How do you get Engagement?

Everybody wants to be "liked" and the popular company, artist or site – especially in today’s Facebook and Google+ world, where the thumbs-up “Like”  or +1 buttons represent the ultimate stamp of approval from consumers to their networks. But how do you get the “Like” love on Facebook  and +1's on Google+ (and other crowd-sourced social media channels)? The key is to engage those within the network, giving them a real reason to opt into your Page. 

Facebook Pages and Google+ pages have grown in popularity and importance over the last few years, often serving as a second home page for your business on the Web.   Today it's a lot more than just Facebook and Google + it's Pinterest, Instagram, SnapChat and other sites.  Chances are that your target customers already have Facebook accounts and Google+ accounts and they will spend an average of 25-30 minutes on the social networking site each day. The news feed your target audience views intersperses updates from the Pages they “Like” among the pictures and status updates from their friends and family, essentially giving you a self-selected audience wanting to hear your advertising for free. It’s a no-brainer to "make your business front of mind of your targeted audience" the real proposition that needs to be solved is "What do your customers or followers want to learn from you?  How do you add value to their lives?"

How do you create ways to get them involved with your Page and media? Here are some ideas:

• Create a contest that requires them to “Like” or +1 your page. Vivint does this wonderfully each year with their “Vivint Gives Back” contest. They give away $1.5 million dollars to the top-voted charity overall as well as $250,000 to the winners in each of five regions. Most people are willing to click “Like” to support a cause close to their hearts, and it’s a great way for Vivint to get name recognition as people post about the contest on their own Page in order to drum up votes.

• Gather email addresses and have them opt in to receiving emails from your business.  Direct email is still a very effective form of marketing.

• Offer coupons and deals for people who Like your page. It’s as simple as posting to your Facebook or Google+ that anyone who mentions a certain code on a particular day will get a discount. This is a great way to give back to your top fans – after all, if they’ve taken the initiative to opt into your network, they likely merit the recognition.

• Reciprocate the love by interacting with those who write on your wall. It builds the sense of a one-on-one relationship between the consumer and brand, and those are the kind of relationships that foster customer loyalty. When you consider how expensive the conversion process is, taking that next step to make your individual brand evangelists feel like their loyalty is recognized and appreciated is worth every cent spent in time and effort.