by Kidpreneurs 15 Aug 2019

With the continual evolution of social media and smartphones, there has never been a better time to capitalize on starting and running a kidpreneur business. These advances in technology allow for business owners and customers to practically be instantly accessible at all times.  

This means that conversations can happen, feedback can be given, and new ideas shared between the people that matter the most:  the kidpreneur offering a product or service and their current and potential customers. 

At the heart of these exchanges is the concept of engagement and it’s a critical component to running a successful and rewarding business.  Customer engagement is the ongoing act of communications and interactions between a company and it’s customers. 

Engagement can happen in a variety of forms, including online through social media outlets, marketing efforts, email campaigns, or during the process of purchasing.  Engagement also occurs offline, through traditional mailing efforts (such as advertising, newsletters, the shipping process) as well as through word-of-mouth engagement.

The overall customer experience relies heavily on how positive or negative the engagement experience is for the customer.

Below are four ways that customer engagement makes a difference to a business and profits as well as four easy ways that any kidpreneur can dive into customer engagement starting today.

How Customer Engagement Make a Difference

1. 1. Brand Identity:  How a company interacts with their customers ultimately helps to create and maintain a brand identity.  This directly correlates to customer loyalty to your company based on how your brand makes a customer feel.
   2. Customers Feel Valued:  Based on our experience as entrepreneurs, we can tell you that the way you interact with your customers and clients reflects back on your company in big ways. Reaching out directly to customers, soliciting their feedback, and creating a community around your company are all ways to ensure your customers feel valued, respected, and heard.  In turn, they likely will continue to purchase your products and services.
      
   3. Gain New Ideas:  Never underestimate the power of feedback from your customers.  Many are willing to offer their great ideas on how to improve your products or services.  This kind of input is priceless when it comes to innovating or scaling your business because it costs you nothing and gains you everything!
      
   4. Future Opportunities:  Stellar customer engagement generally creates a sense of community that can connect you to potential collaborations, partnerships, and other valuable business opportunities.  This is networking at its finest and only takes a small, but dedicated, portion of your time to create.

How to Build Customer Engagement

These are ideas that kidpreneurs of any age can learn to do, especially with the guidance and support of a parent or other role model.

1. 1. Address Reviews:  Most every business has an outlet in which a customer or client can leave a review of the products or services provided.  It’s important to remember to address any negative reviews quickly by following up with the customer and acknowledging their concerns in a respectful manner. Many times, you may be able to convert an unhappy customer into a happy customer!  It’s just as key to thank customers that leave a positive review as well.
      

   2. Interact on Social Media:  Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube bring customer engagement right to your fingertips.  Schedule a consistent time to reply to comments, post questions or ideas, or share inspirational stories relating to your your products, services, and customers. Your presence on social media speaks volumes!
   3. Create a Membership Site:  Depending on what product or service you offer, you may want to consider creating a membership website. This is not only a potential passive stream of income, but does wonders for creating an engaging community of customers and clients. Your membership site can provide them with exclusive content, discounts, and resources.
   4. Host Giveaways: One of the most fun and simple ways to create exciting engagement is to sponsor a contest or giveaway. You’ll gain followers and potential customers as well as strengthen your bond with your current customers.  
   5. 1.  

Customer engagement is a way to not only boost business but helps to boost life skills such as interpersonal communication, strategic thinking, integrity, problem solving, and creativity.

Don’t forget to make customer engagement fun, unique, and aligned with your brand and you’ll likely reap the ongoing rewards for years to come.