How To Spark Delightful Audience Engagement With Good Content

We’re all desperate for them. Likes, retweets, or shares. Comments, reposts, or pins.

Audience engagement. That tiny yet impactful gesture that signifies that something we did was right (or wrong) and that there’s life out there beyond the publish button.

So how do some brands do it? How do they cultivate a committed fandom who happily professes their love for their brand publically?

To answer that question, let’s look at two brands doing it well.

Modcloth

Online clothing retailer ModCloth treats visitors to a nostalgic mash-up of chic vintage clothing, accessories, and décor that transport you back a few decades.

Images of their visually stunning finds are candy for the eye and good content for the business.

But ModCloth doesn’t feel the need to hoard the content glory. Their customer-friendly platform makes it easy for customers to share product reviews and upload selfies of themselves clad in their favorite ModCloth wares.

Since over 60% of consumers are influenced by online reviews, ModCloth has created a global sales team that works for them 24 hours a day.

Always

This 30-year-old brand is well known for its line of feminine hygiene products. Through its recent #LikeAGirl social media campaign, purpose met passion when they set out to inspire and empower young girls whose confidence is shaken during puberty.

The original #LikeAGirl video spot targeted millennials and ran after Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime performance. The video now lives on YouTube and has racked up over 60 million views.

The #LikeAGirl conversation continues via social media on the brand’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages and has racked up its fair share of comments, likes, favorites, and shares.

Your Brand

You may not have the resources to pull off a big media blitz like Always. And your website may not be set up as user-friendly as ModCloth’s.

But don’t let this deter you.

You, too, can increase engagement with your audience and build your mini-fandom. In addition to what we’ve learned from ModCloth and Always, be sure you’re covering the basics:

• Join communities. Be where your audience is. Join a Facebook or LinkedIn group. Show up in Twitter chats. Listen and learn. Drop a little knowledge and ask for feedback. Be patient. Don’t sell and don’t push. Add value to the conversation.

 

• Use various forms of content. There are so many options when it comes to content and its delivery. Deepen the connection with your audience by mastering the platform on which they want to receive updates from you.  And with them in mind, create engaging content that speaks to the real issues.

 

• Be an active participant. You reap what you sow. You can’t expect your audience to engage if you don’t. Welcome new members to your Facebook page personally or give them a shout out on Twitter.  Pin their posts to your boards. While many things in online marketing can now be automated, engagement isn’t one of them.

 

How are you engaging your audience? Please share your experience in the comments below.