Customer Engagement is at the heart and soul of every company that does business with the public. Engaging your customers and potential customers effectively is what can either make or break you. In today’s economy consumers identify with the brands they love more than ever. The 21st century consumer wants and needs a relationship with the companies they interact with. There are hard numbers to back this emerging shift in consumer psychology.

A study conducted by Bain & Company highlights the benefits of social media engagement and increased spending by consumers. What their study discovered was that consumers who engage with companies over social media spend a whopping 20%-40% more money with those companies than other customers!

Engaging customers on social media is a boon for the bottom line. The side effect of engaging your customers on social media is the fact that it creates an army of brand advocates. These advocates will preach from the mountaintops about the virtues of your product or service free of charge!

Band of Brothers: Brand Advocates and Social Influence

Social media is ubiquitous and is now intertwined in the social fabric of our country. A whopping 73% of Internet users use some form of social media according to the Pew Internet Project. This means that people are in constant contact with each other and influencing opinions and points of view everyday.

This is especially true of Facebook users. The Pew Internet Project found that Facebook users are more trusting than others. Facebook users also have closer relationships with their friends. What does this all mean?

Marketing professionals will find that having a brand advocate that engages with your business on a regular basis vital for customer engagement success. Brand advocates have the ability to share their positive experience with their peer group. This peer group will now be more receptive to your brand because of the social influence from a trusted source.

Think of social media as a Word-of-Mouth advertising campaign on steriods.  Social media is a beast that can be tamed with the right tools. How effective is your current social media campaign? Are your customers engaged with your brand? How would you like to improve customer engagement this year?