If technologies have changed, bringing us information in the speed of type, know that your audience have evolved as well:  They are now smarter, tech-savvy and ever more discrete.  You can't simply mollycoddle them into sweet talks and empty promises hoping that it will bring you some marketing advantage.  With the recent Social Media Week last February 7-11th, which was held simultaneously in nine cities worldwide ( New York, San Francisco, Rome, Paris, Toronto, Sao Paulo, London, Hongkong and Istanbul ) - there has been much talk about how social engagement has the power to get people involved with your brand, if you only know how to do 'real talk'.

Social What?!  Where the heck did the word 'social engagement' came from?

A lot of seasoned social media marketers have thrown this buzz word around and we get to read them in almost every Google news feed on social media.  In the most simple explanation I can come up with, social engagement is the art of connecting with your audience.  It's like that proverbial spark when you finally meet 'the one' you've been looking for your entire life.  The real problem now is that social networking has provided us not only with privacy issues too many to count, but with a lot of pseudo-personalities on the Social Web that you can barely distinguish who's for real and who's not.

When Talking the Talk Loses Its Magic...

I used to think about social engagement as talking with folks in the social sphere like you would talk to them for real.  It's almost a month ago when one of my freelance clients has launched a viral hit about what not to do in social media and it's friggin' hilarious I had a blast in previewing this funny vid before final release.  In real life, you don't simply talk like you're some Twitter spam bot come to life.  These days though, it's not enough that you talk to your peeps.  You need to do it with 'genuine interest' and actively participate in building your very own online community of brand advocates.  What will differ is your willingness to reach out and to all who are just doing that, good digital karma will be theirs to behold this year.

So..What's the Real Art to Social Media Engagement?

Just because you have thousands or millions of followers don't necessarily mean that they are truly engaged with your business.  Simply put, do they really give a damn?  For now, there are plenty of tools that let you measure your engagement through website visits and clicks.  But having all those unique site visits converted into buying customers is a totally different thing.  Unless you're opening communication channels and treat each one as an individual whose shoes may not fit everyone's, then.. it's either you engage for real... or die trying.

Value! Value! and More Value!

If I have to scream it into your ears, I would.  Your audience are smarter and they would always ask 'What's in it for them?' if ever they decide to give you some T.L.C.  This is where guerrilla marketers shine as they know that in order to succeed, they simply got to focus on content, conversations and spread it to where the most traffic is.  It's a pretty simple trick that's never passe and a few big brands like Southwest Airlines have already been employing this tactic in their marketing.  But wait!  They simply got a step ahead and made customer support their new marketing playground - where the customer is the boss.

To Engage or Not to Engage?  Wrong Question!

Is there an anatomy to engagement on the Social Web?  Is it all about conversations?  It's often believed that social media is all about conversations, but it's like a seed - without the water of participation and learning, you might as well as have a blog that's more silent than the dead of the night.  For example, there are hundreds of bloggers who complain that they're not getting any genuine comments on their blogs.  Then, when you read these blogs, they're like a poor copycat of what you used to read in print.  If people are reminded of reading a newspaper with your blog, they might as well buy a copy and never come back to read from you - for good.  People go online for many reasons and all of them are looking for fresh, informative content.

Why people engage online will always be an A-Z list, but know that even if new tools have been making the automation of posts as easy as 1-2-click, there's always that human factor- where people can tell if you're 24K or a cheap knockoff. 

As a treat, here's a link to live video streams from Social Media Week 2011.  You may watch replays here.



   

Spread the Love... Happy Valentine's! - issa