6 Things You Can Do To Increase Engagement in YourC2C Marketplace
Startup Founders and Entrepreneurs Must Know
In this post, we will take a look at some of the most common and impactful methods to increase engagement in a C2C marketplace.
We will focus on online C2C marketplaces like Etsy, Fiverr, etc.
The principles are very similar to the ones that can be applied to a C2B (business to business) marketplace.
There are two main types of engagement that you can increase in your marketplace:
Loyalty — This is when the customer returns to your platform because they like it and want to use it again.
Referral — This is when the customer introduces you to other people who then start using your platform.
Both of these types of engagement have a positive impact on your marketplace, and they both need to be built up by implementing the following methods:
1. Involvement & Engagement:
This method has a positive impact on both loyalty and referral, and it can be used for any type of marketplace that has an online platform for transactions.
It is very important that you involve users as much as possible in your product development process.
For example, invite them to provide feedback or suggestions about new features that you’re working on, or about how you can improve your service.
Don’t do this in a way that seems spammy or promotional, but rather in a natural way so that users feel involved in the whole process.
Make sure you respond to all of the feedback you receive, even if it’s negative. People will feel more involved in your platform and will be more likely to use it again.
Also, you can invite users to get involved in your product development process through voting on feature requests or by beta testing your product.
2. Gamification:
The more engaged the users are with your platform, the more likely they are to use it again and to refer their friends. Therefore, gamification is a great way to increase engagement.
There are many different ways you can gamify your marketplace, such as awarding badges for completed tasks or by giving rewards for completing specific actions (such as referrals).
For example, on Fiverr you can get a badge for becoming a “Top Seller” which gives you additional visibility on the site. On Etsy, there is a special “Vintage Shop Owner” badge that gives shop owners additional visibility and benefits on the site.
3. User-Generated Content:
This method is especially effective for marketplaces that have online content (like Etsy).
User-generated content is any content that has been created by users of your platform and not by employees of the company itself (such as blog posts).
Invite users to create content about your platform, for example by providing tools to create content like guides or videos. The more user-generated content there is about your platform, the more attractive it will be to users.
It also has a positive impact on referral, because people will talk about the content they find on your platform and share it with their friends.
4. Social Interaction:
Social interaction is another great way to increase engagement in your marketplace. It’s important that you provide users with ways to connect with each other (such as forums, blogs, chat rooms etc.).
They can also use social media networks like Facebook and Twitter to share their experience with other people. The more connected users are with each other, the more likely they are to return to your platform again and again.
Social interaction also has a positive impact on a referral because it makes it easier for users to tell their friends about your platform (because they have connections already).
5. Sharing Content:
Sharing content is a great way to increase engagement in any type of marketplace. You can invite users to share any type of content they want (for example blog posts or photos), and reward them for doing so.
Also, make sure you include social sharing buttons on all of the pages of your platform so that users can easily share your content with their friends.
6. Referral Program:
A referral program is a great way to increase engagement and loyalty in your marketplace. It’s especially effective if you offer rewards for referrals because this will make it more likely for users to share your platform with their friends.
There are many different ways you can set up a referral program. For example, you can give users credits or discounts on the platform when they refer to a friend, or give them cash rewards when their friend signs up and makes a purchase.
Another option is to reward the people who referred the newest customers by giving them special privileges on the platform (such as badges or other status indicators).
If you want to increase engagement in your marketplace, it’s important that you implement these methods correctly.
Make sure that they are implemented in a way that is natural and genuine so that users don’t feel like they’re being advertised all of the time.
Also, it’s important that you follow up on all of the feedback you receive from users and respond to any questions or complaints they have about your platform.
