Engaged Nation provides a suite of services and solutions designed to captivate, motivate, and drive measurable results. The company’s offerings include interactive web-based incentive programs that align seamlessly with each client’s unique objectives, whether they aim to boost brand visibility, enhance customer lifetime value, or drive incremental revenue. Powered by the REACH™ Digital Ecosystem of technology, Engaged Nation offers a platform to create engaging and personalized experiences.
Engaged Nation works closely with brands across various industries—C-store, CPGs, financial services, restaurants/QSR, travel/hospitality, and many more—to help them drive engagement, boost revenue, and build lasting customer loyalty. Engaged Nation tailors solutions to meet the unique needs of clients based on their customers and industry, with the goal of helping them stand out in a crowded digital marketplace.
Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, spoke with Daniel Wood, Chief Customer Success Officer at Engaged Nation, about the company’s REACHTM platform, keeping customers engaged, and leveraging technology to understand individual customer preferences or behaviors.
Reengaging Customers
Wood observes a growing brand interest in gamification, noting that many are holding sweepstakes to up engagement. He also sees a focus on new customer acquisition while seeking alternate ways to capture new customers and collect their data. He’s also noticed a trend in personalization and how brands would like to reengage customers.
“Customers sign up to participate, and brands want to know how to reengage them and make the experience more fun and interactive,” says Wood. “That’s where we feel the loyalty comes in long-term—retargeting and reengaging them once they’ve been acquired as a new customer.”
REACHTM Platform Capabilities
Engaged Nation’s proprietary REACHTM platform is a revenue generator, facilitating new customer acquisition. It is designed to build loyalty as well as reactivate previous customers.
“Our platform offers interactive experiences that incentivize participation, fosters a sense of community, and provides valuable insights into how consumer behavior is affected,” explains Wood. “We explore getting people to change some of their behaviors—for example, getting them to visit a retail location mid-week instead of during the weekend.”
Engaged Nation collaborates with clients to leverage the digital ecosystem, whether it’s used to send emails, help create social exposure, or facilitate a more immersive digital experience for customers. Many of Engaged Nation’s clients are using interactive games to deliver relevant promotions and personalized rewards and to connect with customers on a deeper level.
“We help create more meaningful interactions to build long-term loyalty. Our clients use the platform to achieve their business goals,” says Wood.
Today’s Technology Landscape
In today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape, brands face a wide array of technology choices but are sometimes challenged because they lack the internal staff to truly understand the different platforms. However, to drive deeper engagement,
brands seek to leverage new technologies or add enhanced capabilities to their loyalty programs, such as gamification.
Wood acknowledges that gamification offers brands a powerful tool that can be integrated into existing programs.
“It doesn’t have to be a massive site with multiple activities,” says Wood. “It can be a simple scratch-off card or creating an experience where the customer feels like there’s a chance of winning something or getting a deeper discount.”
Offering loyalty program members a “chance to win” creates consumer engagement that’s fun and interactive while driving a deeper level of engagement. Many of Engaged Nation’s clients have found that customers look forward to receiving those types of email messages and participating on a daily or weekly basis. Creating more memorable experiences resonates with audiences, and consumers love the games they play on their phones. The engagement keeps them entertained.
“Attention spans are three seconds nowadays,” adds Wood. “Making something fun and interactive goes a long way.”
Wood sees a number of brands as successfully integrating new technologies and enhanced capabilities into their customer loyalty efforts and strategies.
“We have a variety of clients that leveraged March Madness—the NCAA men’s basketball tournament,” shares Wood. “We insured a million-dollar bracket challenge, and a lot of our clients were using that in their marketing. It’s a fun way to create awareness of a brand and generate some excitement. Again, it’s a daily or weekly interaction, and brands can give customers an opportunity to fill out a bracket and participate in the hype of March Madness. People love to receive leaderboard prizes and items that are branded.”
Invite, Engage, Retain
Wood believes the next big step is integrating a more continuous engagement approach that is personalized for all customers. He sees a “data grab” happening in the marketplace, and unfortunately, the retargeting brands engage in isn’t personalized to members or customers. It’s not meaningful.
“Brands need to determine ways to invite, engage, and retain customers by harnessing customer data to personalize their messages or their experiences,” asserts Wood.
Engaged Nation also works with various C-store brands that have leveraged partnerships, for example, with beverage companies, to build excitement around popular cultural events, such as the NCAA tournament, the NFL season, and the Super Bowl, as well as other big events in the year.
“Being able to diversify the exposure to find new opportunities, audiences, and other demographics that historically haven’t been targeted is vital,” says Wood.
Brands can benefit from determining the best ways to appeal to a younger demographic or generation—something that is fun and interactive. Wood notes that there are so many advanced technologies for brands to explore. He points out that
artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are being leveraged to crunch the data and understand—or even anticipate—individual customer preferences or behaviors.
“We’re going to see a shift, one that’s similar to a social media experience where you get personalized feeds of content,” predicts Wood. “Brands will provide a more tailored, interactive, data-driven experience because they will be able to anticipate what customers want next.”
Moving Forward in 2024
As 2024 unfolds, the team at Engaged Nation will keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible when it comes to customer engagement and loyalty. The company plans to further enhance its platform and service offerings.
“We’ll continue to leverage emerging technologies and data insights to drive deeper customer engagement and, ultimately, help our brands create loyalty that’s lasting,” finishes Wood.
--
Quick-fire Questions
What is your favorite word?
My favorite word is responsibility.
What is your least favorite word?
Can’t.
What excites you?
A happy family, employees, and customers.
What do you find tiring?
Raising five boys.
What book do you like to recommend to colleagues?
Leaders Eat Last, by Simon Sinek.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Realtor, real estate agent.
What do you enjoy doing that you don’t get to do often?
Ride dirt bikes and ATVs with my boys.
Who inspired you to become the person you are today?
My wife.
What do you typically think about at the end of the day?
Was I kind or helpful to someone? Did I do what was most important?
How do you want to be remembered by your friends and family?
Kind, selfless, hardworking.