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2014). Lo et al. (2016) found that restaurant deals posted on Thursdays had the highest
rates of return than any other day of the week. P4 expressed that posting at specific times
of day was key in capturing the most attention by saying, “I try to
post at the right time
on each of the platforms. Instagram is definitely at night; between 5 and 7 o’clock. So I
really try to remember to post to Instagram during that timeframe. Facebook is in the
middle of the day.” Peak times for maximum effect for Facebook and Instagram were
between 12 pm and 4 pm, while most responses to postings on Twitter occurred between
4 pm and 8 pm (Srinivasan et al., 2016). All study participants
developed successful
content creation and delivery strategies that allowed them to maximize customer
engagement.
Emergent Theme 3: Customer Engagement and Retention
Google searches for the phrase customer engagement went from 0 prior to 2007 to
over 6 million by 2017; however, research in customer engagement is lacking
(Harmeling, Moffett, Arnold, & Carlson, 2017). With the increased usage of social
media, marketing experts changed communication methods and included social
networking sites in their business strategies (Dijkmans et al., 2015).
Marketers must
understand how to leverage social media platforms to engage customers. P5 stated that
engagement strategies should be adaptable to meet the changing needs of customers.
Marketers should pay close attention to customer responsiveness to certain engagement
strategies to determine effectiveness and adjust accordingly.
Retailers used social media in-application messaging and notifications as another
method to communicate and engage with customers (Zhu et al., 2014). Benefits of
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customer engagement
included brand loyalty, trust, and satisfaction (Zheng et al., 2015).
Customer engagement improved value co-creation (Jaakkola, & Alexander, 2014) and
business leaders created engagement strategies that leveraged and maximized this
phenomenon. There was a positive correlation between customer engagement and
product knowledge (Keng et al., 2014). Marketers should design strategies that focus on
improving customer relations and that involve heavy engagement within multiple online
communities (Yap & Lee, 2014).
The goal of customer retention was to forge long-term relationships with active
and new customers that were mutually beneficial (Alshurideh, 2016). Table 3
shows the
study participant’s Instagram followers, who represent a variety of existing and
prospective customers. Study participants were concerned with customer retention
strategies such as providing excellent customer care and positive interactions. P1 noted
that customers’ needs changed over time and it was important
to reevaluate business
practices to account for those changes and to incorporate new customer preferences.
Koosha and Albadvi (2015) concluded that retaining existing customers and acquiring
new customers were both important to long-lasting businesses. A strong social media
presence increased brand awareness and trust and positively affected the ability of
businesses to retain customers (Srinivasan et al., 2016).
Srinivasan et al. (2016) concluded that SMM and brand trust positively influenced
customer retention, which had a strong influence on market share.
Repeat customers
shared their positive experiences with others and were thought of as trustworthy by their
peers (Alshurideh, 2016). Satisfied customers were more likely to have brand loyalty and
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recommend business through positive word of mouth (Biedenbach, Bengtsson, & Marell,
2015). P4 had more face-to-face interaction with customers and developed engagement
strategies that created brand trust, credibility, and customer loyalty.
Referred customers
had higher contribution margins and retention rates than customers acquired using other
strategies (Van den Bulte, Bayer, Skiera, & Schmitt, 2018). All study participants
explained that word-of-mouth advertising generated business from prospective
customers. P4 offered incentives to existing customers when
they made referrals and saw
a significant increase in new customers and revenue. Customer retention was critical to
business survival (Alshurideh, 2016). Study participants agreed that long-term customer
relationships were an important part of their business strategy.
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