As a B2B marketer, how do you go about measuring the rate of engagement with your customers? If the answer is we’re not sure, then you definitely have some work to do.
As a recent study from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute (EBI) points out, a mere 1.3 percent of fans of the top brands on Facebook actually take the time to engage with the brands (200 top brands were followed for six weeks). If you’re like me, you scratched your head a bit and thought that number couldn’t be so low.
In arriving at the percentage, study organizers relied on one of Facebook’s own metrics to note the comments, posts, likes, tags and more that define how a user on the social network can spend time with branded pages.
According to one researcher for EBI, the small percentage recorded is not the end of the world.
In her comments following the release of the report, Karen Nelson-Field noted, “I don’t think it’s a bad thing. People need to understand what it can do for a brand and what it can’t do. Facebook doesn’t really differ from mass media. It’s great to get decent reach, but to change the way people interact with a brand overnight is just unrealistic.”
The going notion that rings true more often than not is that most individuals who favor a brand can already be classified as loyal customers. In the event they don’t leave a comment, post and/or like, does not mean they are not buying the brand.
For B2B marketers, getting customers to engage in and buy their brand is crucial.
If your engagement efforts have been a little off lately, consider the following:
- Better usage of social media – Speaking of Facebook earlier, B2B marketers should definitely be socially engaged. Compile a list of the main social networking tools and be able to check off those that you are presently on. If the list is minimal, it is time to beef it up. Cross-promoting your engagement efforts on a wide array of sites opens you up to new customers and a greater perception of being authoritative in your respective niche;
- Improved content delivery – We all know that fresh content is critical here, but how can you best spread the news? Make sure your efforts are directed towards not only the content that goes on your site, but also by participating in online forums, responding to comments from those who visit your site and more. When you engage current and potential customers online, they are more apt to come to you the next time for business or assistance. Most importantly, know who your customers are;
- Lead the way to a sale – The combination of marketing and purchasing are not exactly rocket science. Make sure that sales are tagged with qualified leads that continue to flow more often than those that are perhaps going to lead to business. If a lead just fills out an online form but it ends there, you’re left with marketing pros wondering why it didn’t lead to a sale, while sales folks ponder if marketing really provided them with a solid lead in the first place.
As the recent Facebook study points out, the numbers don’t always truly tell the story.
Being a B2B marketer, what are some tips you could share with your fellow marketers on how you go about successfully engaging others?
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