Customer education opens doors for your business, allowing you to cultivate buyers who are happy, motivated, and decisive. Creating engaging customer education experiences can reduce the volume of support calls your team needs to field, promote brand loyalty and client retention, and expand your customer base through referrals.
To put this into practice, you need dynamic, energetic tools that engage your audience’s senses, creating a lasting positive impression. Video is an exceptional choice for customer education. Convenient and compelling for most audiences, it is also exceptionally reusable, providing long-term value. Product demos and head-to-head comparisons can be very persuasive in the pre-sale phase of the customer journey, adding authority and authenticity to sway buyers your way. Tutorials and troubleshooting videos remind your customers after the sale that they are valued and supported, fostering trust, goodwill, and brand loyalty.
Video has its limitations, however. Visual attention is a precious commodity, which some audiences may not be able to spare. Audiences who need to keep their eyes on what they are doing—such as technicians servicing equipment or any road warrior—can be reached through their ears. Audiobooks, podcasts, and other aural media allow busy professionals to multitask while they engage with your support content, a win on both sides of the equation.
Touch is a too-often neglected portion of the sensory spectrum. Humans are inherently tactile creatures, reveling in touching and playing with things within our reach. Interactive touchscreens let you leverage that visceral impulse to create intimate experiences where your audience creates their own content flow. Touchscreen retail displays and trade show booth kiosks are prime uses for this immersive technology, offering the added benefit of tracking user engagement data so you can precisely monitor your audience’s interests.
For a true sensory bonanza, though, nothing can compete with customer education events. Face-to-face exhibitions and informational seminars allow new and repeat customers to engage directly with your brand. This leads to better understanding of your business as they experience the tangible benefits of your products or services. Allowing clients to see and feel—and, in some cases, smell and taste—what your brand delivers leaves an indelible impression that can translate into long-term, fruitful relationships.
While virtual events, like webinars and online talkbacks, may not offer the same depth of sensory experience, they can help you to reach a wider audience on a more modest budget. Choosing a robust platform and investing in strong production values will help to maximize your impact.
In-person, virtual, and hybrid events also offer the added bonus of connecting customers with each other, as well as with your brand, creating synergies that other channels don’t offer. A well-run event with ample networking opportunities can plant the seeds for brand-loyal customer communities spreading the word about the work that you do.
Any of these tactics can work well on their own, but a curated blend will extend your reach and sustain your audience’s interest for the long haul. Adopting a multi-sensory, experiential model for customer education will yield tangible results for your business, including boosted sales, improved customer satisfaction, and enduring client retention.