Why You Need To Increase Engagement Today!

Boost Local Engagement Through Content Marketing Online

In today’s market, if you want more customers walking through your doors, you’ve got to consider your presence online. Shoppers check out your online presence before checking out your business in person, and the image you show them will stick. If they see you as active, engaged, and interesting online, they’re much more likely to engage with you, both online and in person.

And people who plug in to your business online can become true fans, who share your business with their friends on social media and skyrocket your sales. Trust me when I tell you, online customer engagement is something you want – and you want it en mass!

1.  First things first… put “Strategy” before your content. Without a cohesive strategy, your content marketing will fall flat and have only a sporadic chance of success. Rather, think through your overall marketing goals and objectives and build your strategy from there. Your content will fall into place as you align this with your overall business goals.

2.  Tell a story. Not just any story… that’s what everyone else is doing. Tell a really amazing story that captures the attention of your audience like no other. Each and every time. Yes… each and every time.

3.  Content marketing isn’t about the hard sell… at least not the majority of the time. Rather, your content should be focused on solving a problem your audience faces or providing them with information that is otherwise valuable or entertaining.

4.  Images speak volumes. Include photos, graphics and other visual elements whenever possible. Did you know that sharing images on Twitter increases retweets by 150%? A picture is worth a thousand words… or in this case, 140 characters. Change up your standard content and share an image that tells your story instead.

5.  Headlines are critical – get them right. As marketing pioneer David Ogilvy said “On average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.” Make sure you follow best practices when writing headlines and always test multiple options.

6.  Be human. Be emotional. Be likable. Be conversational. Your content should reflect the personality of your business. The result? People will relate to you.
– via LinkedIn Pulse

Set It and (Semi-)Forget It

So we know you need to be engaged online to boost engagement with your customers…But that doesn’t mean you need to do it all the hard way! There’s so much that you can automate online, so that customers are hearing from you regularly without your having to type every single letter of every single word. Let’s take a look at how to use automation to increase engagement with your customers!

SEND THE RIGHT MESSAGES AT THE RIGHT TIME.

Lead nurturing (or drip marketing) is a great way to increase engagement levels with your email content. Instead of blasting your database with emails that may or may not be relevant, strategically “drip” emails to targeted groups of recipients over time, so they’re getting the right information from you, when they need it. This added relevancy can increase open rates and engagement levels with your content.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, MAKE SURE THEY’RE TARGETED.

Lead nurturing is much less powerful without the ability to personalize your communications. With automation, you can build and segment lists based on criteria you set (think location, job title, product interest, and more). These lists can then be used to send highly targeted (read: highly relevant) email messages that will see much higher engagement rates than a traditional batch-and-blast message.

ENGAGE CONSISTENTLY ON SOCIAL.

Your buyers and customers are active on social media — and not just during business hours. If you’re hoping to maximize engagement rates with your audience, you need to be active where they’re active, when they’re active. Use the social posting feature of your marketing automation tool to schedule out posts to go out after you leave the office. Be sure to measure engagement with these social postings to see which are most popular, and use that information to optimize future social messages.
– via Pardot

What are you doing to encourage your local customers’ engagement with you online?