5 effective strategies to increase your user engagement!

Generate positive emotions

Let’s start by discussing positive emotions’ benefits on user engagement. First of all, let’s go over their definition. Among others, these include:

• pleasantness, i.e., caring, warm behaviors
• enthusiasm generated by brand communication
• and even the feeling of freedom of expression

With the user, accumulation of these positive emotions improves user engagement, strengthening their emotional ties with the product/service (Pansari and Kumar, 2017). This strategy is particularly effective because it marks its independence from other user engagement factors. Thus, brands create touchpoints that are as enjoyable as possible to drive customer loyalty. (de Oliveira Santini et al., 2020)

Scientific research shows that fundamentally positive content improves users’ perceptions. Then, they are more likely to feel love or joy in front of a data offer, thus pushing user engagement (Jaakonmäki et al., 2017). In addition, positive emotions can help customers learn more about your brand and take ownership of your product/service line. The video below shows a TEDx talk on the importance of emotional engagement in learning processes.

Using relationship marketing to drive user engagement

Now let’s talk about the positive impact of relationship marketing on user engagement. Indeed, close ties with its audience promote customer conversion and push brands to adopt the precepts of referral marketing.

Let’s take the example of sports marketing. Doyle et al., 2020 assess the impact of athletes’ brand image on their followers’ engagement (on social networks). The authors of this research compare several digital communication approaches to identify best practices in this area. They come to the following conclusion: seeking to improve relationships with their followers promotes engagement. For example, a professional athlete publicly posting with their teammates will generate even more reactions and engagement.

Brands can build on this by putting themselves on display with their loyal customers or even with their business partners.

Transparency to gain user trust

Let’s continue our reflection on the relationship with users. Indeed, user engagement is even stronger when brands are trustworthy. This implies that brands must be transparent to gain the trust of their customers. By doing so, they increase not only engagement but also customer satisfaction.

To go further, de Oliveira Santini et al., 2020 bring us even more details. According to this research, the trust would have a largely visible positive effect on the engagement rate of a brand’s customers. Thus, the authors indicate that increased user trust could be achieved through brand transparency in their managerial implications.

This is what Mark Morin, an expert in customer experience, has been thinking. His TEDx talk on sustainable customer relationships is available below. It includes several tips and tactics for brands that want to get closer to their customers.

A strong and assertive brand image

Next, we highlight the importance of a differentiating brand image on your users’ engagement. In this case, brands opting for impactful, even aggressive marketing campaigns can do well. There are many ways to ensure a unique brand identity:

• convey strong messages but consistent with its values, as Dove did in a viral marketing campaign
• choose identifiable visual elements, typically through the brand’s logotype
• or even use an engaging narrative within its online ads

Let’s go back to the findings of Doyle et al., 2020. The authors use data from Major League Soccer athletes in the United States. They propose several strategic axes to generate engagement on athletes’ social networks. For example, they take the example of a new recruit in the league: he should orient his Instagram page towards sports performances, his personal life, and hobbies. Through this example, the research again shows the importance of relationships with followers to improve user engagement.

Gamification: a good solution to stimulate engagement

Finally, let’s consider the impact of gamification on user engagement! Indeed, the reward system, the feeling of victory, and the achievements of the customers stimulate all the user engagement factors previously mentioned. In other words, gamification:

• stimulates positive emotions
• simplifies the use of digital platforms
• and reinforces the user’s perceived sense of control

Then, brands can spin their content from a gamification potential to increase their engagement rate. Indeed, gamification perfectly integrates the precepts of user engagement and fits very well in the customer experience ecosystem. (Breidbach et al., 2014; Harwood & Garry, 2015)