Dubbed the “backbone of our economy” many have pointed to small businesses as having the utmost importance and impact on the economy. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for over 95% of firms and 60%-70% of employment and generate a large share of new jobs in OECD economies.
Each day new brands enter the fray, having to compete with long-standing companies and untold millions of marketing campaigns delivered across a plethora of channels, both traditional and digital. Their only chance of success is in positioning their brand and company better and more efficiently than older, pre-existing businesses. The key is great customer engagement.
Customer engagement and its impact on the customer journey
There is a huge amount of talk today around the whole area of customer engagement but why is it so important, and what does it mean? How does customer engagement look in action, especially when you’re a business just starting?
The Mitto team knows a lot about the customer journey already: the numerous touchpoints that make it up, from initial search to purchase to post-purchase feedback and support. And we know that providing a good customer experience at each of those touchpoints is critical to building and maintaining a solid reputation for your brand. Yet we still see customer engagement being frequently overlooked – even by well-established companies – no matter how crucial it is to guide customers through their experiences with brands.
With events of 2020 now spilling over into 2021, economic frailties, and uncertainty looking to be part and parcel of our reality for months (if not several years) to come, it is even more critical for start-ups right now to plan their launch meticulously.
More often than not on a challenging, constrained budget, new enterprises need to extract maximum value from every cent they invest in the promotion of their goods/services and customer acquisition. This is exactly where CPaaS and the multiple digital channels that constitute it comes in to help you deliver fantastic client engagement that both surprises and delights.
When money is in short supply it can be very tempting to reach for channels that are free (think email) but stepping back and applying some objectivity to one’s mobile engagement strategy is required at this point. Think Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS.
Why SMS is the king of engagement
Nothing can dispute the fact that when used correctly A2P SMS trounces other channels in delivering quantifiable, measurable results, particularly compared to email. With well over 90% of successfully delivered SMS read, email cannot hold a torch to that. Yes, there is a charge for A2P SMS but it is of great value. When it comes to mobile engagement, going for the cheapest option is most definitely not the best option.
SMS is ubiquitous. No smartphone is required, no internet access. Altering content to meet the requirements of different market segments (e.g. by demographics) and personalizing each interaction to include (for example) the target recipient’s name are smart moves to make. This may take a little time to put together but this is so worth doing.
Whichever channels you choose to reach out to, make sure that your potential customers or partners feel valued. When you engage with people you are beginning to build relationships that could potentially last for years if and when cultivated correctly.
Using our easy to access, intuitive CPaaS solutions, Mitto does the heavy lifting for you. We enable you to interact with people professionally and positively, delivering your marketing, transactional and informative content rapidly and accurately worldwide. Leaving both existing and potential customers with a lasting, positive impression of your organization and your brand is something we enable each day for our many customers around the world.
