One of the most productive and efficient methods of marketing your business is through engagement marketing. Now, engagement is a broad term, and novices could easily misconstrue the meaning of it or goal behind it, so it’s important to comprehend what exactly this entails.
When people, namely consumers, engage with something (i.e., a brand or a business) in either a positive or casual manner, this signifies a relationship of sorts. It extends beyond business in a way, allowing there to be familiarity between the two parties which, in turn, creates trust and respect. Why this is important to your marketing plan is obvious, because the benefits of having mutually beneficial relationships that drive engagement is clear. Customers who trust the entity they’re purchasing from become more than customers, but more so like clients, and more often repeat ones too.
Because of this, engagement marketing and ensuring you create engagement in your overall online presence is crucial to having a marketing plan that stands out and getting the most out of your marketing ROI.
Types Of Engagement, And How You Can Use Them To Win More Customers
When it comes to generating engagement, there are various kinds that you can create, and often times some arise on accident in unison with another.
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Create A Discussion
The first type is simply creating a talking point, or generating a normal conversation. This conversation, when initiated by your brand or business, will ultimately serve to point back to your products or service in a subtle way. Whether it be people discussing in your comments, or starting a trending debate that social media users take to posting about on their own, the center of the conversation is, quietly, you.
Once people are interested in what you have to say, you can start to talk about the things that you know interest the people within your target market. One great example of doing this is by sharing helpful information about your areas of expertise or addressing common questions. This can help people see that you’re a business that knows what you’re talking about and can be trusted by them.
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Reach Out Personally
You can also engage your clients or prospective ones by simply reaching out in a personal way. You may have experienced this with various SaaS companies who do a great job of contacting anyone who fills out an interest form on their website, making sure to greet them amicably and inquire to see if they have any questions. Offering to do things like this equates to meeting your client, and going out of your way for them. It’s this type of meaningful engagement that wins customers over.
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User Generated Content
Thirdly, and perhaps the one with the most upside, is UGC. UGC stands for user generated content, and it’s a super powerful tool to have mastered. Think about a musical artist who just released a song and now it’s trending on Twitter because of a certain verse in the lyrics, or fans are debating about it.
These are just regular social media users having fun discussing something, yet they’re generating free promotion for that artist by doing so. It’s entirely organic, free in most cases, and is one of the most explosive growth tactics out there in terms of views. Apply this same principle to a business, which many corporations have done, and the results are the same.
Picking The Right Strategy For Your Business
Each of these three most prominent types of engagement marketing has its own sub-classes and tactics to go along with the overarching premise. The steps along the way to actually getting your marketing plan ready to do these things, implementing them well, and accomplishing the intended result is a longer process and will often require some trial and error on your part.
Not every strategy will be best-suited for every business. It’s not exactly going to make as much sense for a local bakery to reach out to their customers and ask if they’ve got any questions about the product and how to get started. It’s baked goods, not a software. What might work for that business might not work for yours, and what works for you may not work for them. Choosing the strategy that works best for your business model will come down to numerous variables that are unique to your situation, but they can be narrowed down quite quickly through some simple analysis and deductive reasoning.
Conclusion
These are just three of the most powerful, broad options available, but you may find something slightly different or even create a new niche in engagement marketing. Social media is one of the most flexible tools out there, and the malleability of your online marketing plan is one of your most useful resources. Think outside the box too.
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