Let’s change the customer journey for the better and for good! Real-time customer marketing is an excellent way to acquire, engage, and retain customers. And it does not mean that you have to put in an extreme amount of effort – we know the trick to make real-time customer engagement a breeze.
Scroll down to get to know more. But now, let’s discuss the basics.
What is real-time customer engagement?
Real-time customer engagement means talking to customers right away. Basically, it’s reacting to customer queries or proactively reaching out to them. There are many ways of providing on-the-spot support like this, and it may bring lots of benefits.
Do you want to know what they are? Off we go. ⬇️
Customer engagement in real-time: benefits
#1 Personalized experiences
Personalization is something that many companies aim to achieve. It makes people connect with the brand and build the relationship. Personalized experiences might be: using customers’ names, offering them tailored items or service suggestions, or abandoned cart reminders.
#2 Timely interactions
Customers expect brands to answer quickly. Also, an immediate reply makes prospects stay involved and increases the chances that a person continues using your products or services.
For example, a customer who has a problem writes to you with the hope of getting an answer right away and does not hear back for days. Will they make a purchase or use your product after such communication? Rather not. So it’s better to use tools that let you reply in the blink of an eye.
#3 Boosted customer engagement
If your followers and clients see you’re responsive and willing to interact with them on social media channels, for example, they might react to your content more.
Do you see that your followers leave comments under your post? Drop a few words to thank them. Someone tagged you? Why not share their content on your Insta Stories? In this case, they’ll leave more likes and comments because they know they’ll get the reply.
It’s a small thing, but it contributes to customer satisfaction growth.
#4 Agile marketing strategies
Being in touch with your customers gives amazing insights into their wants and desires. And that’s an opportunity for you to develop your product or services. Adjust your strategy and tactics based on the immediate feedback you receive from customers.
On top of that, agile marketing strategies can lead to better targeting. As businesses interact with their customers online, they gather data about their online behaviors. They segment the audience according to this customer behavior (and not only) and adjust marketing efforts to deliver only relevant content.
#5 More conversions and increased ROI
The conversion rates may increase because businesses started to reach out to customers in real-time, very often at a particular moment.
When a website visitor gets help in a snap (even without asking for it), at the moment when they get lost, when navigating the app, it’s very probable that they won’t give up on using your services. Because they know what to do next.
Here’s an example. The retailer’s website is equipped with a real-time chat feature that detects the customer’s inactivity. Without the customer even needing to ask for help, a chat window pops up, offering assistance. The automated message suggests, “Hi there! If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to ask. We’re here to help!”
The customer, surprised by the proactive support, decides to ask a question about the size of a particular item. Within seconds, a customer service representative responds, providing accurate sizing information and even suggesting a few similar items that might interest them.
#6 Real-time feedback
Real-time marketing provides real-time feedback. Businesses can implement the changes according to the customers’ suggestions and develop their products and services. No need to wait days to get the opinions – genuine feedback right here, on the spot. How? By using the right tools and strategies.
Here are a few things to know about them – what are they and how to use them to get the most from these tools.
How to provide real-time customer marketing?
01 Chatbots
Whenever a website visitor may have an issue, a chatbot is always there, ready to answer questions and help. It is an excellent tool for real-time marketing. You can design your chatbot so it suggests products for the visitors, giving them personalized recommendations.
02 In-app messaging
In-app messages might be one of the ways to get in touch with the app user whenever they need a bit of navigation or product recommendations. They get the information they’re looking for, and you get them to the next step in the sales funnel. A win-win, isn’t it?
03 Push notifications (both app and web)
Send a short message to the website or app user to catch their attention. Provide them messages that pop out to inform them about limited-time sales, encouraging users to explore discounted items.
You can also notify them about updates and news alerts to keep your target audience up-to-date.
04 Geolocation triggers
Such messages rely on a user’s location to deliver relevant messages or promotions. For instance, a website might offer a deal when a user enters a shopping mall. Businesses might want to use geolocation triggers to target customers at the right place and time, making marketing messages more personal and actionable.
Real-time customer engagement strategies
Having the right tool in your tool stack won’t do the trick. To make your real-time marketing work, it’s best to follow a few strategies.
➡️ Make it personalized as much as possible
Personalization makes revenue grow. Your customers receive real-time offerings, and they’re also personalized. That’s a VIP treatment, isn’t it? When writing to the customers, use their names, and use browsing history to provide them with the best deals.
Did you know that many companies spend more than half of their budgets on personalized marketing these days? Read more here.
➡️ Segment your audience
Segmentation is dividing customers into groups based on shared characteristics or behaviors. For instance, an online store might categorize customers by their purchase history. It makes it possible to create more personalized promotions that businesses may want to send to specific segments.
➡️ Take advantage of social media
Social media marketing is definitely worth your time and effort. Do you remember the ice bucket challenge? Over 17 million people took part in the event. That’s a lot!
And this is proof of how powerful social media is. It’s also a place where you can engage your customers in real-time with live streaming and other real-time experiences. Social media management also involves providing quick responses to customer comments, monitoring mentions.
➡️ Send messages when your customers are most active
Thanks to tools like Xtremepush, you know what time is the best to share your content to get a lot of views. Use this feature while creating your real-time marketing campaign and engage customers with ease.
➡️ Use predictive analytics
To make your marketing strategy even better, get the insights that let you predict your customers’ choices. If you use a tool with robust analytics capabilities (like Xtremepush), you can send targeted content based on their previous browsing history.
Transform the customer journey into a real-time one with Xtremepush
Xtremepush is an omnichannel tool that gets companies connected with customers no matter what they specialize in – banking, sports betting, ecommerce, publishing, travel – the sky’s the limit here.
Check out how Xtremepush transforms the customer journey through its powerful tool set.
🔝 Boost engagement with location-based triggers
Xtremepush uses geofencing and iBeacons to engage your audience when they hit the right spot. Send them a notification via an app and encourage them to step by your place nearby.
🔝 Know your customers better with analytics
Xtremepush gathers the data, so they can be used to send contextually-relevant messaging across devices and channels in real-time, driving campaign optimization and conversions.
Usage patterns, A/B testing, or integration with CRM systems are just a few of Xtremepush’s analytics capabilities.
🔝 Increase revenue with real-time messages
Engaging customers with tailored content is a snap with Xtremepush. You can send messages in your app (for example, with onboarding instructions) and also to the visitors browsing the website. Keep them informed about time-sensitive offers or updates to help them take action.
🔝 Improve customer satisfaction with segmentation
No more irrelevant messages! Segment your customers and provide them with content they’re waiting for – use push notifications, emails, in-app messages, AI chatbots (and more) with the content they enjoy.
Let Xtremepush assist you in turning prospects into loyal customers.
Real-time customer marketing wrapped up
Changing your marketing strategy is not that complicated, but only with the right tools. Engage your customers by sending them targeted messages at the right time and place via Xtremepush.
Contact the Xtremepush team, get the demo, and check the tool out firsthand.
Real-time customer engagement: FAQ
What is real-time customer engagement?
It is an immediate and responsive strategy businesses use to engage customers at the exact moment. This strategy very often involves current trends and is delivered to specific audiences.
The purpose is to connect with potential customers and current ones, increase engagement, conversions and make people stick with the brand.
What are some real-time marketing examples?
An example might be a coffee brand tweeting a witty comment during a trending event, relating it to its product. Such a move helps businesses to connect with the audience on topics that matter to them right now.
How do customers benefit from real-time marketing efforts?
They can get the information about the product right away, on the spot. They might become more interested in the product and get engaged in ongoing conversations with the customer support and marketing team.
The team collects feedback so the business makes necessary changes to the sales strategy. And that is something that contributes to the development of the product and services, making the offerings and marketing plan better and better.
Also, it helps with customer retention.