Many companies in Australia have begun to realise that social media is an important tool for business growth and increased awareness. As a result social media has become an integral part of their marketing strategy.
However, the question arises, how well are companies using social media to engage with their customers?
In terms of social media, engagement can be defined as interaction between the company and any other party, outside of the traditional shopping experience. This includes social media users interacting with the content posted by the organisation, asking questions via social media or by others posting content relevant to an organisation.
The below graph shows the engagement level of companies’ social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Source: http://www.spredfast.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/benchmark-infographic.jpeg
How to induce engagement?
One of the key methods to do so is by posting creative and interactive content. This is the easy and effective way to get your customers to engage with you via Likes, comments, shares, retweets etc. It is also important that your accounts are active and provide your customers value in both business and in general terms. The content should consist of a mixture of text posts (with and without links), images and videos.
Below is an infographic which shows what modes of interaction generate the most engagement:
Sources: Simply Measured, TechCrunch, Mashable, YouTube, Shareaholic, ComScore, foursquare – Designed by: M Booth; A communications company
A few additional ways of engagement are;
- Carrying out competitions online through your social media accounts
- Making social media a part of your launches and other marketing activities. Eg: Nissan are planning to use social media at the Geneva motor show. http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/02/28/nissan-plans-use-social-media-drive-engagement-car-show
- Update your social media followers with your latest product/service related news.
- Figure out what times are best to post on social media where engagement is at its peak. You may experiment by posting at different times and tracking the engagement levels.
- Asking questions from your fans/followers.
- Interact with other organisations in the location and in your community which will also enhance awareness levels.
Overall, in today’s business context, more and more organisations are moving towards a marketing strategy that involves media and are trying to maximize their engagement levels and ROI (Return on Investment).