Social Media Engagement – Where it all begins!

Engagement could mean several things. It could mean sparking a discussion with your fans and then replying to their comments & questions, or it could mean recognizing their contributions on your facebook page and incorporating their ideas into your product.

At the most basic level, engagement is about personalizing your organization and giving it a voice that resonates with your community. Keep in mind that the social web is a two-way dialogue. It’s vital to respond to questions and comments from your followers. More often than not, people just want to know you’re listening. Sometimes a simple “thanks for your comment” goes a long way.

Engagement increases brand loyalty and public conversations can serve as free advertising. When engaging always remember to think like a customer more than an executive. Here is where the first communications lesson comes to my mind always think about “Who”, “What”, “When”, “Why” & “How”.

Contests and promotions can serve your social engagement well, but variety is essential for a successful campaign. Special promotions need to be balanced with interesting and useful content – only then will brands see the lasting power of the meaningful social conversation. Asking questions, doing the unexpected, and empowering your most passionate followers are three ways brands can enhance ongoing social engagement and loyalty, which eventually leads to more customers and increased sales.

On this note, here are some of the ways I try to keep inspired when developing content for my communities.

• I spend a lot of time observing the client websites & what their fans have to say. This exercise inspires my content plans. It is amazing how a simple “Good Morning” can encourage fans to retort with all sorts of answers.
• A social media engager receives more information from friends & colleagues then from the news. Inspiration to engage comes when you socialize.
• Always make it a point to experience what your client serves, it could be a product or a place, always get the feel of what you are going to be turning in to.
• Start searching on Twitter, people tweet their direct feelings on Twitter multiple times a day and you can find inspiration in their comments & questions.
• People love social media because of the non-stop flow of knowledge, ideas and inspiration they can access in the cloud.

All in all, engaging with your audience is one of greatest advantages of social media marketing and the key to mastering engagement is to create meaningful and advantageous conversations. And to me, it is as much an art as it is a science.