Lets start out with a simple definition of Reach & Engagement.
Reach is a measurement of who exists to be engaged-with at any given time. How many people are on your Facebook page? How many Twitter followers do you have? It is quantitative and does not translate very well into a qualitative model. The reason it doesn’t is because reach and engagement are rarely if ever linked.
Engagement, on the other hand, is a measure of the bi-directional interactions between you and another party or set of parties. It is a qualitative measurement, ideally based on a series of interactions over time specifically leading to a desired action.
When our marketing team puts together a comprehensive plan for a business, we start by utilizing this simple premise:
Social media’s place in the marketing mix is to provide consistent, small provocations and conversations through content that lead to engagement and interactions. Skillfully done, that engagement ultimately results in consumer interest, and hopefully loyalty and meaningful activity (like a purchase). We believe it is possible to create strategic advantage by delivering great content and executing a social media initiative well.
Engagement must lead to identifiable value
The most valuable brand in the history of the world, Apple, has no social media engagement. By comparison, Dell, the gold standard of social engagement, is floundering and has a stock price hovering near a five-year low. So “engagement” in and of itself is not a predictor of success, is it? That’s why “engagement” is not a valuable activity unless it is tied to some organizational goal such as:
• Customer acquisition
• Brand awareness/defense
• Investment
• New product development
• Registrations
• Service
• Employment/recruiting
Every campaign we construct is designed to ultimately deliver engagement, but not just for engagement’s sake. This is indeed an empty strategy if it doesn’t deliver solid identifiable results over time. If it doesn’t accrue to ROI, then it was merely an exercise in futility. Of course reach is important to the over-all campaign because without an identifiable group of followers, there is no one to engage with.
The bottom line in this discussion of Reach & Engagement is that it takes an experienced team with all the right tools to achieve this delicate balance of acquiring followers and then engaging them with just the right mix of graphics and branding to lead your company to the “Promised Land”….Sales & Return on Investment (ROI). We are that company!
Our staff knows…what to present…when to present it & how to evaluate the results & make tweaks and adjustments where necessary. That’s why we say, Relax, We’ve Got This.
By: Gary E. Mullins
