As we reflect on the past year, we are most grateful for our customers, our co-workers, and our passion for empowering marketers like you, with top-notch marketing automation

We realize that doing great work does not only require the right tools, but also the right skills and mindset. And having a strong customer focus, meaning that you really understand and engage your customers, is an important part of a successful marketing strategy.

That is why, to celebrate the holidays, we want to share a few of our tips on how to best engage customers. So, if you are as enthusiastic about customer marketing as we are, here are a few ways you can enhance your efforts in 2019.

1. Drive traffic with fresh content

We’ve written several blog posts about the importance of content in the past year, such as this one and this one, and the reason why is that it is still an excellent way to attract more inbound traffic, offer useful information to leads and, of course, engage current customers.

While whitepapers and eBooks are a great tactic when it comes to moving leads through the sales funnel, you should also aim to create fun and refreshing content for your current customers. Make sure to diversify your efforts and create compelling content in various formats like video, podcasts, webinars, and storytelling infographics. Variety keeps things interesting for your current customers and drives engagement.

For example, the video above was just one component of our customer newsletter, which features tips and advice, shines the spotlight on customers who are doing brilliant things, and informs our customers of upcoming events. These types of efforts not only ensure that your customers feel like they are always top of mind, but also offer them something beneficial that enables them to continue to see the value of your service or product.

But, focusing on content that is just fun is also very important. The video, in particular, is intended to remind our customers that we care about them and show them a different side to our company, rather than push our product.

2. Connect with your customers and collect feedback

Whether it’s a quick email, a check-in phone call or invite to an event, nothing makes customers feel more special than seeing you make an effort to personally reach out to see how they are doing and gather their feedback. This gesture demonstrates good marketing and customer service, and inspires loyalty among your consumers. Being able to connect with a person, not just a brand, is a great way to remind them that you have their best interest in mind and are committed to enhancing their life in some way.  

More importantly, taking the time to touch base with customers is beneficial to you as a marketer because it’s a great opportunity to collect insights that can inform and strengthen your future marketing efforts. For example, a conversation with a customer can lead to your next great content idea. Or, you’ll learn from them what is a hit or miss when it comes to engaging customers, which will help you improve the personalization of your future marketing efforts.

3. Make it personal

Speaking of personalizing your marketing efforts, it is truly important to connect with your audience in personal, high-touch ways that show them they are important and top-of-mind. This goes beyond including their name in an email, and requires you to know a thing or two about the customer you’re speaking to, such as their industry, interests, and primary pain points.

But, personalizing your marketing is much simpler and efficient than you think. The right marketing automation tool, like Act-On, provides you with tools to collect customer information, enables you to segment customers into specific lists so you’re always sending them relevant and tailored information, and includes a variety of templates allowing you to easily send emails and build landing pages that appeal to each of your customer segments. We are marketers like you. We know your pain and your challenges and are here to support you on your quest to become a marketing superstar.

To end, we wish you a very happy holiday season and a new year filled with marketing magic. We hope that these tips serve you well in the new year, and we’re excited to hear which of these you’ll be implementing into your marketing strategy in the upcoming months. And of course, in the spirit of this post, we know that we can also learn from our customers, so we’d love to hear your tips for better customer engagement as well.