TOCA Talk

Engagement Techniques for Customers from Afar

By Britney Riggs, Xylem Marketing

During the Virtual TOCA Annual Meeting, Tina Dyakon, Poynter’s marketing director, gave a lively discussion about engagement techniques we can use to keep customers informed, interested and connected from a distance.

Create trust

  • Review your policies to make sure they are not out of date. Prioritize transparency.
  • Maintain regular content, thinking about the type of platform you are using and the customer.
  • Provide accurate, reliable and valuable content.

Keep customer care expectations in mind

  • Update customer service processes and promises.
  • Manage expectations.
  • Open the feedback loop.
  • Make it easy to do business with you and get resolutions.
  • Publish your policies and keep them transparent. Tell customers why and how you did it.
  • Monitor social media, e-mail and other channels for issues.
  • Respond in a timely manner.

Remember that content matters

  • Sharpen your content strategy with a focus on relevancy.
  • Show, don’t tell. Show people what you do; don’t just tell them.
  • Use social media for storytelling and implement visuals. Memes, infographics and videos work great. Again, show; don’t tell.
  • Diversity should be a cornerstone of your content strategy. Diversity reflects trust. Watch your use of stock images. They may not resonate in an authentic way. Evaluate the optics of customer-facing staff. Make sure you are reaching out in the most accessible ways: video captions, images with alt-text, and text to speech.

Create access

  • Customers want to be informed, so give them access to do so.
  • Creating virtual office hours so customers can reach you is a great way to give them access.
  • Create a best practice or case study library, so customers can be informed.
  • Showcase testimonials by using them in storytelling.
  • Implement a customer-based advisory board.
  • Do not use gimmicks. This helps with Zoom fatigue (when video calls become tiring). Also, stick with taking a moment to connect, designate a notetaker so people can listen, respect time, make room for quality of attention (no distractions), and remember Zoom formats do not have to be long (in length) to help with Zoom fatigue.

Widen your net

  • Right now is a great time to acquire new customers. Look at who you are not servicing to find new customers.

Redefine success

  • Look at how the pandemic shaped your success and then share it with customers.
  • Make it a practice to celebrate.

Look ahead

  • Take a look at what is working and what needs to be revised or ended.