5 top Secrets to Ramp Up Your Digital Brand Engagement

Digital brand engagement is key to having long-term success in the online space. When customers are engaged, they’re more likely to become loyal within that space. Brands can then leverage that relationship to increase revenue from the existing customer base.

While digital has evolved year over year, consumers have become increasingly connected. Stories, posts and video content have become the mainstream over traditional channels in 2019.

With upwards of 3 billion people using social media every day, platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have become critical to engage customers in. Whether that is through engaging games, apps or video content, there are multiple channels through which digital-first brands can reach customers.  

Let’s explore the top 5 secrets that can supercharge your digital brand engagement.

1. Increase brand engagement through targeting

It’s for the brand to target specific audiences within the industry they operate in.

It helps in engaging the customer more when you can segment them into smaller groups of unified appeal.

Audience groups could have overlaps with one another for certain cross-promotions, but by and large, it’s important to have a focused approach.

This helps in enhancing the engagement levels that can be seen in the marketplace. Research from Google suggests that there is an ROI of $2 for every $1 they spend on advertising. The number is fully optimized when companies razor-focus their segmentation and try different messages.

By focusing on their target audience, brands can deliver more value and uncover new avenues of growth and engagement. That’s when their message will cut through the noise for better digital brand engagement.

It’s all about reaching the right customer with the right message, and a generic approach will not do in 2019. Marketing has become increasingly complex with more tools and technology platforms being introduced. However, at the core, there is a singular approach to targeting that works best.

2. Invest in technologies which drive engagement

Some time back, Loreal launched a mobile app that allows consumers to try on makeup virtually. This app is a unique asset both as a branded channel for engaging with customers and as a “fire hose” of incoming information about how their customers engage.

Technologies like AI, ML and IoT are the main drivers of innovation and engagement across the board. They are behind some of the more revolutionary experiences we’ve seen, including driverless cars, AI chatbots, connected wearables, etc.

Take chatbots for instance.

HDFC bank’s chatbot EVA handles millions of queries on its chatbot technology feature. Customers can ask about services and be offered instant offers based on their query history. The customer service area becomes a tool to engage with customers at a deeper level.

Building loyalty with customers on a one-to-one basis can truly help drive engagement and relationships. Like customer service, technology can help build customer loyalty and loyalty breed profitability. Customer relationship management or CRM system keeps customer loyalty and helps in building profitable customer relationships. In fact, the content, topics, questions, and conversations in your CRM tell you what your customers are thinking about and searching for. That makes CRM a great source of keywords for SEO.

That brings me to my next point i.e. using SEO to increase digital brand engagement.

3. Use SEO for greater brand visibility

It’s not news anymore that people rush to search engines when they need content. That could be for entertainment or to solve their problem. And that presents a huge opportunity for brands to widen their net.

Through the power of SEO, brands can extend their marketing online to engage new audiences. When your content or message ranks higher than your competitors, you can gain greater reach through search engine results.

As search engine algorithms are evolving with time, the dependency on content for SEO has reached new levels. In fact, now SEO is all about content marketing. So brands investing in SEO must create & promote content in different formats including blogs, articles, r news, webinar, podcast, videos, Slideshare, etc.  

The next point explains how this SEO content can be used strategically further to ramp up digital brand engagement.

4. Improve customer engagement with inbound marketing

Content is the core focus of inbound marketing. The idea is to create targeted content (refer to my first point about targeting) and reach more new potential customers. Inbound is a marketing strategy which involves multiple marketing tactics, including content marketing and SEO.

Brands are unable to interact on a 1-and-1 basis with buyers throughout the buying journey. Earlier, the sales process was fairly linear and sales reps used to play an important role in influencing potential buyers. But now consumers prefer to do their own research online to decide which brand they want to go for.

Inbound marketing offers an excellent opportunity for brands to engage with their potential buyers on digital platforms during the buying journey. And the tool for engagement is content.

5. Leverage social media to boost brand engagement

This is already the favorite of many brands for engaging their target audience on a digital platform.

And the best part is that the audience is also thoroughly enjoying this engagement!

Don’t get fooled by cute puppy videos and trending memes. Brands are not creating those because they want to have fun! That’s all a part of their social media engagement strategy.

And the best part is that this strategy has empowered even small businesses, which could have never imagined playing at the same level big enterprises do.

I have worked with clients who didn’t believe that social media marketing can give the desired returns unless they saw the engagement results. Like any other marketing technique, social media marketing has to be strategy driven.

6. Use a coherent brand message

I know the article headline said I’ll be sharing 5 ways to boost digital brand engagement. But here comes a bonus point.

The final secret is to have greater visibility when you find a coherent message that scales. That’s when customers can truly engage with a message at multiple brand touch points and take the right action.

Conclusion

These are some of the tactics which are being used for effective digital brand engagement.

If you look more closely, you will find some overlaps in these tactics. Let’s look at some examples.

1. Search engine optimization or SEO is used as a standalone marketing technique and is also one of the pillars of inbound marketing.
2. Social media is also one of the important components of inbound marketing and social signals impacts search rankings.
3. Identifying the audience is one of the most crucial steps in building a successful content and inbound marketing strategy.

Generally, businesses use a mix of these tactics. Ultimately, it depends on the brand, nature of product/ service, budget allocation and marketing as well as business goals – both short and long term.

I’d love to know your secret to ramp up digital brand engagement. Share in the comments below.