What does ‘engagement’ mean?
In the context of brands and marketing, the term ‘engagement’ refers to any interaction a customer has with a brand and its products and services.
If you want a more in-depth understanding of this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: How important is it?
Brand engagement is extremely important, especially considering the number of brands that are constantly trying to capture the attention of the market at any given time. It allows you to:
- Build and maintain brand loyalty
- Stay the top-of-mind choice for your target customers
- It helps you understand your target customers better and make the necessary improvements to serve them better
Let us take a look at each one in more detail:
First, by actively engaging with your customers (and prospects), you are able to build a bond with them, which brings us to the next point: it helps you become their top-of-mind choice.
Think about it: who would you rather buy from? A brand that cannot even be bothered to reply to your inquiries or one that actively tries to make every engagement a pleasant experience for you?
But that is not all engagement allows you to do. By constantly listening to what your customers and prospects have to say, you get a clearer picture of what they actually want and need, which, in turn, gives you valuable information you can use to do better in all aspects of your business.
Question #2: What is the difference between brand engagement and brand awareness?
The main difference between brand engagement and brand awareness is that the former requires an actual interaction to happen between the customer and the brand while the latter does not.
Brand awareness, as the name suggests, only involves customers and prospects knowing that branding exists. This is achieved through things such as marketing, advertising, and SEO.
In contrast, brand engagement is achieved by actively encouraging customers and prospects to interact with a brand through engaging content, surveys, and responsive customer support staff.
Question #3: How can I improve my brand engagement?
There are many ways to improve your brand engagement, including:
- Contests and giveaways
- Polls and surveys
- Events
- Livestreaming
Let us take a closer look at each one:
Contests and giveaways are a great way to get people to engage with your brand because they provide participants a clear and compelling reason to do so. The only downside is that you run the risk of attracting a lot of giveaway hunters who are not really looking to buy anything with this approach.
Polls and surveys are a great alternative because they do not only make both prospects and existing customers feel heard, but also give you access to valuable market insights you can use to improve your products, services, and business processes.
Events, on the other hand, are great not only for improving your brand engagement but also for making prospects and existing customers feel like they are part of a community, ultimately improving their loyalty to your brand.
Finally, live streaming is another powerful way to boost brand engagement not only because they give prospects and existing customers a chance to have their questions answered in real-time, but also because they make brands feel more human.
Question #4: How can I measure it?
The best way to measure your brand engagement is by checking your analytics. The good news is that virtually all modern marketing channels at your disposal come with built-in analytics tools.
Doing email marketing? The platform you are using most likely has one that measures things such as your email open rates, click-to-open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates.
Running ads on Google? It also has built-in analytics tools designed to tell you how well your ad is performing, giving you valuable insights as to how you can optimise it (and future ones) for even better results.
Posting content on social media? One look at the reactions, comments, and shares your posts get will give you a clear idea of how well you are doing in terms of brand engagement.