Creating a powerful user experience today is vital to the success of your business. If you aren’t consistently focused on ways to improve user engagement in all of your customer interactions, it will be harder to stay competitive in today’s digital world.In the past, it may have been enough to simply be present in a variety of online applications. You business could be seen and heard within its sector just by having a website, a few social media profiles, and a few online directory listings. By adhering to some basic SEO tactics for increased search engine visibility, you could further advance your rank in the marketplace.
User Engagement Methods
So, how do you improve user engagement levels across all of your brand’s online applications? Here are a few tips for getting customers to interact with your brand in a way that ultimately leads to more conversions.
1. Acknowledge Your Users and Show Appreciation
When a user visits your website or an online business application, they are likely looking for additional information about your brand, and/or products and services. But what happens after they leave? If you let your users go without a plan to acknowledge their visit and show appreciation for their interest, they may forget about your business entirely, and never return again.
If you create a strategy for following up with users, you can effectively turn prospects into customers. When you make a personal connection with your users, they are more apt to want to interact with you again. A simple thank you email, with an informative blog post or a funny video may be all it takes to grab their attention again and draw them back in.
2. USE Responsive DESIGN
Today’s users are becoming increasingly mobile. In order to continue to hold their attention, your website and mobile applications must be designed in a way that allows for easy use on any platform, whether it be a desktop computer or a mobile device.
Since mobile devices often have smaller screens, the content you deliver must be optimized accordingly, so that it looks great no matter what size screen your users are looking at. When you use responsive design, the layout and content will automatically adjust to the device it is being rendered on. In addition, your website or app can’t take too long to load, or users are likely to get frustrated and be reluctant to interact with your brand.
3. Create User Experiences Based On Target Audience
It’s important to understand your target audience and how they will be using your applications in order to ensure that you are providing the most relevant user experiences based on the problems they are trying to solve. For instance, in the medical device industry, the age and health of the user must be taken into careful consideration when designing an application.
A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) stated, “Healthy people stay engaged with mobile health devices longer than those managing a chronic disease, yet overall, device adherence by both groups drops over time due to device fatigue and the challenge of managing more than one device.”
In addition, older generations generally tend to shy away from mobile technology vs. younger demographics. Therefore; in the medical device industry, it would be important to design for both desktop and mobile users, so as to provide the best possible user experience regardless of the customer’s age or health.
4. Provide Exceptional and Relevant Content
Above all else, it is increasingly important to deliver content which is as informative and entertaining as possible. Whether your customers are at the beginning stage of the buyer’s journey, or they are ready to make a purchase, you must continue to provide consistent and engaging content.
Today’s users are much more visual, and require content that stands out from the rest of the digital noise out there. Including videos, images and other engaging media in your content is much more likely to entertain your users than simple text, which will increase the likelihood that they’ll continue to interact with your business or brand.
Being a successful business today requires much more than simply being visible to your customers. Your customers are being bombarded with information and images from many other online sources on a daily basis. If your message doesn’t inspire users to take action in a conscious effort to engage with your brand, it may fall into the abyss of marketing messages that didn’t succeed.
