10 Customer Engagement Examples to Inspire Your Strategy

Brands that consistently connect with their audience build loyalty and create lasting value. However, most businesses struggle to deliver meaningful interactions, especially across multiple channels and customer touchpoints.

Huge companies have set the standard. Their strategies are built on data, smart automation, and a deep understanding of customer behavior. The result is engagement that’s effective and measurable.

In this article, we will break down what these leading brands are doing right and how you can apply similar tactics to your own strategy.

You'll also see how AI chatbot platforms like Denser help simplify the process, so your team delivers high-impact engagement without adding complexity.

Why Is Customer Engagement Important?

Meaningful connections with your customers are essential for long-term business success. These reasons show why customer engagement is worth the investment.

Boost Customer Lifetime Value

As a business, your goal is to turn that first purchase into a long-term relationship. When you consistently engage customers, you increase the chances that they’ll buy more often and spend more each time.

This improves your profitability and strengthens the emotional connection with your brand. Whether through loyalty incentives or personalized content, each interaction becomes an opportunity to improve customer engagement and drive more value.

If you're using AI-powered tools like Denser to personalize every interaction, each touchpoint can strengthen the relationship and lead to higher returns.

Increase Repeat Purchases

When your brand continues to show up with relevant, timely messages, you stay at the top of customers' minds, and they are more likely to come back for more.

The goal of every marketing campaign should be to keep conversations going across different channels so your audience feels like you understand them. Small gestures like a thank-you email or usage tips can make all the difference in how customers feel after a purchase.

Strengthen Customer Relationships

Thriving businesses are built on strong, lasting relationships. If you want to retain customers, you have to do more than deliver a good product. You need to make sure customers feel valued every step of the way.

When brands show genuine interest through consistent follow-ups, personalized check-ins, and meaningful conversations, they create loyalty. This kind of engagement builds emotional trust, leading to more referrals, more repeat purchases, and long-term business growth.

10 Successful Customer Engagement Examples

Let’s explore how businesses of all sizes use creative customer engagement efforts.

1. Starbucks: Gamified App and Rewards System

Starbucks’s mobile app and Rewards program will remain popular in 2025. The app integrates ordering, payment, and loyalty, where loyal customers earn Stars on each purchase and redeem them for free drinks or treats.

Image Source: starbucks.com

In early 2023, they updated reward tiers, requiring more stars for some items, which drew some pushback from fans. Yet, the overall loyalty proposition remains compelling as Starbucks’s loyalty base grows despite the changes.

Starbucks keeps customers engaged and satisfied by combining mobile convenience with meaningful and desirable rewards. The new app features ordering with a reusable cup and personalized promotions, which makes the experience even more rewarding.

2. Amazon: Personalized Shopping Experience

Amazon’s entire shopping journey is built around personalization. The site and app continually analyze each customer’s browsing and purchase history to recommend products.

Image Source: amazon.com

Amazon has used machine learning for these features, from the classic “Customers who bought X also bought Y” suggestions to today’s AI-driven recommendations.

As of 2024, Amazon is even using generative AI to make product recommendations and descriptions more tailored to individual shoppers’ interests.

Around 80% of all content watched or purchased on Amazon and its platforms comes from algorithmic recommendations. The majority of what users end up buying is surfaced by Amazon’s recommendation engine, which shows how it drives customer loyalty.

3. Sephora: In-App Beauty Consultations

Sephora has combined AI-powered tools and human expertise to create rich digital beauty consultations. Through the Sephora app and website, existing customers can get personalized advice similar to an in-store experience.

Sephora’s Virtual Artist, launched back in 2016, uses augmented reality to let users try on makeup virtually. You can see different lipstick shades or eyeshadows on your face in real-time.

This AR tool is paired with AI that analyzes your facial features and skin tone to recommend products that would suit you.

Image Source: sephora.com

It also offers live chat with beauty advisors for one-on-one guidance. Customers can text or video chat with a Sephora beauty expert to ask questions and get product recommendations.

Sephora found that most users prefer the convenience of text chat over video calls for these consultations, so they’ve optimized around live messaging.

4. Spotify: Year-End Listening Recaps

Spotify’s “Wrapped” year-end recap has become a cultural phenomenon. Each December, Spotify Wrapped provides every user with a personalized summary of their listening habits.

This includes top songs, favorite artists, how many customers streamed, and other fun stats for the year.

Image Source: spotify.com

Wrapped is popular because it feels personal and nostalgic. It highlights each user’s music journey from the past year. Millions love sharing their results on social media to show off their unique taste and favorite songs.

5. Duolingo: Streaks and Friendly Nudges

Duolingo, the language learning app, is an excellent customer engagement example, and it’s still converting users into daily learners in 2025.

The app’s use of streaks, points (XP), badges, and leaderboards has turned learning into a game that people want to play every day. Each day you complete a lesson, you extend your streak. Duolingo awards you badges and celebratory animations for milestones.

Image Source: duolingo.com

Many users become proud of their streaks, which motivates them to keep learning daily. Duolingo supports this habit by sending playful push notifications from its mascot, designed to entice users to stay on track and not miss a session.

6. Airbnb: Tailored Follow-Ups

Airbnb extends its hospitality beyond the booking with personalized email follow-ups that keep guests engaged after their trip. This practice is ongoing and has proven effective for Airbnb’s relationship with its users.

After you complete a stay, Airbnb will send a friendly follow-up email asking how your trip went and prompting you to leave a review. These customer feedback surveys feel thoughtful and encourage two-way communication.

Image Source: airbnb.com

Airbnb also uses email to recommend what to do next. A few days after your trip, you might receive suggestions for similar destinations or unique homes based on where you traveled.

If you stayed in Paris, the platform might email you with “Homes in London or Rome for your next adventure,” using the fact that you’re likely thinking about future travel. All of this is tailored to the user’s behavior.

7. Nike: Fitness Challenges and Community

Nike uses its apps and communities to engage users through fitness challenges and shared goals. This remains an essential part of Nike’s omnichannel customer engagement strategy.

Through the Nike Run Club (NRC) and Nike Training Club (NTC) apps, Nike has cultivated a social community of millions. The NRC app allows runners to join global challenges or compete on leaderboards with friends. These social aspects boost user engagement.

Image Source: nike.com

You might find yourself motivated to jog an extra mile because you see others in the community doing the same challenge. The apps provide badges and trophies for hitting milestones (like the fastest 5K or a streak of runs), which gamifies the experience and gives users a tangible sense of achievement.

8. Glossier: Using Social Media and UGC

Glossier has built its success on community and UGC. On social media channels, Glossier encourages fans to share their looks, routines, and feedback with hashtags like #GlossierGirl.

Image Source: taggbox.com

What makes Glossier stand out is how actively they engage. They respond to social media interactions, repost content, and genuinely show that they listen, creating meaningful interactions with their fanbase.

This strategy helps with discovery and also deepens brand loyalty through authenticity.

9. Slack: Proactive Onboarding with Chatbot Assistance

Slack is a workplace messaging app renowned for its onboarding experience, which it achieves with the help of friendly chatbot guidance. It also remains a key part of Slack’s user strategy.

When a new customer team or user joins, Slackbot, an automated chatbot built into Slack, proactively greets the user and helps them get started.

Image Source: slack.com

Slackbot will introduce itself in a direct message and walk the user through the basics, such as creating a channel, sending a first message, or integrating an app.

It answers common customer interactions. For example, if you type “How do I add people to this channel?” Slackbot will instantly provide steps.

10. Netflix: Personalized Recommendations and Auto-Play

Netflix maintains its grip on viewers through a one-two punch of personalized recommendations and the infamous auto-play feature.

Image Source: netflix.com

Netflix’s algorithm analyzes everything, such as what you watched, how you rated shows, and even how long you watched before turning something off. It then predicts what you’re likely to enjoy and showcases those titles prominently on your home screen.

In 2024, they also introduced a “My Netflix” tab on mobile, which personalizes a feed of things like downloads, watch list items, and continuation of shows.

The auto-play feature is Netflix’s other big engagement lever. After you finish an episode, Netflix will automatically start the next one in a few seconds unless you opt out.

How to Build an Effective Customer Engagement Strategy

Creating a strategy that works means moving beyond one-off campaigns. You need a consistent, thoughtful approach that puts your customers at the center of everything you do. Here's how to build one that drives results:

Know Your Target Audience

Before launching any campaign, you need a clear picture of who you’re speaking to. Go beyond demographics and dive into their habits, preferences, challenges, and goals.

Understanding customer behavior helps you speak their language. You can ask questions like:

• What problems are they trying to solve?
• What motivates them to buy?
• What channels do they prefer to use?
• What stage of the customer journey are they in?

You can also use tools like analytics dashboards, customer interviews, surveys, purchase history, and support tickets to gather customer data.

If you're using a customer engagement platform, it can help you track patterns and segment users based on how they interact with your brand.

The more you understand your audience, the easier it is to deliver the kind of content, offers, and experiences that resonate, turning casual visitors into loyal, long-term customers.

Map Out the Customer Journey

You need to see your brand from your customer’s perspective. Mapping out the customer journey means identifying every step someone takes, from discovering your brand to making a purchase and everything that happens afterward.

Start by outlining key stages, such as:

• Awareness (how they first hear about you)
• Consideration (what influences their decision)
• Purchase (what convinces them to buy)
• Post-purchase (how you follow up and support them)
• Loyalty (how you keep them coming back)

At each stage, ask what the customer needs right now and where they might drop off.

When you design thoughtful journeys across different channels, you deliver value at the right time. This also makes it easier to personalize offers and improve customer satisfaction without adding complexity to your workflows.

Pick the Right Engagement Strategy

Choosing the right engagement strategy means aligning your actions with what your audience cares about and what your business wants to achieve.

If your goal is to boost first-time conversions, you need to consider onboarding emails, live chat, or limited-time offers.

If you want to retain users, loyalty rewards, personalized recommendations, and regular check-ins can go a long way. If you're trying to re-engage someone who’s gone quiet, push reminders, win-back campaigns, or helpful content might be more effective for inactive customers.

You have to look at what’s already working, analyze the customer behavior, and test new approaches. The best strategies are tailored to specific moments in the customer journey.

Strong Personalization Strategy

Customers want experiences that feel tailored to them. Start by using the valuable insights you already have: browsing history, past purchases, behavior patterns, or even location.

Then, use that information to deliver relevant content, offers, and product suggestions at the right time. It doesn’t need to be overly complex. A personalized subject line, product recommendation, or well-timed message can make a big impact.

If you’re using a customer engagement platform like Denser, you can automate this process. Denser segments users based on behavior and intent, which allows you to deliver smart, targeted responses without manual effort.

Use Insights from User Feedback

User feedback is one of the most direct sources of insight you have. When collected and used correctly, it can shape better products and marketing efforts.

Start by building in feedback opportunities across touchpoints like post-purchase surveys, support follow-ups, website polls, and product reviews.

Also, look for trends: *Are people confused about onboarding? Are they asking for a feature you haven’t launched yet? *You can use these insights to refine your approach.

If you see complaints about unclear pricing, you need to update your messaging. If users love a specific feature, you can highlight it in your campaign to drive engagement.

How AI Chatbots Keep Customers Engaged

Adding a chatbot to your customer engagement plan can lead to noticeable results.

Just like Starbucks keeps users coming back through rewards or Sephora builds confidence with personalized advice, chatbots offer a scalable way to deliver that same level of customer experience.

AI chatbots do more than answer basic questions. When designed well, they help guide visitors, support purchases, and keep conversations going.

If you’re looking for a chatbot that goes beyond surface-level automation, Denser offers a powerful, AI-driven solution. Unlike rule-based bots, Denser uses semantic understanding to grasp customer intent.

Here’s how Denser creates smarter engagement across multiple channels:

• Segment users based on behavior, past interactions, and goals
• Trigger dynamic, context-aware in-app messages across your site or platform
• Automate personalized responses to product, pricing, or support queries
• Integrate with your existing tools, from ecommerce to CRM

With Denser, you're scaling meaningful conversations without losing the personal touch. If your goal is to qualify leads, boost conversions, increase customer retention, or reduce support volume, Denser helps you do it better.

Power Up Your Engagement Strategy With AI—Start with Denser!

When you look at the standout brands mentioned above, one thing is clear: customer engagement is a strategy. These companies use personalized content, loyalty programs, and meaningful interactions to keep people coming back.

But what if you could do all of that and more without the complexity or cost of building custom systems from scratch? Denser delivers!

With advanced contextual AI, Denser lets you turn websites, PDFs, and internal docs into interactive chat experiences where customers can ask anything and get instant, verified answers. You can automate responses, trigger smart conversations at key moments, and integrate with tools you already use.

If you're ready to go beyond one-size-fits-all support, it's time to bring your customer engagement strategy to life. Let Denser help you qualify leads, support buyers, re-engage lapsed users, and build stronger relationships.

Sign up for a free trial or schedule a demo now and turn every interaction into an opportunity to grow!

FAQs About Customer Engagement Examples

What are the 3 C's of customer engagement?

The 3 C’s of customer engagement are Consistency, Communication, and Connection.

• Consistency ensures your brand delivers reliable experiences across every channel.
• Communication keeps your customers informed, supported, and heard through emails, chatbots, or social media.
• Connection is about building trust and emotional loyalty through personalized, value-driven interactions. This creates a loyal customer base that keeps coming back.

These three pillars help maintain long-term engagement and drive brand growth. Most successful marketing teams build their engagement strategies around these foundational elements.

What do you mean by customer engagement?

Customer engagement refers to the ongoing interactions between your brand and your audience before, during, and after a purchase.

It includes everything from replying to a chat message, sending a personalized follow-up email, offering helpful content, or delivering loyalty rewards.

With the help of marketing automation, you can scale customer engagement efforts so every customer touchpoint feels personal. The goal is to build lasting relationships that increase satisfaction and repeat business.

What is an example of engagement?

A strong example of engagement is Spotify Wrapped. Each year, Spotify creates personalized listening summaries for its users, showcasing their top songs, artists, and listening stats.

It’s fun, shareable, and highly personal, which makes users feel seen and encourages social sharing. This kind of tailored interaction strengthens the user’s connection to the brand and drives continued use.

What is an example of a customer engagement strategy?

An example of a customer engagement strategy would be Starbucks’ mobile app and rewards program. The app allows users to order ahead, earn stars with each purchase, and redeem them for free drinks or food.

It keeps users active in the app, encourages loyalty, and provides a rewarding experience. That makes a great model for how to keep customers engaged over time.