A Definition Of Engagement
What it means to be engaging
In social media, digital, and marketing – it’s all I hear – “it’s so engaging” or “we must be engaged with people” to have “engaging two-way dialogue”. But ask yourself, do you really know what this molested term might mean? But more importantly, what it means when you’re developing a digital or comms strategy?
Recently, at a branded content seminar, it was Peta Pynta, Director of Sales and Marketing, Neuro-Insight that defined it best for me – not only as a marketer, but as a learner story-teller. Pynta discussed the term from its origins in psychology.
Engagement is a sense of personal relevance.
This deceitfully simple definition has really shaped the way I consider this, and consider marketing communications and messaging. It’s not about how many @ replies on Twiter you get, how many Likes you get on Facebook. It’s about how personally relevant is what you are doing to the community you’re doing it for.
Think about concerts – like Tiesto above – we come together they just play for us, broadcast their sound, their message, their craft – and we watch, and we are absorbed and we are definitely, engaged.
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Nice. Engagement is one of those ridiculous words that can very easily get lost in the bureaucratic, complex world of marketing. I was considering doing a post recently on how marketing slang occasionally has no reference to the consumer. For example I sent a tweet out the other day looking for ‘hyperconnected’ kids for a job, and a friend came back saying she was ‘hyper’ and ‘connected’ and could she have a job for the summer please.
That aside, I can definitely agree with Mr Pinta’s definition, makes sense of a phrase which is used far too freely, with little knowledge behind the actual thought process of truly engaging someone.
Nice.
@Tarik:
Engagement is definitely a word that has been strung out and depleted of meaning. For both the narrator and listener alike. What is means is that people aren’t actually aware of what they’re trying to do, or what success looks like.
Marketing terms should be kept away from customers. At all times.