The marketing world is shifting toward a relationship-driven model between brands and consumers. This change is driven by the sheer number of distractions and the increasing difficulty in decision-making. Today’s consumers want to feel a sense of trust with the brands they interact with.

Building this trust between a brand and its audience is an art—and at the core of this art lies customer engagement.

So where do you start?
Who can drive customer engagement?
Why is it so crucial, and how can you put it into practice?

What Exactly Is Customer Engagement?

Year: 1984
Researcher: Robert B. Cialdini, professor of psychology and marketing.
Key Finding: Once someone takes a small step toward an idea, they are more likely to follow up with behaviors aligned with that initial action.

What does that mean in practice?

If someone subscribes to a newsletter, answers a survey, or shares a thought—they’re more likely to become a paying customer or partner. That action is already “aligned with their inner self.” In other words, it matches their values and beliefs.

What’s the connection between this 1984 psychological insight and customer engagement today?

It’s simple: if you can trigger engagement, the door is already open. You can then present offers, increase sales, and turn customers into ambassadors who promote your brand.

Since Cialdini’s discovery, the marketing landscape has evolved dramatically.
Artificial intelligence, online shopping, and fully digital relationships between brands and consumers have taken center stage.

Today, customer engagement isn’t just about likes or email open rates.
It’s the full range of actions, emotions, and reactions that customers develop toward a brand over time. It’s a relationship built through consistent communication, positive experiences, and relevant content.

In a world where consumers expect instant responses and tailored experiences, engagement is the cornerstone of every successful marketing strategy.

Why Is Customer Engagement So Important for Your Business?

Engaged customers are more than just names in a database.
They’re an active, supportive community that propels your business forward.

Companies that generate real engagement benefit from significantly higher repurchase rates:
Engaged customers buy 90% more often and spend 60% more per order than unengaged ones.

Long-Term Brand Loyalty

Customers who build an emotional bond with a brand remain loyal, even when cheaper alternatives exist.
Studies show that brands that nurture emotional connections reduce churn by 63%.

More Organic Recommendations (Word of Mouth)

Engagement builds emotional connections that encourage customers to spontaneously recommend the brand.
According to Deloitte, engaged customers are three times more likely to recommend a brand than others.

Lower Customer Acquisition Costs

Engaged customers become your top ambassadors, reducing the need for paid advertising.
According to the Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining an existing one.
The stronger the engagement, the lower your acquisition costs.

How Can You Measure Customer Engagement?

Common metrics are well known:

• Email open and click-through rates

• Time spent on your website

• Number of repeat purchases

• Campaign response rates

• Cart abandonment rate

• Form submissions

But true measurement comes from customer data:

• What is the customer lifetime value (LTV)?

• How often do they return?

• Do they feel comfortable reaching out to customer support?

• Are they satisfied? Are they buying again?

• Do they naturally think of your brand when a need arises?

Your goal is to become the obvious solution. When a need arises, you want to be the first brand they think of.
Track what’s happening on the ground:
Look at how many customers seek you out, want updates, click, open, interact, buy…
Listen to them—and you’ll know if you’re on the right path toward deeper engagement.

What Are the Different Types of Engagement?

1. Emotional Engagement

This is the emotional connection to the brand—satisfaction, loyalty, a sense of belonging.
It can also signal social status: “I use this product too.”
This type of engagement is seen across industries: perfumes, watches, tools, cars…
There’s no doubt: emotional engagement boosts sales.

2. Behavioral Engagement

These are measurable actions: clicks, opens, purchases.
It’s an easily trackable form of engagement that helps assess your marketing impact.
Today, major brands strive to humanize themselves and become more accessible.
A key metric they monitor: user behavior toward their campaigns.

3. Social Engagement

This is mainly about social media.
It’s a powerful way to measure and drive engagement.
How many likes on your posts? How many comments, shares, or mentions?
It offers another lens into how your audience perceives you.

As part of your brand strategy, you’ll need to work on all three types of engagement—not just clicks or email opens.
This holistic approach will help drive engagement and ultimately impact your bottom line.

Why Should All Your Channels Be in One Platform?

The answer is simple: because of today’s complex world with its ever-growing number of tools and systems.
Having everything centralized allows for consistent measurement and a unified view.

Does a time-limited offer perform better via SMS than WhatsApp?
Is WhatsApp better for cross-selling?
What about an email offering a subscription renewal—would a text message work better?

These are all valid questions.
The only way to answer them is through experimentation and analysis—until you truly understand what resonates with your audience.

How Does Automation Fuel Customer Engagement?

With trigger-based automations, you can create personalized experiences without manual effort—freeing yourself from memory lapses and human error.

Some concrete examples:

• A customer abandons their cart → They automatically receive a reminder.

• A customer doesn’t open an email → They get the same offer by SMS instead.

• Their birthday is approaching → They receive a WhatsApp: “A surprise is coming soon…” to show you’re thinking of them.

That’s how you implement real-time, fully automated, personalized marketing that boosts engagement—without extra human resources.

So, What’s the Best Way to Drive Customer Engagement?

It’s a blend of data, automation, and the right channels—but most importantly, it relies on a single platform that can collect, analyze, send, and respond to customer behavior.

Using a complete data marketing platform—capable of managing all your data, automations, actions, and communication channels—lets you maximize every interaction with your audience, deepen engagement, and bring Cialdini’s insight to life:

Every small action you get them to take strengthens their sense of belonging to your brand—and makes them ready to go even further in the relationship.