Social Engagement

What is social engagement?

Social engagement is the degree of participation and communication an individual has within an online community. The goal of social engagement is to form an emotional connection between the individual and the community. 

These communities are often led by, or associated with, a brand or organization. Brands may utilize social media monitoring software to help track interactions, exchanges, and other online activities to keep audiences engaged. 

Social engagement is a way for individuals and brands to support social norms and increase their social capital. Members of these communities feel a natural compulsion to engage based on shared interests or needs. 

Social engagement can also occur in person. However, modern audiences rely heavily on digital spaces such as social media, blogs, forums, and third-party review sites to engage with their communities. 

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Types of social engagement

Although every community has different objectives, social engagement aims to capture a reaction and create a response. Individuals typically start by interacting with a community on a digital platform, such as social media, and ultimately progress toward taking action. 

Below are the four types of social engagement individuals practice: 

1. Acknowledgement

Acknowledgment refers to any kind of reaction an individual makes to social content. This may take the form of a “like” or “favorite” of a social media post meant to express approval or agreement. Users can also acknowledge social content in a negative manner using different social media post reactions. 

This kind of social engagement requires little effort on the audience’s part and doesn’t necessarily denote a connection between the user and the brand. 

2. Association 

Association happens when a user publicly links with a specific community on social media. Users generally associate with brands to start a dialogue or join a larger conversation. This may take the form of commenting on a post or replying to another user. 

This form of social engagement requires more effort from the audience and is considered a higher commitment level than the acknowledgment stage. 

3. Amplification

Amplification occurs when users share and spread information about a brand or community. Internet users amplify social media posts by sharing them with other users, signifying that the content is important for certain positive or negative reasons. 

This type of social engagement increases social reach and helps expose content to a wider audience. 

4. Action 

Action happens when an individual moves beyond social media interactions. The end goal of social engagement is for users to follow a call to action, such as downloading content, purchasing products, or sharing their personal information. 

This form of social engagement encourages users to move off social platforms to a place where they can take high-value measures. 

Measuring social engagement

Social engagement is commonly measured with quantifiable activity. While in-person social engagement has more tangible metrics, online social engagement is generally measured by the number of likes, shares, or follows. 

Social engagement can be measured on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn in the following ways:  

• Likes and reactions
• Comments and replies 
• Shares and mentions  
• Saves and favorites 
• Link clicks 
• Followers or page likes 
• Views or impressions 

Brands can also identify the effects of social engagement on their website. Social engagement can be analyzed on an e-commerce site with metrics such as page views, bounce rate, chatbox interactions, products added to the shopping cart, and completed transactions. 

The importance of social engagement

Strong social engagement empowers brands to be in constant communication with potential and returning customers. Social engagement also allows companies to increase brand awareness and respond to feedback in real-time. 

Benefits of social engagement include the following:  

• Online reach: High social engagement, especially amplification, helps brands expand their online reach and connect with a wider audience. 
• Social equity: Social engagement increases a brand’s social equity with more followers, recognition, and conversations taking place on various platforms. 
• Brand loyalty: Loyal customers advocate for companies by conversing with other online users to discuss the brand in a positive manner. 
• Relationship building: Brands build positive relationships with customers on social platforms to resolve issues or educate users about their products and services. 

Social engagement best practices

Social engagement relies on communication and interaction within online communities. While audiences should feel naturally compelled to participate, there are steps brands can take to help increase social engagement across platforms. 

• Encourage conversation: Interactive content such as quizzes, polls, and infographics can help stimulate engagement on social media and spark conversation. Brands can also encourage conversations by asking customers to leave reviews or share testimonials about their experiences. 
• Monitor channels: Social media enables brands to correspond directly with users who want to learn more about the company or product. Social monitoring also allows brands to respond to public or private inquiries and resolve escalated issues.
• Participate in trends: Brands should take advantage of trending topics to communicate with users in real-time about issues or subjects important to them. Posting when trends are at peak popularity can help brands reach a broader audience.
• Provide value: Content should always aim to provide value, whether it’s for entertainment or educational purposes. This can easily be achieved by posting high-quality images with well-thought-out messages and a clear call to action. 

• Be consistent: Brands should post as consistently as possible to keep audiences regularly engaged.