ROUND 1 - Fight!

Chapter 11: Engagement Marketing for Brand Affinity Harnessing the Power of Mobile Apps, Social CRM and Gamification

There is a need to move customers from act to advocacy. There are three methods that help improved customer behavior.

Mobile Apps

The use of mobile apps now are being used to engage the customers. It can be launched as media for content, self-service channels or integrated into the core product or service experience. There must be a need to have hassle-free apps that would enhance your product experience. Back end support is also key to any good mobile app. There are some basic steps that must be considered.

1. Determine Use Cases

Frustration points of the customers must be determined by the marketers. This can be achieved through proper market research. Customers' lives must be made easier.

2. Design key functionalities and user interface

The use of SoLoMo (social,location and mobile) is being used by most successful branded apps. Petron has its own mobile app which probably lacks on the social aspect. You need to combine all three elements. 3. Think about the back-end support If the app has no back-end interface there is no way it can integrate with other support elements such as back office and other third-party partners. Marketers need to understand that the apps cannot stand on their own.

Social CRM

Kotler explains that traditional CRM is typically company-driven while Social CRM is more customer driven. In a Social CRM environment, conversations play a major role in inbound inquiries which are solved through social media.

There are 3 use cases of Social CRM, (1) to listen to the voice of the customer, (2) to involve brands in general conversations and (3) to handle complaints that potentially lead to brand crisis. There are also three steps to follow for you to implement a Social CRM.

STEP 1 : Build sense-and-respond capabilities

Software is needed to record the reactions or actions of our customers. Various algorithms are needed to monitor, filter and prioritize the conversation. Eventually, brands need to make a positive impact

STEP 2: Develop and empower social CRM agents

Agents must be properly connected. Human-to-human interaction is still needed to develop a social CRM platform. Our customer care agents must be able to represent the company for and behalf of the brand.

STEP 3: Leverage community involvement

Loyal advocates need to act as responders to help in the social media communities. They will also act as volunteers. Companies need to reward such contributing members with special privileges such as badges and points.

Gamification

We need to increase customer engagement through non-game contexts. (loyalty programs customer tiers). Our Petron Value card provides such and product discounts as well.

Humans desire to take advantage of higher goals. Stronger affinity would be realized when customers are able to have continuous interactions with companies. We can also gain data with the use of gamification. Our Value card is able to provide analytics on the usage of fuel per customer. For customer engagement to work, the 3 step to follow are:

STEP 1: Define actions to trigger From time to time, Grab would offer free rides to its riders. Another example is ice cream loyalty cards. Marketers should encourage our customers to do reviews STEP 2: Define customer enrollment and tiering

A tiered-point system can also help motivate customers feel valued. You can also segregate your customers into the right income bracket. It would be easier to work on the act to advocate program. Birthday point gifts are also encouraged.

STEP 3: Determine recognition & rewards

Some customers would like to be part of the privileged club through the tiers. Other customers would rather go for instant gratification without getting any points. I still recall the time at McDonalds, customers could order smiles for free! Marketers need to determine which type of recognition to go for.

For us to promote purchase to advocacy, there needs to be a balance of the use of the three popular techniques. At the end of the day, Marketers must be able to improve customer behaviors.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

A. How can mobile apps, social CRM, and gamification help you engage your customers?

Since Petron already has an existing mobile app and value card system, we are already able to obtain big data and obtain analytics from the customers while at the same time potentially developing loyal advocates willing to be part of the social community. Our gasoline attendants also assist the motorists in providing the best Petron experience.

B. What are the challenges of executing customer engagement programs in your business?

A lot of our motorists normally load up at our station due to location first then product second. Our Petron Customer Interactive center needs to upsell as well to help promote the brand. It would be quite difficult to convince our main clients in using our product since they do not make use of social media. A lot of Social CRM is needed for these type of customers.

We need to engage in our younger crowd in accepting our new programs since they have a low attention span. Bloggers can help in the influencing of potential customers.

Employees must also be believers of our products and good communicators.