Social Media - What does it mean to 'Engage' ?

The term 'Engage' is bandied about a lot at the moment when discussing social media strategy, Facebook, Twitter etc. etc.. How do you know if you are truly engaging with your online social community ?

To be honest the first thing I think of when I hear 'Engage' is Captain Jean Luc Picard as he instructs his Number One to go to Warp Speed in Star Trek.

With several meanings - 'Pledge', 'Captivate', 'Appoint', 'Give it a Whirl' - all could apply but individally they don't fully encapsulate the meaning in the social media context, i.e.

• You can Pledge to respond to all queries posted by fans (customers), which may not be too time consuming at the start but as your fanbase grows and social reputation gathers speed, do you have the resources to keep this up, as this will be the expectation.
• Posting a captivating competition in order to get 'Likes' can build you an initial fanbase but they can just as easily 'Unlike' you if you don't continue to Captivate them.
• I'm all for delegation, and many businesses do Appoint someone to 'do their Facebook updates', but many social consumers like connecting directly with the business owner/manager. At the very least if you do delegate, then make sure you are a fan of your own page and see the updates (remember this is your business' reputation)
• A lot of businesses choose to Give social media a Whirl to see what happens / what they get back from it. That may have been fine a few years ago, but the social consumer these days is experienced and knows what they want from you and your business (even if you don't), so posting a random update won't cut it.

If you combine these synonyms and add a Strategy, then you get a more accurate meaning for Engage in a social media context.

In my mind, Social Media Engagement involves:

• Strategy
• Mutually Beneficial Interaction
• Planning
• Offering Value
• Defining Policies
• Influencing your Market
• Social Research
• Innovative Marketing
• Documenting Procedures

Notice a trend ? Engagement requires Strategy through Structure in order to become true Social Engagement.

You need a strategy, you need to plan, you need to research your target market(s), you need to figure out why you want to use (or why you are using) Social Media. It's a long term investment (in terms of time/energy/resources) so requires some thought.

If you don't have a plan, it will be obvious to your social community who probably will in time eject you from their social network.

Author: Louisa Maher, Social Media Marketing and Web Trainer @ www.morsolutions.com