Customer Engagement vs Customer Experience: Way to Your Business Success

What is the difference between customer engagement and customer experience? And why does it matter for your business? These are some of the questions that many marketers and business owners are asking themselves in the era of digital transformation and customer-centricity. 

In this blog post, I will discuss the concepts of customer engagement and customer experience, how they differ, how they relate, and how they can complement each other to create a loyal and satisfied customer base. 

I will also share some of the best tools and practices to enhance your business’s customer engagement and experience strategies. Let’s get started!

Customer Engagement vs. Customer Experience: Understanding the Terms

Customer engagement and customer experience are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings and implications. Let’s explore them in more detail: 

Understanding Customer Experience

Customer experience (CX) refers to how customers feel or perceive the whole series of encounters when they buy goods or services or interact with a company. It is not just about the quality of the product or service but also about the emotions, expectations, and memories the customer associates with the company.

 

Customer experience highly influences customer loyalty, retention, satisfaction, and advocacy. A positive customer experience can lead to repeat purchases, referrals, and positive word-of-mouth. 

 

On the other hand, customers who have a negative and frustrating experience with your brand are more likely to switch to your competitors, share their complaints online, or discourage others from buying from you.

 

Your business’s performance and growth are also impacted by customer experience. This allows you to reduce costs by increasing customer retention, reducing customer churn, and enhancing customer lifetime value.

 

According to a study by Forrester Research, companies that excel in customer experience outperform their peers in revenue growth by 5.1 times on average. (Source)

 

Customer experience can be measured by satisfaction, loyalty, advocacy, or retention metrics. Customer experience can also be influenced by quality, value, convenience, or support factors.

Customer Engagement

Customer engagement is another key concept you need to know when comparing it with customer experience. Customer engagement, or CE, is the degree of interaction and involvement a customer has with a brand, product, or service across various touchpoints and channels.

 

It can be influenced by many factors, such as the content, incentives, personalization, or gamification of the product or service, as well as the interactions and communications with the company’s staff or representatives.

 

Customer engagement affects your customer acquisition, retention, and revenue. Customers engaged with your brand are more likely to buy from you, stay with your business, and refer your products to others.

 

On the other hand, customers who are not engaged with your brand will ignore, leave, and switch to your competitors.

 

According to a study by Gallup, companies that successfully engage customers report 50% higher revenue growth, 34% higher profitability, and 55% higher share of wallet than their peers. (Source)

 

Customer engagement can be measured by metrics such as frequency, duration, intensity, recency, or sentiment of the interactions. 

Customer Engagement vs Customer Experience: Key Differences

While customer engagement and customer experience are both important aspects of building a successful relationship with your customers, they have some key differences that you need to be aware of:

 

Customer Engagement	Customer Experience
Customer engagement is proactive. It is about creating and maintaining a dialogue with customers, encouraging them to participate and share feedback while sharing value-added content and offers.	Customer experience is reactive. It is about responding to customer’s needs and expectations, delivering on promises, and resolving issues and complaints.
Customer engagement is measurable. It can be quantified by metrics such as click-through rates, social media shares, comments, reviews, referrals, and loyalty programs.	Customer experience is more of a subjective matter. You can asses customer experience by surveys, ratings, testimonials, and sentiment analysis.
Customer engagement is more strategic as it is about aligning the brand’s goals and values with the customer’s interests and preferences that benefits both parties.	Customer experience is holistic. It is about ensuring that every touchpoint along the customer journey is consistent, seamless, and satisfying and that the overall impression of the brand is positive.
Customer engagement is more transactional and short-term.	Customer experience is focused on creating long-term relations and repeat purchases.
Customer engagement is more focused on increasing the quantity and quality of interactions.	Customer experience is more focused on improving the satisfaction and loyalty of customers.

 

Customer Engagement vs Customer Experience: Similarities

Despite their differences, customer engagement and customer experience also have some similarities that make them interrelated and interdependent:

 

• Both customer engagement and customer experience aim to create a positive and memorable impression on the customers and to build trust and rapport with them.

 

• They both rely on delivering value and relevance to the customers and meeting or exceeding their expectations.

 

• Customer engagement and customer experience can both affect the bottom line of the company by influencing the retention, acquisition, referral, or revenue of customers.

 

• Both customer engagement and customer experience require a consistent and seamless delivery across all channels and platforms.

 

• You need to ensure that your customers have a smooth and hassle-free experience with your brand, whether they use your website, mobile app, email, phone, chatbot, or social media. You also need to align your brand message and tone across all channels.

 

• Both customer engagement and customer experience depend on the quality and performance of your product or service.

 

• You need to ensure that your product or service meets or exceeds your customers’ quality standards and expectations. You also need to ensure that your product or service is delivered promptly and conveniently.

Customer Engagement vs. Customer Experience: How They Complement Each Other

Customer engagement and customer experience are not mutually exclusive or competitive concepts. In fact, they can complement each other and create a synergistic effect that can boost your business performance. 

 

Here are some ways in which customer engagement and customer experience can work hand in hand for your business success:

 

• Customer engagement can enhance customer experience by providing more opportunities for feedback, personalization, education, or entertainment.

 

For example, you can use interactive content, such as quizzes, calculators, surveys, polls, chatbots, or assessments, to engage your customers in a fun and personalized way. You can also use these tools to collect valuable data and insights that can help you improve your product or service quality or delivery.

 

• Customer experience can enhance customer engagement by creating more loyalty, advocacy, or word-of-mouth for the brand.

 

For example, you can use customer satisfaction (CSAT) and net promoter score (NPS) surveys to measure how satisfied and loyal your customers are with your products and services. You can also use these surveys to identify the areas of strength or weakness in your customer experience and to take action to improve them. 

 

• Customer engagement can lead to better customer experience by generating more data and insights that can help improve the product or service quality or delivery.

 

For example, you can use analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to track and analyze the behavior and preferences of your customers on your website or mobile app. You can also use these tools to optimize your website or mobile app design, layout, content, or functionality to enhance your customer experience.

 

• Customer experience can lead to better customer engagement by creating more satisfaction and happiness, motivating customers to interact more frequently or intensely with the brand.

 

For example, you can use gamification techniques, such as points, badges, leaderboards, or rewards, to make your customer interactions more fun and rewarding. You can also use these techniques to increase customer retention, referral, or revenue.

 

• Customer engagement and customer experience create a virtuous cycle. A business delivering a high-quality customer experience can increase customer engagement. When a business fosters high-level customer engagement, it can enhance customer experience. This cycle can create a competitive advantage for the business and generate long-term value for both the business and the customers.

Top 5 Tools to Enhance Your Customer Engagement and Customer Experience

 

Now that you understand the differences and similarities between customer engagement and customer experience, how can you improve them for your business? Here are some of the best tools that can help you create a more engaging and satisfying experience for your customers:

REVE Chat 

REVE Chat is an AI-powered omnichannel customer engagement platform that offers live chat, chatbot, co-browsing, video chat, and voice call solutions. REVE Chat can help you engage your customers in real time, provide personalized and proactive support, and increase conversions and retention. 

 

REVE Chat also has advanced features such as screen sharing, department management, auto triggers, visitor analytics, queuing, and a fully customizable chat banner. 

 

This customer service tool is easy to install and integrate with your website and other platforms like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, etc.

 

Pros: 

 

• REVEChat offers live chat, chatbot, co-browsing, video chat, and voice call solutions to interact with customers in real-time.
• Provides advanced features such as screen sharing, department management, auto triggers, visitor analytics, and a fully customizable chat banner.
• Supports omnichannel communication across various platforms such as websites, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Viber, Telegram, and apps.
• Helps generate leads, educate prospects, collect feedback, segment audiences, or increase conversions.

 

Cons: 

 

• Has a limited free trial period of 14 days.
• Has some issues with its customer support, pricing, and integration.
• Has some technical glitches and bugs.

Google Analytics 

Google Analytics is a widely used and free web analytics tool that helps you measure and understand your website and mobile app performance. Google Analytics can help you track and analyze various metrics such as traffic sources, user behavior, conversions, goals, events, and more. 

 

You can also optimize your website or mobile app design, layout, content, or functionality to enhance your customer experience with the help of Google Analytics. This tool has received positive reviews from its users for its comprehensive and customizable reports, data visualization features, and integration with other Google products. 

 

Pros: 

 

• Google Analytics is a free and widely used web analytics tool that helps you measure and understand your website and mobile app performance.
• Provides comprehensive and customizable reports, data visualization features, and integration with other Google products.
• Tracks and analyzes various metrics such as traffic sources, user behavior, conversions, goals, events, and more.
• Helps optimize websites or mobile app design, layout, content, or functionality to enhance customer experience.

 

Cons: 

 

• Has a steep learning curve and requires technical skills to set up and use effectively.
• Has limited customer support and relies mostly on third parties for training.
• Has some issues with data accuracy, privacy, and security.

HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot Service Hub is a customer service software that helps you, onboard customers, provide efficient customer support, and deepen your relationships with customers. HubSpot Service Hub has various features such as customer feedback software, knowledge base software, live chat software, chatbot builder, ticketing system, reporting dashboard, and more. 

 

HubSpot Service Hub can help you deliver consistent and seamless customer service across all channels and platforms. HubSpot Service Hub has received positive reviews from its users for its ease of use, automation capabilities, and integration with other HubSpot products. 

 

Pros: 

 

• Offers solutions for customer service, support, engagement, and CRM.
• Integrates with other HubSpot products and various third-party apps.
• Provides features such as customer feedback software, knowledge base software, live chat software, chatbot builder, ticketing system, reporting dashboard, and more.
• Helps to onboard customers, provide efficient customer support, and deepen customer relationships.

 

Cons: 

 

• Has a limited free trial period of 14 days.
• Has some issues with its pricing, customization options, and technical glitches.
• Requires a form submission to speak to a sales agent for the Professional and Enterprise plans.

Outgrow

Outgrow is an interactive content platform that allows you to create quizzes, calculators, surveys, polls, chatbots, or assessments that can engage your customers in a fun and personalized way. 

 

Outgrow can help you generate leads, educate prospects, collect feedback, segment audiences, or increase conversions. It also has features such as templates, analytics, integrations, branding options, and more. 

 

Pros:

 

• Allows you to create interactive content, such as quizzes, calculators, surveys, polls, chatbots, or assessments, that can engage your customers in a fun and personalized way.
• Provides templates, analytics, integrations, branding options, and more features to help you design and optimize your interactive content.
• Helps you generate leads, educate prospects, collect feedback, segment audiences, or increase conversions.

 

Cons:

 

• Has a limited free trial period of 14 days.
• Has some issues with its customer support, pricing, and integration.
• Has some technical glitches and bugs.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a cloud-based software suite that offers solutions for customer service, support, engagement, and CRM. Zendesk can help you manage, track, and resolve customer queries across multiple channels such as email, phone, chat, social media, or self-service portals. 

 

This tool also has automation, collaboration, reporting, analytics, and more features. Zendesk has received positive user reviews for its functionality, scalability, and integration options. However, some users have also reported issues with its pricing, complexity, and bugs.

 

Pros: 

 

• Offers solutions for customer service, support, engagement, and CRM.
• Integrates with various third-party apps and platforms.
• Provides features such as a ticketing system, live chat, chatbot, knowledge base, reporting dashboard, and more.
• Helps to manage, track, and resolve customer queries across multiple channels.

 

Cons: 

 

• Has a high price tag for advanced plans.
• Has a complex and confusing user interface.
• Has some technical glitches and bugs.

 

Customer engagement and customer experience are two essential concepts that you need to understand and master for your business success. They have their differences and similarities. However, when you can make them work together, they will bring spectacular results for your business.

 

I hope this blog post has helped you understand the difference between customer engagement and customer experience, how they relate to each other, and how they can benefit your business. Thank you for reading!