It’s not uncommon to find brands measuring their social success by the number of ‘likes’ and followers they have. These are, undoubtedly, crucial engagement metrics and show that people are interested in your brand. However, the modern marketer wants more than to amass ‘likes’ and prioritizes establishing strong, emotionally connected relationships with consumers.

To find out what engagement means to the modern marketer, Thismoment studied some of the top brands in the social space:

• Coca-Cola thrives on UGC. For Coke, engagement is defined by allowing fans to be part of their campaigns.
• Oreo believes in retaining customers by constantly keeping them engaged. They host polls, upload recipes and celebrate fans’ birthdays on Facebook.
• From having an interactive Facebook presence, to being one of the first brands on Google+, when it comes to engagement, Ford leaves no stone unturned.

The increased focus on building relationships means brands’ social engagement strategy will be more customer centric. Keeping this in mind, here are three suggestions for increasing engagement:

1. Communication is the Key

   The strength of brand-customer relationships depends on the level of communication, especially during crisis situations.

   The Importance of Timely Response: According to eMarketer:

   • Although marketers occasionally respond to customer complaints on social media, many did not respond to negative feedback and queries.
   • Users indicated that responsive brands would benefit from greater purchasing and customer loyalty.

   While no response affects engagement, delayed or automated responses can also strain brand-customer relationships. Keep in mind, when responding to customers, timeliness is just as crucial and shows that you’re listening.

   • So Many Conversations, How Can Brands Engage? Social media is an overcrowded space. With so many conversations, brands can find it challenging to engage with everyone. The solution? Use social media monitoring tools like Thismoment’s Brand Monitor to sift through the conversations and respond to the ones that need immediate attention.
2. Small Things Make a Big Difference

   While planning social content/campaigns, there are certain small, but crucial, aspects that really matter.

   • Subscription fields, pricing details, share and follow buttons: Crucial for building relationships, and expanding the reach of your brand. No matter how good the content/product is, it’s important for brands to include these crucial details and make the content ‘sharable’. Missing out on these aspects can dissuade otherwise interested users from exploring/engaging further.
   • Visual Content: The first step to engagement is capturing consumers’ attention, and visuals are a great way to do this. Created on Thismoment’s DEC platform, the YouTube channel for KFC is customized to include visually rich content in terms of videos, slideshows and images. This channel allows interested users to engage with the brand by joining the conversation, downloading recipes etc.
3. More Interaction, Less Promotion

   Today’s social audiences may not be receptive to content that sounds too promotional. While it’s true that marketers want to see returns, the smart approach would be to follow the widely accepted “80% interaction; 20% selling” formula.

   • Engaging Brand Ambassadors: Consumers rely heavily on word-of-mouth recommendations. Engaging brand ambassadors will help spread the word about your brand and spur their followers into action, opening up engagement opportunities in the process.
   • Encouraging UGC: Compared to brands that simply post promotional messages, brands that feature UGC see better engagement levels. How? People who contribute content are engaged with the brand right from the beginning and will actually make an effort to share this content further. Check out Ford’s ‘Ready Pa’ Tu Mundo’ UGC contest on YouTube (Created on Thismoment’s DEC platform) to see how the company subtly promotes their Fiesta, while simultaneously engaging with Latino communities.

Conclusion

Although the emphasis on the ‘likes’ and followers will not diminish, brands will focus more on taking this one step ahead by converting these interested users into emotionally connected consumers. Over the next few years, we expect to see more brands leveraging UGC and using brand ambassadors to improve engagement, while going easy on the sales talk. This means more effort towards building relationships and retaining existing consumers.

- Shama Ahmed
Thismoment

Andrew Sielen

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