You may have heard the word \u2018engagement\u2019 tossed around a lot lately. A small business\u2026well, any business, actually\u2026.needs to \u2018engage\u2019 with customers. What exactly does that mean? And what does that mean for developing word of mouth for your small business.<\/p>\n
Engagement is in some ways an extension of the idea of positioning: the perception that consumers have about your brand relative to the competition.\u00a0 Positioning, however, assumed that perceptions were developed primarily through traditional advertising.<\/p>\n
Engagement is the idea that a brand connects with consumers in many different ways: through traditional advertising, online advertising, through retail experiences, and through word of mouth. Brands and store owners control some of these experiences, but other experiences (in particular word of mouth) cannot be completely controlled.<\/p>\n
However, to have positive word of mouth between customers, there are two important steps to engagement. First, your business must do a good job of engaging consumers in all the ways that you can control.<\/p>\n
Consistency is key: talking about the value you provide and then putting your money where your mouth is in the store is a great way to engage. If you can engage well with customers, they\u2019ll provide the positive word of mouth for you.<\/p>\n
Second, you must connect with customers where they are\u2026not where you are. You have to find out where people are talking about you, what they\u2019re saying, and if they have any problems with your business. If they do, you need to connect with them and solve their problems.<\/p>\n
More and more these days, the Internet becomes the place where these customer conversations are happening. You need to monitor the social networking websites to find out specifically what the conversations are.<\/p>\n
How do you do this? A great, easy way is through a site called www.socialmention.com<\/a>. Social Mention, in its own words, is like Google Alerts except for Social Media networking websites like Twitter, Facebook, and more. While you can use the Social Mention home page to search for your business, we recommend that you set up an alert, just like a Google Alert.<\/p>\n On the Social Mention home page, click on the \u201cCreate An Alert\u201d link. In the next box, enter the name of your business. 3. In the \u2018type\u2019 menu, select \u201cAll\u201d so that the search engine searches all available social media. Finally, enter your email address\u2026no account needed\u2026.so you\u2019ll find out what people are saying about you.<\/p>\n Engagement, as any married person can tell you, is a two way street. Get engaged today!<\/p>\n – Kim<\/em><\/p>\n
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