Quality Assurance Specialist Faith Manning

Let’s Get Engaged!

Faith Manning

Customer Success Officer

As a business owner or manager in today’s competitive marketplace, it’s not enough to just make a sale. Building lasting relationships through engagement can increase customer retention and brand loyalty. Providing excellent customer experiences, interacting with them on various social media platforms, responding to their queries and feedback and offering personalized solutions are ways to connect with your customers and keep them engaged and connected with your brand. Building relationships with your customers is a proven strategy to gain their trust and loyalty, contributing to your business’s overall success.
 
To attain a competitive edge, consider implementing innovative and interactive marketing strategies. By harnessing technology and creativity, companies can create experiences that leave a lasting impact on their customers, thereby establishing customer loyalty. Such strategies are a vital tool for businesses to remain relevant and competitive.
 
Gamification is an innovative approach that integrates game elements into non-game contexts. Adding rewards, challenges and points systems to your marketing campaigns can create a sense of fun and excitement that will enhance customer engagement and motivation, helping to keep your customers coming back for more.
 
Interactive content is a highly effective way to engage with your users and gather valuable data. It involves allowing your customers to actively participate in your brand through various means, including surveys, polls or quizzes. By doing so, you can enhance their experience and gain insights into clicks, views, interactions and other important metrics. Moreover, interactive content can generate more leads and sales for your business.
 
Personalizing content and communications for your customers is an excellent way to give your marketing efforts an edge. By tailoring your campaigns to the interests and preferences of your customers, you can create a more personalized experience that will resonate with them on a deeper level. This can include personalized email campaigns, targeted advertising and other forms of customized content.
 
For some businesses, social media is a critical tool in building lasting relationships with your customers. Building a strong social media presence and engaging with your followers can develop a sense of community around your brand and drive customer loyalty. Social media also provides a platform for customer feedback and allows you to respond to customer concerns and complaints promptly and effectively.
 
One business that utilizes all of these techniques is Duolingo, the language learning app.  When my oldest child wanted to learn Italian, she got started with Duolingo. After a week, it was evident to me that she was engaged and enjoying the learning platform and keeping up with her lessons. Then I started seeing funny memes featuring the app’s green owl mascot, Duo. It piqued my interest. Turns out — it’s a whole thing. 
Duolingo exploded on TikTok with their mascot at center stage. Their videos are hilarious, often featuring Duo in absurd situations – conducting séances, twerking on desks, or proposing to celebrities. But it’s not all just funny skits. With an audience of over 12.5 million, Duolingo also uses TikTok for educational content, incorporating quick language lessons and tips into their videos. This unexpected humor resonates with Gen Z and millennials, the platform’s core demographic. On Facebook, they reach a wider audience with success stories, while on Instagram, they are more motivational with tips, inspirational quotes and silly videos. Duolingo also encourages user-generated content by hosting challenges and trends. This fosters a sense of community and allows users to showcase their language skills in a fun way.
 
Learning a language with Duolingo is very game-like. There are recurring characters and tasks to perform such as typing in words, speaking the language and word recognition. You earn XP to open special challenges, and earn in-app rewards that enhance your experience in the app. Customizable user avatars bring you into the experience – literally. 
 
Focused on the user, Duolingo uses AI to customize each user’s learning experience so the lessons support your weaknesses and strengths, ensuring a challenging experience that is not overwhelming. The lesson’s difficulty progresses with your ability and often uses repetitive patterns to ensure you’re learning the material. Personalization of the lessons, notifications and email communications keeps the app centered on the user and drives engagement. You can even pay for a subscription that has different levels of push notifications: Encouraging Duo, Disappointed Duo and Passive-Aggressive Duo. Talk about personalization!
 
Combining these applicable and available technologies for engagement with a robust marketing strategy, Duolingo has become a leader in the educational learning apps landscape. 
 
Not every company is going to benefit from every technology available, but it is crucial to find ways to establish long-lasting relationships with your customers to ensure the success of your business. By studying available technologies and utilizing innovative and interactive marketing strategies that work for you, creating experiences that make lasting impressions on your customers and keep them connected with your business is possible! Whether through gamification, interactive content, personalization, social media or ongoing innovation, the key is to engage with your customers on a deeper level and create a sense of community and loyalty around your brand.