Today’s marketing landscape is overwhelmingly defined by the Internet. The implication of this is that your business website and social media networks are often the first places consumers will go to find you. What that means is that your digital marketing efforts using these platforms are often you’re only opportunity to make that all-important first impression online. So, it’s really important to make sure all online marketing through your online real estate keeps your visitors engaged.
While online engagement can take many forms, the reasons why people engage with brands remain pretty much consistent. People will really only engage with a brand that they like and with which they don’t mind being associated. In other words, a brand that they value, relate to and trust.
Online engagement is a two-way conversation
We at digital marketing company Net Branding believe online engagement can be defined as a two-way conversation – and includes anything and everything that involves a conversation online. Your online communication should be powerful enough to grab your audience’s attention, then build and maintain their trust so they develop a relationship with your business.
When you achieve that level of online engagement it will become the catalyst that converts prospects into customers, customers into loyal customers, and loyal customers into the vocal brand advocates that your business needs in today’s Web-centric world.
The full spectrum of online engagement
Essentially, people who engage with you online can be categorised as ranging from those who merely ‘visit’ your website – in other words, just showing up and then leaving again – to those who potter around your site, spending time consuming your content (which is a good thing for SEO or search engine optimisation), to those who ‘convert’, by trying or buying something from you, to those who endorse your brand and actively promote trust in it.
Do you know how your digital real estate ranks on the spectrum of online engagement?
Measuring your online engagement
Your ability to hold an online visitor’s attention or induce them to take some sort of action – and the longer people spend on your website, the more likely they are to fill their cart and head to the checkout – determines the level of your online engagement.
So, ask questions about how consumers are engaging with what they find on your website and other digital platforms. Are they staying in just one spot, or are they moving around your website? What is their behaviour like the moment they land on your website – are they leaving your site without visiting any other pages? Bounce rates are great for measuring the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of an entry page at generating interest and engaging visitors.
5 tips for boosting online engagement
We all know that there’s no shortage of content available online, so that first impression you make on your digital platforms is often the only opportunity you’re going to get.
In our Web-centric world, consumers expect the same type of experience with a business online as they would in-store. So, irrespective of whether your business is geared towards moving product or nurturing leads into clients, it’s crucial you create an engaging web presence across all your platforms.
Here are 5 tips for boosting online engagement and increasing the effectiveness of your Internet marketing efforts.
1. Curate distinct content
When it comes to building online engagement with the visitors to your sites, there is no substitute for high-quality, useful content. You simply cannot get past the importance of value-adding content for boosting online engagement. So make sure you create all your content with the aim of building a distinct experience for visitors – one that makes them want to stick around and come back for more.
2. Make sure you link – a lot
High-quality content becomes an even more effective tool for increasing online engagement if you link across all your digital platforms to other pages (of high-quality content) on your website.
3. Use social media
It’s very important to ensure you use social media as a communications tool. While your website should be the focal point for information about your business, social media is a highly effective way of reaching out into the huge digital space to open a line of communication between you and your customers, and driving them back to your website. You need to be where your customers are – and these days, they’re on social media. If you want help adding social media marketing to your digital marketing strategy, talk to the team at Net Branding – we’re skilled at helping our clients develop social media strategies to significantly increase online engagement that makes a real difference to their bottom line.
4. Be very visual
Visual elements of any website – and many of the social media platforms too – are crucial for determining the credibility of a business as a whole, in the eyes of your audience. Strive to provide a website experience that’s informative, useful and eye-catching. Facebook is a great example for illustrating the power of visual elements, with posts containing images shown to be far more engaging than simple text posts, while video content can increase engagement as much as 10 times or more over simple text posts.
5. Open the lines of communication
Asking questions – and giving visitors the opportunity to respond – is key for increasing engagement on any online platform. After all, we defined online engagement as a two-way conversation online. So it stands to reason that if you want to see increased engagement with your business online, then you need to enable two-way conversations. For example, ask for feedback and comments – and be prepared to respond promptly and, if necessary, show that if there are any issues that you’ll take quick action to rectify them. Two-way conversations, when done properly, are like gold for creating transparency and building trust among your online audience.
Achieve the online engagement your business needs
Your efforts to create remarkable content and achieve stellar results with social media advertising won’t impact your bottom line without a defined plan for increasing online engagement.
If you’d like help to develop a digital strategy that includes proven and effective social media and internet marketing tactics, talk to the team at Net Branding. We’re a full-service Auckland digital marketing agency, providing an integrated digital marketing service that includes responsive website design and development and SEO, as well as content and social media marketing. And we’re just a phone call or click away – so get in touch with us today to find out how we can help your business achieve game-changing online engagement.
