Engagement is Key

This week for Social Media Principles, Chapter 5 was included in part of the reading assignment for "Measure What Matters." This chapter was full of a lot of important information about how social media and PR have changed to fit more advanced technology and the need for news quickly. A major subject in Chapter 5 is the levels of engagement between users and a brand .

The different levels explain the relationship between the audience and the company on social media and can help plan projects to increase engagement.

The first level, lurking, is the most simple and probably the most common of the other four. The user that 'lurks' scrolls through social media news feeds liking posts without putting much effort in. This is usually the first step in any relationship. I am definitely guilty of liking and scrolling on Facebook, sometimes without even reading what the post is.

The next step in the relationship is casual. This involves Twitter follows, blog subscriptions, downloading a video from YouTube and suggesting a page to a friend on Facebook. This relationship needs to be accessed after checking how many times a user returns to the site. Analytics can be used to measure the interactions of users to the brand. This step is often where the relationship ends.

Next, the relationship moves to active. In this step, users actively participate on Facebook and retweet news on Twitter. Both parties benefit in this relationship. This step is important for the company to ask what they did to cause users to improve their relationship.

The fourth step is the committed relationship. The users are beginning to trust the company enough to provide their identity for membership. Positive expectations about the relationship are being enforced and both parties feel favorable toward each other. New registrations should be measured for increase over time.

The final level of engagement is a loyal relationship. This is the most advanced of all the levels. Surveys should be used to determine the true feelings of the organization. More accurate results would be obtained by taking a survey before and after to see if there are any changes in the perception of the company throughout a period of time.

The different levels of engagement are vital for the success of an organization. Getting users to start with lurking and make their way up to loyalty could be a difficult task, but it is definitely worth the time.