[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/05\/21\/buzzwords-defined-4-forms-of-customer-engagement\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/05\/21\/buzzwords-defined-4-forms-of-customer-engagement\/","headline":"Buzzwords defined: 4 types of customer engagement","name":"Buzzwords defined: 4 types of customer engagement","description":"The four types of customer engagement: Contextual engagement, engagement of convenience, emotional engagement, and social engagement make options unlimited for marketers who want to understand, predict, and monitor engagement levels.","datePublished":"2015-05-21","dateModified":"2024-05-01","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/andy-odell\/#Person","name":"Andy O'Dell","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/andy-odell\/","identifier":97,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4952deb942355cc6aedfb6771fe042edf718c47d9977d7a68b7de7cc661b5bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4952deb942355cc6aedfb6771fe042edf718c47d9977d7a68b7de7cc661b5bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/types-of-customer-engagement.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/types-of-customer-engagement.png","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/05\/21\/buzzwords-defined-4-forms-of-customer-engagement\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sales\/crm\/","name":"CRM","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_relationship_management","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q485643"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/customer-engagement-marketing\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-engagement-58\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-experience-general\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/social-media\/","name":"Social Media","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Social_media","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q202833"]}],"wordCount":787,"keywords":["CRM | Customer Relationship Management","Customer Engagement","Customer Experience | CX","Data","Digital Commerce","Digital Marketing","E-commerce","Omnichannel","Retail","Social Commerce","Social Media","Trends"],"articleBody":"Engagement \u2013 Noun: The action of engaging or the state of being engaged.While engagement is a popular buzzword today, it’s often misunderstood in commerce as an event rather than a state of being. This traditional way of thinking about engagement is driven by lack of insight about what’s happening across a company\u2019s consumer base regardless of time, channel, or segment. Previously the only way an organization could define engagement was though transactions.That\u2019s not the case anymore.With new technologies like consumer-management platforms, options are unlimited for marketers who want to understand, predict, and monitor engagement levels \u2013 not just transactions \u2013 and marry those disparate data points together to create a real-time picture of the way various types of customer engagement affect the brand.      Real customers, engaged with your brand: Enter data authentication                In a cookieless future, data authentication is key to creating customer relationships and understanding the intent of collected data in downstream systems.      Four types of customer engagementThere are four key types of customer engagement:Contextual engagementEngagement of convenienceEmotional engagementSocial engagementContextual engagementWithout context, “engagement” is just noise.Contextual engagement is possible through technology that helps marketers understand what an individual consumer\u2019s behaviors \u2013 both historically and in real time \u2013 say about them.Marketers can use this understanding to help them accomplish their goals in context to the brand, the time of day, their location, their history and other aspects of their profile. The result: a more successful individual experience. For instance, brands and retailers can send coupons to consumers based on previous purchases or push an in-store notification to them with a special offer based on their purchase history.Engagement of convenienceAmazon\u2019s recently launched Dash Button is the perfect example of this type of engagement. Consumers can attach this button wherever they store or use particular household products. When they are running low, they simply press it and \u2013 like magic \u2013 Amazon delivers the items they need to their door.Eliminating the need for consumers to leave their homes makes their lives more convenient by enabling them to simply say yes (to a new order of a particular product) and move on.Consumers will engage because it’s easy. Any type of interaction that increases convenience also allows the brand or retailer\u2019s systems to gain a better understanding of each consumer\u2019s individual needs, buying cycles, triggers and price points, which can in turn be used in order to maximize value of that transaction (emotionally, financially, contextually) to reinforce the desire to buy.Emotional engagementEmotions are often overlooked as the key driver behind engagement and loyalty. Humans are emotional creatures, so delivering contextual relevance and convenience to consumers goes a long way in reinforcing the emotional value they unconsciously invest a brand.With the exception of aspirational brands, 99 percent of \u00a0brand buying decisions consumers make stem from some other unconscious emotional space.Historically,\u00a0these emotional bonds were\u00a0exclusively tied to marketing (colors, images, messaging) or personal memories and experiences. The more personal aspects of this type of engagement weren\u2019t accessible to marketers because there was no way of understanding or acting on any insight\u2014if you had that data.Consumer-management technology\u00a0allows for this understanding on a 1:1 basis at scale because a good system tracks\u00a0millions of data points that together paint a very specific picture of an individual\u2019s own ideal environment for making decisions on what to buy, when and how often.      It’s emotional: CX, competition, and the experience economy                these days, there\u2019s a lot riding on delivering a positive customer experience - emotions in CX need to be considered and understood whenever possible.      Social engagementSocial engagement is the litmus test of success. If all of the above are aligned with an individual, the real-time output is social advocacy, or the Mecca for most brands. I have more influence over the buying decisions of my network than any marketer\u2014or\u00a0what is now known as influencer marketing.If I have a good experience with a brand, it\u2019s so easy for me to share it via my social channels, which in turn influences others to seek out the experience.It’s clear that engagement\u00a0has little to do with the actual transaction and more to do with interactions before and after an actual purchase.For brands, understanding the different types of customer engagement and having the technology in place to make sense of the onslaught of data points to create a more 1:1 engagement experience is critical to creating and nurturing those crucial customer relationships.  The friction is REAL when it comes to the modern buyer’s journey.\u00a0Fortunately, there’s an omnichannel solution. Download the report NOW."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2015","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"05","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/\/05\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"21","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/\/05\/\/21\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Buzzwords defined: 4 types of customer engagement","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/05\/21\/buzzwords-defined-4-forms-of-customer-engagement\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]