“Engagement” and “Awareness” might sound like digital marketing buzzwords (they are…but hear me out…) but they are absolutely crucial in today’s social media marketing world.
In many cases the two elements go hand in hand in a social media context as more engagement generally leads to more awareness via the “word of mouth” friendly algorithms of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter etc.
The result of this means that we need to constantly keep both elements at the forefront of our minds throughout the content creation process.
Why Awareness is Crucial
Awareness, attention, exposure… Each word carries its own slight variation in meaning but at the core, they all mean the same thing in a marketing and business context…
You need EYES and EARS on your business before you can ever generate qualified leads or sales.
You might have the best product, service or message in the world but if nobody is listening then nobody will care. You have to grab that attention first, way before a potential sale can ever be considered, by you or the customer.
How do we grab attention and get eyes on our business in a social media world?
Engagement.
Why Engagement is Key
Obviously there are more ways to grab attention than just engagement but it can be a seriously powerful element within your social media marketing plans as it creates that “word of mouth” reach that otherwise could only be achieved via paid for advertising.
Of course, you could always combine the two for double the fun…
What is engagement on social media? For me it’s all about comments.
I know that you can include likes and shares in the engagement bubble (and they’re worthwhile in their own way) but comments generate a different level of traction, which in turn gains the customer eyes and ears we all seek out.
If you look at Facebook in a 2017 world, the content that achieves the widest organic reach generally encourages comments. These comments could be loosely split into three categories – answers, debate and the tagging of other Facebook friends.
Asking for It!
So, how do we get this engagement and the resulting awareness?
One of the easiest and most effective ways of creating more engagement is by simply asking for it!
Think about it (or even better, check your newsfeed and see), how many times have you seen a piece of content that says “tag a friend”, asks a question or some other variation of the two?
The businesses, brands and personalities behind these pieces of content know that engagement is crucial to spreading reach and awareness far beyond their budget capabilities and they know that asking for it works!
Creating
If you’re still with me (and believe in everything that has been said above…) then it’s time to start the creation process.
Think about the things (topics, issues, debates, jokes etc.) that really get your customers talking and go from there!
If you have any questions, contact me here!