How Brands Can Virtually Engage With Customers

Even before the pandemic, PwC research showed that 59% of global consumers surveyed felt companies had lost touch with the human element of customer experience. In fact, 75% of customers surveyed preferred to interact with a human versus an automated machine. 

If you are a B2C company, your most important stakeholder is a human being who is craving comfort, connection and a memorable customer experience. The question brands should be asking themselves isn’t is “how do I gain more market share”, but “how can I connect with my customers in a meaningful and relevant way.

In this uncertain era of the pandemic, people are craving that human touch and personal experience even more! Check out our tips on how to engage customers below:

Using social media to connect with customers

Social media platforms, once cluttered with advertisements for products, are now a space for brands to start online conversations, play games, set challenges and host workshops to engage with customers to make followers feel like they’re part of an online community. 

Social media gives brands an opportunity to connect with customers virtually and create a memorable experience. Disney, for example, wanted to engage and reward their most loyal Club Mickey Mouse fans during the launch of the fourth season of the popular variety series by having a Club Mickey Mouse Virtual F4NFEST.

The F4NFEST had the Club Mickey Mouse Mouseketeers directly interact with their fans by playing games, taking questions from fans, giving fans a platform to share their fan art and messages to the cast, as well as treating fans to a special preview of what Season 4 has in store. 

Get customers voting

The growth of the consumer voting phenomenon can be attributed to the success of many reality shows that get viewers involved by casting their vote for their favourite contestant. Even popular news websites such as BuzzFeed are populated with reader polls covering a variety of topics from the best pizza toppings, to people’s favourite superhero. 

Similarly, brands can engage their customers by giving them the power to decide something for your brand. For instance, Singapore Sports Hub got the public to decide how the National Stadium will be lit up on National Day. They invited the public to vote for their favourite light design out of three choices available, and spurred them to answer ‘What makes you proud to be Singaporean’ for a chance to win $560 worth of Kallang Wave Mall vouchers. 

Engage followers with fun challenges

From the Dalgona coffee trend, 30-day workout challenges, TikTok dance challenges, the pandemic has given rise to several social media challenges to keep netizens busy during lockdown.  

People are always keen to take part in fun social media challenges – especially when a prize is up for grabs! To promote the return of the Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sub, Subway Malaysia wanted followers to feel the heat by joining the #FeelTheHIIT Dance Challenge on TikTok that saw several challenge submissions with a total of 633 million views on the social platform. 

Give customers an escape

With more than a year of lockdowns and travel restrictions, Malaysian Airlines seized the opportunity to invoke a sense of nostalgia with an ASMR experience on social media. The Malaysian national carrier released a compilation of sounds that one would normally hear throughout their flight experience, including safety announcements, the hum of the plane engines in the air, the captain’s announcements, and so on. 

Small efforts such as these go a long way because customers are seeking more creative, entertaining and immersive experiences. According to Forrester, extended reality – which includes augmented, mixed and virtual reality technologies – is  set to increase this year.

Reward loyal customers

Loyalty programs have been around for centuries (since the 1700s in fact!), it’s hard to imagine life without them. 

During the lockdown, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur introduced their new loyalty program via their Pavilion Privileges membership where members could receive exclusive rewards and discounts at the shopping mall. On top of that, they also launched a new multi-feature mobile app for members to manage their Pavilion Privileges account and have access to interactive mall navigation, on-the-go mall updates and mobile-exclusive rewards to elevate their overall shopping experience. 

Customer engagement is the emotional connection between a brand and their customer. By creating more personal and engaging customer experiences, the hope is that not only your customers will buy more, but they will also help promote your brand and demonstrate more loyalty.

Need help engaging with your customers? Reach out to Mutant’s content and PR specialists at hello@mutant.com.sg

How To Keep Content Available During COVID-19

It’s 2020 and the rules have changed. Due to the global pandemic, content that may have worked for businesses last year may no longer work this year. Events are now highly restricted or banned, business travel is curtailed, and face-to-face meetings are discouraged, pushing many businesses into unusual circumstances. 

The economic disruption may also tempt some companies to suspend all marketing activities and “go dark” but this would be is a mistake. According to a survey of 25,000 consumers globally by Kantar, only around 1 in 10 consumers think brands should “go dark” during this time. And brands that do disappear from view saw a decline in awareness, posing an additional challenge of regaining lost ground.

With that in mind, here are a few ways your business can keep a stable content pipeline as we grapple with the new normal. 

Prioritise health and safety

People who engage your brand want to know what’s being done to keep them safe and healthy. 

Prepare a list of concerns people are likely to raise and address them right away. For example, you can share about additional steps your employees are taking to ensure customers’ safety, changes to your operating hours or processes, or actions you will take in case of an outbreak linked to your business. 

Include this in your social media posts. Place it on your website’s landing page as an FAQ section. Mention these health and safety guidelines in your brochures, videos, and other marketing and communications collateral. Assure people they have nothing to worry about. 

Update stakeholders on how you’re helping and adapting

Inform people how your business is making a meaningful difference in the community during this difficult time. It can be about how you’re sharing company resources for free, discounts and concessions offered to customers, or how you’re providing support to your own employees. 

Alternatively, you may also have products and services that can help make people’s lives easier during the new normal. If so, share how your products and services are making a meaningful difference and being a solution. 

Regardless of the format it takes, remember to show empathy and compassion. It’s a sensitive time for many people, so avoid any action or content that can be seen as trying to take advantage of a difficult situation.

Share insights about the new normal

Amid all the changes this year, you or your business may have gained new insights. Why not share it with your stakeholders? Businesses and consumers constantly want to know how the landscape has changed from last year. You might have discovered a radical approach to a unique challenge, statistics about new customer behaviour, or an observation about a specific industry. 

Raise awareness about your business by collecting and analysing these insights and sharing them with your stakeholders. Use what you’ve learnt to tell a story, be it through case studies, narratives, or facts and figures. 

Realise that 2020 is not just about COVID

While the pandemic has been a constant background presence this year, an overemphasis on this issue may result in COVID fatigue. Help people take their mind off the pandemic by focusing on non-COVID current issues or life after recovery. 

For example, as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, many companies have begun to lead conversations about promoting workplace diversity and inclusion. You can also inspire your stakeholders to think about and start preparing for life after the recovery phase. 

Collaborate with others

Consider finding a trusted partner to help extend your reach, complement your weaknesses, or develop synergies. For example, you can partner with firms that can help you establish an online presence and build up your digital capabilities. It doesn’t have to be limited to just companies: Partnerships can happen with known personalities, non-profits, and government agencies.

Want to build a steady content pipeline of content and do not know how to go about it? We can help — write to us at hello@mutant.com.sg.

 

A Dummy’s Guide To Working With An Agency

When it comes to agencies, you don’t really associate them with Greek philosophers.

But if we’re going to ask the question that you came here for, then we’re going to go back a couple of millennia. To Plato’s Republic to be specific. He said:

“Well then, how will our state supply these needs? It will need a farmer, a builder, and a weaver, and also, I think, a shoemaker and one or two others to provide for our bodily needs. So that the minimum state would consist of four or five men….”

It’s a bit of a weird way of saying it, but what our mate Plato states here is the basic idea of division of labour. That economies work best when people do what they are good at, rather than trying to do everything. 

So, when do you need an agency? 

Well, as the farmer or weaver specialise in farming or weaving, the modern-day agency is a specialist in communications – whether it’s PR, creative, design, social, or whatever. If you can’t feasibly do something internally, for whatever reason, then it’s time to look at hiring an agency. 

We know that this decision can be down to a few factors, so to make it easy, think about the SCOPE of what you’re wanting to do.

STANDARD: Could I do this job internally, and ensure it is of high quality?

The first and easiest question to ask yourself is whether you can actually do this job to the standard you need. Anyone can paint a picture, but to create a work of art you need a capable artist. 

COST: If I could do this in-house, will it actually save me money?

This is biggest hurdle to hiring an agency. Fun fact: every employee costs money to a business (including you) so when it comes to doing a project or ongoing work, whether it’s an external agency bill, or an internal salary bill, your company will be paying for the work.

Assuming that you have the same capability internally as the agency, and you’re weighing it up just on cost, there’s a simple test you can do. Quantify your hours, figure out the real cost of your salary (and the opportunity cost of you not working on other things), and compare that to what the agency has quoted you. 

EXTERNAL OPINION:

Everyone thinks their baby is the cutest, but as we know, it’s not always the case. Unlike a biased mother, when it comes to brand communications, you don’t want someone from inside the business to be the judge of how the brand is perceived externally. Having someone external work on your business is a great reality check and a good agency will be a great bullsh*t detector, taking the position of your audience when it comes to ideas and communication. 

PRODUCTION: 

This one is easy. Agencies are employed to not only come up with concepts, but actually execute them. Sometimes they can do this internally ( stuff like design, writing, etc), and sometimes (like in TV, photography, experiential) they employ production partners to do the job. This is a key element of an agency’s value. 

They do all the sourcing, vetting, quality control, third party payments, and negotiations – an enormous, time-consuming task. As the client, all you have to do is agree to the overall timeline and the cost, and the agency should take care of the everyday minutia. 

END RESULT:

One of the great advantages of employing an agency to do the job is that they are accountable. Because you’ve paid for the work and agreed to a scope, you should expect results. Being super clear on what you expect before the work starts is imperative, and will ensure you can see the real value of the agency and decide whether you want to use them again.

If after this process you’ve come to the decision that you need an agency, well, then you need to find a good one. Easier said than done, but lucky for you, we know a good one you might want to try. Talk to us at hello@mutant.com.sg