CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT MAP

MARKETING

SALES
Advocacy &
Loyalty
CUSTOMER SUCCESS

Advocacy & Loyalty

Problem Platforms
Identification
Account Expansion
Online Feedback,
Communities Surveys
Advocacy & Loyalty
& VOC
Platforms
Personalization
Platforms
Personalization Benefit Assessment
Platforms
Relationship Building

Product/
Social Media & Service Gamification
Research
Online Communities Acquisition

Technology Product/ Service Implementation

Validation
Evaluation
VOC & Chat
eCommerce
Sites

Personalization Social Media &

Platforms Online Communities
Customer Engagement Map
The path toward World-Class Customer Engagement begins with the buyer’s journey.

In Demand Metric’s Customer Engagement Map, we present the journey from identification by the customer of the problem or need they are facing
(Problem Identification) to the ideal point when they become an engaged advocate of the brand, company, or product (Advocacy & Loyalty).

MARKETING
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Problem Identification
In this model, we view problem identification as primarily an
internal customer step with one proviso: if the prospect is already
a customer (even of another unit or division), best practices indi-
cate that triggers should be set through your CRM or database to
alert the sales team to a possible upsell or cross-sell opportunity.

Use Demand Metric’s Customer Engagement

Business Case to build a business case for your VIEW RESOURCE
problem or challenge.
 MARKETING 1 2
Research
This is a great, but often missed, opportunity for Customer
Engagement. In both B2B and B2C environments, prospects
begin their research with past experiences, referrals, commu-
nity exchanges, and website visits. Your company needs to be
ready for this kind of engagement.
This is where personalization platforms come in.
Use Demand Metric’s Personalization Vendor Matrix to
evaluate the vendors in this technology space.
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Personalization platforms offer a range of capabilities that include
targeting visitors based on origin and behavior, and providing
personalized content, messages, and offers to sophisticated
big-data driven analytics platforms make real-time product
recommendations and that can predict and adapt to customer
choices in real-time with targeted engagement strategies.
VIEW RESOURCE
 MARKETING 1 2
Technology Evaluation
At this stage, buyers are starting to make choices, zeroing in on
the product or services they are most interested in. They are
likely to engage the company, and if they are B2B, they may
present an RFP. The sales team gets the opportunity to directly
engage the customer.
The three platform solutions used to provide best practice
Customer Engagement at this stage are: Personalization plat-
forms, Voice of the Customer/Feedback/Chat platforms, and
Online Communities & Social Media platforms.
Personalization platforms that provide sentiment analysis,
behavioral targeting, and a 360-degree view of the customer
are critical here to drive the precise content the buyer is looking
for based on their exact buying criteria.
Use Demand Metric’s Voice of the Customers Vendor
Matrix for an analysis of the vendors in this space.
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Equally important at the customer contact stage are Feedback
and Chat platforms. VoC/Feedback Platforms offer a range of
engagement options, from surveys to social commerce engines,
that continually capture and provide customer input to improve
VoC engagement.
Feedback platforms often support omni- or multi-channel envi-
ronments and include detailed analytics and sophisticated
reporting options.
Chat programs provide the connection point to engage if the
visitor chooses. Basic chat sits passively on the Website waiting
for the customer. More sophisticated chat platforms track Web
visitor activity and offer a chat option at the exact point when the
visitor is most likely to want to engage.
VIEW RESOURCE
 MARKETING 1 2
Validation
At this stage, buyers have narrowed their focus to a short list of
vendors, usually no more than three.
Potential customers will ask for a demo, request a pilot program,
or use the free trial.
This is the company’s opportunity to improve engagement
using VoC platforms.
VoC, Feedback, and Chat platforms for website, social,
in-store, and product feedback focus on collecting, analyzing,
and leveraging customer feedback across all touch points
to increase conversion, drive in-store traffic, and measure
customer lifetime value (CLV).
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
VoC platforms engage the customer through the integration of
purchase activity, survey responses, social conversations, and
commentary.
First level VoC products offer a profile of the customer’s wants,
needs, and level of satisfaction with current solutions.
Sophisticated VoC platforms mine and aggregate data to
provide business insights that can be used to develop or
change the effectiveness of engagement programs.
Solutions mature from a single survey and post transaction
reporting to proactive actionable insights that drive Enter-
prise-wide decisions.
Between Step 4 (Validation) and Step 5 (Product/Service Acquisition)
Social Media and Online Communities become critically important to the
buyer’s journey. These networks and communities are full of customer
insights: forums, Q&A, group chats, posts, comments, lists, reviews, etc.
Customer Engagement in Social Communities goes beyond listening or
responding to comments.
Social data should be integrated into VoC platforms.
Beyond that, companies should consider creating a private Online
Community where they have more influence and control over community
activity, and better access to behavioral insights than in the big public
social networks.
Use Demand Metric’s Online Communities Vendor Matrix
for an analysis of the vendors in this space.
Several best practices stand out in Step 3 (Evaluation) & Step 4 (Valida-
tion) prior to reaching Step 5 (Product/Service Acquisition), which are:
1 Implement a 360-degree view of your customer profiles that
combine customer data from all sources.
2 Purchase a personalization platform or website personaliza-
tion application.
3 Create a VoC strategy for your organization, beginning with
solving any outstanding customer issues, and progressing to real-
time analysis of customer behavior to predict behavior, influence
the buyer’s journey, and guide the brand’s engagement strategy.
4 Consider creating an Online Community for your company
rather than relying exclusively on general social networks for
customer insights. Demand Metric’s Online Community Play-
book can help here.
VIEW RESOURCE
 SALES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Product/Service Acquisition
At the acquisition stage, if not before, the buyer connects with In B2B journeys, product/service acquisition becomes a more
the company. If it is an online purchase, the customer passes complex process. Vendors will often work with buyers on
through an eCommerce site. system design, customization, and implementation at this stage.
Self-service feedback systems often need to be augmented
A best practice here is to collect more than the purchase
with live support. Capturing the Customer Experience through
information. The site should collect satisfaction with buying
Customer Care is a key component of this stage.
process and current sentiment toward the company, brand,
and product; how and what motivated the purchase through
pop-up and/or a follow-up survey.

Ideally, that information should be integrated with any interest,

activity, or behavioral data collected in prior contact with the
company to provide a robust buyer profile.
 CUSTOMER SUCCESS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Product/Service Implementation
At the implementation or delivery stage, Customer Care can For marketers, it creates a better understanding of customer
really shine. Here education, training, and support are critical drivers as well as the opportunity for relationship building. For
as the company will be judged on the speed and quality of their system implementation, Gamification can help drive the adop-
responses. tion of new products, services, and technologies, both internally
and externally.
Gamification can be an asset to learning and adaption of new
tools for both employees and customers. Sales and Customer Care teams in particular can benefit from a
little gamified competition, and the metrics built into Gamifica-
Gamification incorporates game-design mechanics into
tion platforms are valuable to Operations.
non-game applications and environments to make them more
engaging, while adding a dimension of fun and competition. On the customer side, Gamification can drive social and commu-
nity activity around the new solution.
Gamification is a means to an end; and in broad terms, that end
goal is behavior change leading to customer excitement and
loyalty.

Use Demand Metric’s Gamification Vendor Matrix for

VIEW RESOURCE
an analysis of the vendors in this technology space.
 CUSTOMER SUCCESS 1 2
Relationship Building
Customer Engagement, at this stage, starts with ensuring that the
use of the product/service is flawless and enjoyable, and that the
desired outcome is realized by the customer. Interactivity is a critical
best practice for engagement in the relationship building stage.
Key platforms to focus on this stage are: Feedback, Chat and
VoC platforms, and Online Communities.
Best practices go beyond feedback and surveys to inviting the
new buyer to participate with others through Gamification and
Online Communities where they can build trusted relationships
not only with the company but also with peers. Active VoC
connections should do more than gauge satisfaction – they
should elicit ideas.
Online Community features, such as crowdsourcing and ideation
that build the foundation for advocacy, are valuable here.
When tied to Gamification, these activities will enable the
Community Manager to identify likely advocates for special
focus and reward.
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Best Practices at this stage include:
Begin by ensuring that Chat and Feedback mechanisms
are incorporated into your website with activity and
response tracking activated.
Provide Customer Care with an effective workflow so
issues are addressed quickly.
Implement a real-time VoC platform with multi- channel
support for all customer touch points.
Consolidate VoC data into one centralized database with
integration to the company’s CRM, Marketing Automation,
and ERP systems to provide actionable insights to key
stakeholders.
Create/expand your Online Community to foster advocacy.
 CUSTOMER SUCCESS 1 2
Benefit Assessment
At this point in the buyer’s journey, the customer should be
comfortable with the product or service, formed an attachment
from mild to strong with the company, and begun to uncover
any flaws or issues.
In this stage, engagement focuses on resolving issues (if any),
continuing to offer an enjoyable experience, and proactively
identifying ways to improve the customer’s loyalty.
The primary platforms to focus on here are Loyalty and Advo-
cacy platforms. For B2C brands, Loyalty platforms extend the
value of Online and Social Communities and infrastructure to
enable customer registration in programs, track purchases, and
offer referrals.
They provide mechanisms for earning rewards based on transac-
tions, such as coupons, special promotions, and advertisements.
Personalization platforms or capabilities help ensure that special
offers for customers are directly related to something that they
need or are looking for that day.
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
In the B2B space, the focus is on showing results. Results
range from increases in activity (shares, connections, etc.) to
upsell and/or cross-sell opportunities to measurable increases
in sales, revenue, and profits.
Best Practices in this stage are:
Use Demand Metric’s Advocacy and Loyalty Vendor Matrix
for an analysis of the vendors in this space.
Download Demand Metric’s Communications Touch Point
Diagram to ensure you plan out your customer contact points.
Ensure that Loyalty and Advocacy programs are tightly inte-
grated with analytics.
Use Demand Metric’s Customer Engagement Metrics Dash-
board to track the key metrics for your program.
 CUSTOMER SUCCESS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Account Expansion
At this stage, the ideal buyer is a frequent user of the product,
and a regular participant in Loyalty programs and Online
Communities. In the B2B space, the buyer would have finished
a product roll-out and is seeing measurable results.
Ideally, in B2B, you have gained a deep understanding of your
company’s position as a preferred vendor within the customer
organization, as well as the level of loyalty and advocacy behav-
iors your internal account champion has exhibited.

The engagement goal here is to upsell, cross-sell, gain share

of wallet, and receive quality referrals. The best practice
strategy is to have gathered the valuable data about the
behaviors, sentiments, and preferences of the customer.

Use Demand Metric’s Customer Lifetime Value

Calculator to determine your company’s CLV. Use
this information to plan a roadmap with the internal VIEW RESOURCE
champion on how to grow the account and lengthen
your relationship with them.
 CUSTOMER SUCCESS 1 2 3 4
Advocacy & Loyalty
Loyal advocates are not just buyers, they are creators. They
are creators of new customers by their enthusiasm for your
product and innovators for your new services. Best practices
at this step include creating private VIP communities, higher
level rewards, and more influence with the product, service,
and/or customer service improvements.
Use Demand Metric’s Customer Satisfaction Index
Calculator and Customer Advocate Database to
monitor your current and potential loyal advocates.
5 6 7 8 9 10
Increasingly, cutting-edge Online Community developers are
integrating the Online Community profile, social profile, and the
Net Promoter Score (NPS) to gauge both high levels of advo-
cacy and social influence.
Do not take these advocates for granted. Continue to engage
and reward them. Treat them like the gold they are.
VIEW RESOURCE
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