Engage! How many sides do you have or use?

So, here you are using Social Media and before you say you are not, let me point out a few things:-

• You are using (in the majority of cases) a smart phone or tablet = A Social Media tool/medium 
• You are reading this because you got a notification via Twitter, Facebook, or because you signed up for an alert = Using various Social Media Platforms
• This is a blog = A blog is a facility within Social Media way to report, record or inform people of events or incidents that have occurred to or appealed to the blog writer, thus making them write this blog 

There you go – three points that highlight and show that you are using Social Media, so what does this show?

Have you worked it out yet?

Yes – you have a side! You see there is two sides to everything – “their side” and “your side” and what you have done is just read their side of events/views/information thus allowing you to create your side – do you agree or dis-agree?

Actually the majority of you will disagree – i.e. do nothing!! Why? Well, simple! We don’t do much in the mainstream really. We say we will do something or tell friends or colleagues that we will do something – when in actually in fact we don’t! And guess what……..

These people and companies know you will not comment or say anything!!

You don’t believe me? Just think:-

• how many people view or read something?
• Then look how many people like it?
• How many people will actually share it?
• And finally, how many people have commented on it?

So, when people/companies write blogs (or place status updates or Tweet), they know that what they are creating is something that will fall into four categories:-

1. People will not read it
2. People will read it but not do anything
3. People will either like it or share it
4. People will comment on it

Let us look at those and break it down:-

• So if no ones reads it – why not? Headline, opening lines (if these are shown) or because they don’t have time? Either way, you have lost them – why? Think of something that can be your CTA* to get people reading it
• So, have people read it in part or completely read it? Either way, they have read it but as far as you know, have they liked it? Would they show and tell anyone? If not, why not? Think of some sort of CTA* to see if you can gather the engagement….
• Now if people have read and liked it, they will click your like button or even better they will share it. So, they have got you – why or how have they got you? Either way they have got you and managed to get you engaged with them which is what they want – or is it?
• Well what they really want is this – you have commented, you have responded to their CTA and got you to comment on what they have done and this is what they were trying to achieve

Now recently, I was listening to a podcast** which was mentioning blogs and one of things they where saying was that they thought blogs only had a readership of 40% per blog that were written with less than 5% actually writing/commenting on the blog! The figure of 40% is said to be based over 5 years and this is due to the fact, that a lot of bloggers will actually write the blog and then re-post a few more times that year and then a t least another three times over the next four years! So if it takes five years to get to 40% – imagine how many read it on first release?

So, if readership reaches 40% over 5 years with only 5% actually commenting what are you both doing wrong? They aren’t getting you to engage with their CTA and in turn you are not creating a CTA to get them to engage with you!

So, when you read something, like, share, comment (whether praise or disagreement ! either way each one of the three does and will most importantly create ENGAGEMENT! If they don’t:-

• get you to engage then they will not know if they are hearing what their prospects or clients feel

and

• reply to your like, share or comment – they are not engaging with their clients or prospects

So, either way, (and this applies to your suppliers too) you have two sides and you need to use them! When you do something, engage with them to create them to engage back – thus you have developed the two sides you have

• ENGAGER 
• ENGAGEE

Remember you can make a different when is it comes to engaging with people via Social Media

*    – CTA is “Call To Action”

**   – Podcast is an audio recording that you can make and store/distribute on the internet for other people to listen too

Remember 2014 – #RUReadyFor2014