Social Media Campaigns: Attention vs. Engagement

Guest Blog Post by Melissa Burns of Socialnomics.

When building up social media campaigns, the entrepreneurs often make a mistake by developing a strategy that only reaches one goal: getting the attention of potential customers. However, in business it’s not enough simply to make people see and notice your product. A thriving business has to get clients interested enough to get involved. So, how do you plan a social media campaign? Which should be your ultimate goal: attention or engagement?

It all depends on your situation. If you are an online business that is just starting out, your product is unknown and your logo will be unrecognizable to the majority of people you define as your target audience. In that case, it would be wise to put all of your efforts (and expenses) into making your potential clients aware of your existence. Your focus will be on getting their attention. Likewise, if you have been on the market for a considerably amount of time and you have made a name for yourself, but your potential customers aren’t becoming actual customers, the focus should be more on promoting engagement.

In most situations, if you had endlessly dollars you would choose to get attention (get into potential customer feeds) and get customers and potential customers to engage (interacting with your brand and buying). Fortunately, many methods will gain you both engagement and attention.

Rule number one

You have to choose your target audience properly. The correct choice of target audience often defines the choice of the social networks where you social media campaigns should be launched. The more limited and specific the audience is, the easier it will be to find it, study it and address that audience in the most effective way.

Rule number two 

You have to provide your potential customers with quality content. First thing is the content itself – you should provide information about your services and products, of course, but you have to remember that in order to keep your clients entertained and interested you should offer them something else – contests, curious facts on topics related to your business, etc. Second – you need to develop proper writing style and create compelling visuals to support the text. The décor is half the battle. It’s not only about what information you provide, it’s also about how you put it. You must be careful when choosing your writing style – everything depends on the type of product (or service) you are trying to sell. Don’t try informal style for your social media campaign if it doesn’t correspond with the spirit of your business.

Rule Three

In order to achieve the desired results – whether they are recognition or sales growth - you have to define the goals of your SMM campaign as clearly as possible at the very beginning. You have to understand what your business needs right now and play your hand accordingly. It’s easier to think of a good social media strategy after you have set your priorities. If your business is just starting out, get your name, your logo and who you are out there. Communicate your ethos. Drive attention. Alternately, if you have a well-established brand, focus on strategies that can promote the sharing of your content and buying of your products. Share links direct to product pages. Publicize deals, sales and contests. Drive engagement.

As your business changes and grows, your priorities should change too. Always keep your eyes on short-term and long-term goals when constructing your social media campaigns.