Customer engagement is the buzzword and rally cry of the next decade. It’s easy to understand why. After years of exponential technological growth — the internet wasn’t even a thing until the 1990s and Facebook only goes back to 2004 — people want to engage with others face-to-face, form meaningful relationships and memorable experiences.
We’ve learned how to source goods and services as cheap as possible, and in doing so, have empowered other countries to supersede us on the economic stage, all the while shunning customer service, loyalty, and trust.
What we’ve learned, as a result, is that people would much rather buy from businesses they know, like, and trust — even if it means spending a few more dollars here and there.
Hosting your own live event can bring you face-to-face with your customers, create meaningful and memorable experiences all while providing impeccable customer service, engendering loyalty and building trust. As such, it can propel your entrepreneurial venture faster than any online campaign.
Live events provide the high-touch, personal, hands-on experiences and community that we crave. At the same time, they boost your credibility and authority to your attendees and tribe.
At the event itself, you get to network with those who are already interested in your services and build the rapport that helps them go from “thinking about it” to diving in headfirst.
Further, there is no better way to upsell your guests into higher-level and higher-touch services.
According to data collected and analyzed by Price Waterhouse Cooper, customer engagement is the number one predictor of customer purchase. Customers of brands that lead in customer engagement are seven times more likely to purchase from those companies.
44% of CMOs are choosing to prioritize the customer experience to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
65% of customers credit a positive customer experience as more influential to their buying decision than great advertising. And the corollary is also true. 32% of customers () say they’ll walk away from a brand after just one bad experience.
Your customers are craving a more personal relationship, and hosting a live event lets them experience your personality, brand, and services all in one dedicated place, without the distracting and all-too-noisy background of day-to-day stresses, Google and social media.
A live event puts you front and center before a captive (make that “captivated”) audience. During the event, your attendees are not comparing programs, tire-kicking or price-shopping. They are “all-in” and want more of you. All you have to do is deliver.
And, the right event put together with the help of a professional event planner can create the community, the customer engagement, and the shot of social adrenaline your customers are craving, while at the same time, driving leads, boosting sales, buzz and social engagement that turns ordinary brands into legendary ones.