Social media platforms allow us to connect with others through common interests and experiences. In the eyes of this Manchester social agency that means that engagement is all about meeting, or even interacting with people online. Now, using television, radio, the web and social media sites, the term engagement sounds similar to the concept of a community. Each of the three (the web, social media and television) is excellent in its own way, but our top Manchester social agency is here to tell you that the term ‘engagement’ has a broader interpretation. In fact, engagement as applied to social media is all about recognising behavioural norms and stimuli, and using that knowledge to your advantage. Not in a malicious way, but to promote your content your business, and to reach out to your audience.
The Social Media Metaphor
The leading Manchester social agency knows that social media platforms operate very differently than traditional forms of marketing, advertising and communication. Traditional advertising and marketing use a static frame, with the specific goal of promoting a brand, product, service or event. The end result is product and/or service awareness. Traditional marketing never ensures a customer relationship, despite how successful an advertiser might be at promoting their brand. Why? Because customer relationships don't come naturally through people simply being sold to. In the overwhelming majority of cases relationships are built organically through the process of interactions, word of mouth or spontaneous interactions.
Different Social Media Platforms Provide Different Types of Engagement
So, that covers why engagement is important - next the top Manchester social agency will show you how to do it well. Effective engagement can be done on every social media platform, so ‘where to do it’ is not a topic we will not explore here. Online social media platforms hold immense power and potential in engaging us, perhaps more so than any other platform ever imagined. However, each individual platform has a different audience, appeals to a slightly different demographic, and as such the audiences on each platform will expect to be engaged with slightly differently. What works on Facebook might not work on Instagram, for example.
Our Manchester social agency sees social media platforms as hubs where people congregate around a common interest and access to information. The tools that provide these sites are themselves already communities in themselves, worthy reference; the forerunner to today’s social media platforms were likely Blogs, which often have communities which circle around a common expertise or interest - like readers of a magazine..
In a way, any site where us humans interact could be seen as a social media platform; i.e. a social conversation. This conversation requires dynamic interactions with others, and that’s no different than the definition the leading Manchester social agency have given for online engagement. The websites that we’ve mentioned thus far as ‘platforms’ merely provide the venue and communication tools necessary for that interaction to take place.
The Discussion Loop
Having clarified understanding of engaging behaviour on online social platforms, and what online social platforms are, it is now time for the top Manchester social agency to list the social media application mechanisms which are associated with those platforms; i.e. Posted Content, Reacts likes etc), Comments, Replies to comments (or ‘discussion’, at which point ‘engagement’ has occurred), The longer the back and forth goes on between the business and the person they’re engaging with, the better.
A great way to incite discussion with your content is to use a poll. The team at our Manchester social agency believe that there is a natural overlap here that promotes discussion between the posting party and the people that see the content. There is real value in the conversation, too, since asking ‘why did you respond that way?’ and getting answers back only makes your post more visible on social media - since comments and interactions are one of the key factors in determining if and where a platform chooses to show your content to people.