
Understanding Always-on Customer Communications
The idea of Always-on communications stems from the need to keep prospects and clients on their toes.
Proactive eCommerce retailers know their customers’ journey, common problems shoppers face and when to communicate product updates, new offers or perks, discounts etc.
So always-on interaction should start from the time when a prospect visits your site or joins your subscriber list and is a never-ending process.
It doesn’t end because even after you’ve assisted a shopper with all the knowledge, help and resources they need to buy, receive and use their product, you’ll still need to reach out with new offers or product suggestions.
The good thing, retailers have lots of tools and resources to use in engaging customers actively. Anything from guides and manuals, reminder emails, social media updates, live chat engagements can be used to maintain continuous engagement in different creative ways.
The Principles of Always-on Customer Communications
Don’t mistake always-on engagement for careless, pointless communication. Like any other approach, it has its principles. To nail it, always ensure to be;
- Helpful– communicate only what is informative and useful to your audience.
- Relevant – share only content that will be of interest to your shoppers.
- Attention-grabbing – don’t bore you audience with uncalled-for communication.
- Informative – Always educate your prospects.
- Timely– send the right message at the right time.
- Consistent- communicate from time to time.
In essence, all communications should seek to solve customer queries and educate them. So a retailer must understand their customers’ concerns and show their ability to fix them.
The message should remain clear, the same and be done from time to time to keep prospects on the loop.
Leverage Automation for Effective Always-on communications
Tech is primary in maintaining ongoing communication. The fact that you have to relay the right message and in a timely manner means you have to automate lots of process.
You have to tie these with the relevant visitor actions so that they prompt the correct form of communication.
Also you have to personalize your message and edit it from time to time to suit different customers. It is also advisable to avoid sending too many messages in all platforms (at a go) as it would put off a customer.
Lastly, always review your message to stay in line with the principles of active customer engagement.
The Downsides of Always-on Customer Engagement
The massive shift to always-on communications has made it more and more difficult for business to stick out among other companies seeking to engage the same shopper.
With every retailer trying to engage customers across all platforms, the number of messages from brands can be overwhelming— so a shopper may choose to ignore some of them. For customers, receiving a pile of messages from online companies is becoming commonplace, and so is ignoring them.
But again, customers hate to be bored; failure to be proactive and engaging to your audience can lead to abandonment for a more proactive retailer.
Shoppers are also more knowledgeable than ever, more so with what they subscribe to and may choose to unsubscribe from your communications if the become a bother.
To avoid all these though, always abide by the principles of Always-on communications. Also remember to be as “up-to-date” as possible so that whatever you communicate is always captivating to your prospects.
Final Words
Always-on customer engagement is an excellent way to retain customers. But it can make or break customer experience, which means poor execution can also trigger abandonment.
Always review your Always-on communications strategy to avoid overdoing or underdoing it.
