Investing in your customers

When investing in your customers it’s important to have an engagement strategy that is specific to a variety of different groups.

Different customers require different strategies – and some require more investment than others. When conducting your plans, it’s important to ensure that you’re talking to the right customer in the right way and making the most of the resources you have. We at realestate.co.nz have built a customer engagement strategy that included identifying our audiences and strategically investing in them to deliver results that grow brand awareness, engagement and ultimately the bottom line. 

When developing an engagement strategy, consider what types of customers you have and how they predominantly engage with your brand, as different groups engage in different ways. An analogy that we like to use when establishing different customers is grouping them as ‘dogs’, ‘fish’ or ‘cats’. 

Your dogs

Your dogs are your loyal followers. They believe in what you do, love your product, and are engaged with you on your journey. Their loyalty to you means that they don’t need much investment, if any at all - a light pat and scratch behind the ears will be all they need to keep them happy. Don’t spend your money marketing to this audience as they’ll stick with you because they want to be there.

Your fish

Your fish are the group that are easily swayed but also forget quickly. They know your brand but aren’t necessarily a loyal follower, as they often float away to keep up with the next new trend or technology. This is the group you need to invest in. By ensuring your brand and new products are marketed well, you’ll keep your brand in the top of their mind and they’ll continue to float your way. They’re an influential group too, so by investing in them, their friends are likely to follow suit. 

Your cats

Your cats are never going to be your friend, they are the type of customer who you can bend over backwards for but they will still find a reason to complain. They cost your business in time, energy and money, and are people you don’t want to do business with – so don’t. You don’t need to focus on every single customer as you can’t keep everyone happy all of the time, it is more worthwhile to focus on those that you can please.

When building our customer engagement strategy, we at realestate.co.nz have chosen to invest in our fish. We invest in quality over quantity, so we put our investments into customers where we see the most results. Consider the resources you have and know where your strengths lie, it’s ok to not to actively engage with those who don’t add value to your brand. By being strategic when investing in your customers, you can deliver valuable results that will help grow brand awareness and engagement.