Last update: 20/05/2023

In a nutshell

This chapter explores the critical concept of "Engagement" in Laurent Bouty's Marketing Canvas Method, a fundamental sub-dimension of the broader "Customer" meta-dimension. We delve into the definition of engagement, its role in marketing strategy, and tools like NPS for measuring it. Two use cases - Green Clean and SupplyPro - illuminate the practical implications of engagement in business. The chapter concludes with an evaluation guide to help businesses understand their current engagement level and improve it for achieving their marketing goals.

In the marketing canvas

The Marketing Canvas is a powerful tool for entrepreneurs and non-marketers to build a robust marketing strategy. It consists of six meta-dimensions, each with four sub-dimensions, for a total of 24 sub-dimensions defining your Marketing Strategy. One of these sub-dimensions is “Engagement”, which falls under the CUSTOMER category.

Defining Engagement

At its essence, engagement encapsulates the extent and depth of interaction that consumers have with a brand. It's a barometer of their investment in a company's products or services, demonstrating their level of commitment beyond a mere transactional relationship. An engaged customer is one who, to some degree, feels a sense of connection and loyalty to your brand, and who is therefore more likely to advocate for your products or services, remain a long-term customer, and participate in a meaningful dialogue with your company.

Given the vitality of engagement, the question becomes, how can we understand, measure, and influence it? There are many tools for these tasks, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), which will serve as our example in this chapter. However, it is critical to remember that other metrics can also be used depending on your specific business context and objectives.

Tools for Engagement: The NPS Methodology

The NPS methodology segments customers into three groups based on their level of engagement: Promoters, Passives, and Detractors. Promoters are champions of your brand who will actively recommend your products or services. Detractors, on the other hand, may express dissatisfaction and may discourage others from interacting with your company. Passives fall in-between; they are neither actively promoting nor detracting from your brand.

The usefulness of NPS doesn't stop at categorizing customers. When you compare your NPS score with your competitors', you can gain valuable insights into your brand's standing in the market. This comparison can be achieved through an NPS study of your competitor's customer base or the broader market.

Translating Engagement Into Action

Understanding the levels of customer engagement and leveraging this understanding for your marketing strategy is crucial. Here's how:

If you do not have an NPS-like methodology in place, you are in the dark regarding your customers' engagement level. This ignorance can be a brake, limiting your ability to leverage your customer base or implement meaningful changes.
If you have an NPS-like methodology, and your score is above the market average, you're in an advantageous position. Your customers are more engaged than those of your competitors, creating an accelerator effect. This engaged customer base might buy more, recommend more, and complain less.
Conversely, if your score is below the market average, you may face challenges. Your customers may be less engaged than those of your competitors, acting as a brake on your success. They may buy less, recommend less, and complain more.

Use Cases

Let's consider two hypothetical scenarios to illustrate the above concepts: Green Clean, a consumer brand in the green cleaning products market, and SupplyPro, a Business-to-Business (B2B) industrial supply chain management service.

Green Clean

Green Clean recently began using NPS as an engagement tool. They found their score to be slightly below the industry average. Recognizing this as a potential brake on their success, they embarked on a strategy to increase their customer engagement. They introduced a new customer loyalty program and initiated a campaign highlighting their commitment to green, sustainable practices - aspects their research identified as highly valued by their target audience. By focusing on these areas, they hoped to turn neutral customers into promoters, thereby increasing their NPS score.

B2B Supply Chain Management Service: SupplyPro

On the other hand, SupplyPro, despite operating in a vastly different industry, also employed NPS and discovered they had a high score, indicating a strong level of customer engagement. They leveraged this by creating a referral program encouraging their promoters to recommend their service to other businesses. Their high engagement level acted as an accelerator, leading to a rise in customer acquisition and advocacy.

Evaluation and Improvement

A more comprehensive approach to evaluating and improving engagement involves quantifying your agreement with specific statements. On a scale from -3 (completely disagree) to +3 (completely agree), rate the following:

"I have the appropriate tools, such as NPS, at my disposal for measuring customer engagement."
"The level of detractors among my customers is helping me achieve my goals."
"The level of promoters among my customers is helping me achieve my goals."

These ratings provide an initial numerical snapshot of your current status regarding customer engagement.

A negative score implies that you might be facing a brake on your marketing efforts. For example, a negative score on statement 1 could indicate a lack of effective tools for gauging customer engagement. You would need to explore and implement appropriate tools like NPS to gather valuable customer insights.

If you find yourself disagreeing with statement 2, it suggests your detractors might be hindering your goals, and you might need strategies to either convert these detractors into promoters or at least prevent their potential negative impact on your business.

Disagreeing with statement 3 could mean that you're not fully leveraging your promoters. The challenge here is to tap into the potential of these customers, turning their enthusiasm into tangible business results.

Conversely, a positive score suggests an accelerator for your marketing goals. For instance, agreeing with statement 1 means you are equipped with the right tools for measuring customer engagement - a vital part of managing and improving it.

Agreeing with statement 2 implies that your detractors are not significantly harming your business, which is a good sign. But remember, complacency can lead to future brakes, so continuously working on improving satisfaction levels across all customer segments is vital.

Agreeing with statement 3 is an indication that your promoters are effectively contributing to your business objectives. This strong engagement can be leveraged further for enhanced business benefits, such as referrals or positive word-of-mouth advertising.

The sum of these ratings will offer insights into whether your current understanding and management of customer engagement are serving as accelerators or brakes towards achieving your marketing goals.

As you move forward, regular evaluations and adjustments will be necessary. Engagement isn't static - it's a dynamic aspect of your relationship with your customers that requires continual attention and effort to maintain and enhance.