Customer Engagement Strategies in Today’s Competitive Market

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We at MoEngage kicked off our first #GROWTH Summit in London on 2nd November 2022. We brought together growth experts from across industries to talk about customer engagement, share experience-based insights, and have some fun along the way.

In case you missed it, don’t fret. This series of #GROWTH Summit wrap-up blogs and our on-demand session videos will catch you up in no time.

How has Customer Engagement Changed?

Let’s kick things off with what was discussed in this power-packed session, where we brought together Greg Turtle – Head of Growth at what3words, Aykut Subekci – New Channels Lead at Product Madness, and Hannah Scott – Group Product Marketing Manager at Infobip together. The panel covered a wide range of topics that helped marketers understand the nuances of customer engagement in the age of shrinking attention spans and countless options for the customer.

We began the discussion by asking the panellists about their views and experiences on how customer engagement has changed in the current time. The consensus centred around experience being personalised to platform and customer, with Greg talking about how what3words doesn’t ‘sell’ to their customers – but reminds them of what the brand can do for them with gentle, well-timed nudges.

Emerging Channels Added to Multichannels Strategies

Coming to the hot topic of multi-channel marketing,  Aykut from Product Madness gave us an insight into their multichannel strategy that incorporates TikTok, Snapchat, and – wait for it – Tinder!

“We produced a concept specifically for Tinder – two characters in a game, John and Linda interacting in the video. This is the kind of video that we know will work well on dating apps, so we hope to test this on Tinder. We’re always seeking out opportunities and adapting accordingly” he said.

Agreeing that it is important to explore new channels to include in your multichannel engagement, Hannah came in expressing her views on the importance of combining online and offline strategies and having a holistic view of how different kinds of channels work across the customer journey.

Stressing on the vitality of adopting different channels to suit different engagement goals, she said “If you want to just send out a notification, an SMS might work. But if you want to have a more conversational interaction, which is the way the market is moving, you may want to use more digital channels such as Whatsapp and RCS where your customers can interact with you more closely.”

Greg reinforced Hannah’s thoughts when he gave an example of the needs of a youngster looking for his friends in a field in Glastonbury to a 75-year-old concerned about how timely ambulance services are in an emergency. “Both customers are equally important and need to remember to use the brand’s services in those situations. So we’ll use a large array of channels, both owned and paid, so both customers are comfortable enough to use us when the situation arises,” he added.

Both Product Madness and what3words have seen a significant rise in popularity in the last 18-24 months, and the next question centred around the key levers of their growth strategy.

Key Levers to a Successful Growth Strategy

Aykut spoke about how the pandemic brought more customers to gaming, uplifting their business metrics. He highlighted how doubling down on TikTok activity allowed the brand to reach customers before its competitors.

Greg, on the other hand, cited performance marketing and aggressive PR as reasons for what3words’ success. In addition, deals with ITV and Channel 4 in the UK got them $4 million worth of airtime. what3words is also now making inroads into India with a $10 million deal with Times of India.

Hannah urged marketers to regularly re-evaluate customer engagement strategy, stating that customers today are changing how they communicate with businesses constantly. They no longer want one-way communication through traditional channels. Instead, brands must move to conversational marketing on digital channels such as WhatsApp.

To show how well conversational engagement has worked for brands, Hannah told us about Unilever, a campaign where they added a WhatsApp number on billboards across a city with a teaser. When customers messaged this number, they got tips and tricks on household care alongside some information on product launches – and the entire effort resulted in the brand getting 14x sales leads!

Conclusion

The panel discussion wrapped up with each panellist sharing their customer engagement recommendations for the coming year. While Hannah reiterated the growing popularity of conversational messaging, Greg urged brands to commit to localisation, cutting across language and culture.

Talking about how India is a priority market for what3words, he stated that the brand is advertising in 12 different languages. He also reinforced the effectiveness of TikTok as a customer engagement tool. Aykut, agreeing with Greg, emphasised the importance of localisation, talking about Product Madness’ efforts to grow in the Chinese market.

The session ended on a high with a string of questions from the audience. The lessons were clear. Customers expect brands to know them, know their likes and preferences, but not just as potential leads. The brands that make an effort to meet them where they are and personalise engagement will be the ones to survive – and thrive.

If you’re in Berlin and would like to attend a live #GROWTH Summit we’d love for you to join our #GROWTH Summit 2023, which will be taking place on 26th January at 13:30pm at ALICE Rooftop & Garden in Berlin.