So here’s my challenge to you… to divide in your mind the difference between content distribution and community engagement. More often than not, we call the things that are really digital distribution digital engagement. But they aren’t! This is why it’s good to differentiate and define several tiers of digital engagement. I would lobby that the early tiers are more delivery and the later tiers are engagement.
Tier one engagement is really the first step of exploring what you have to offer and engaging with you. These actions are low-hanging fruit and simple. They also require very little commitment or transparency on the part of the consumer. These are also very one-directional (from you to them). Some examples are:
Views - people looking at your site, your videos, etc.
Impressions - similar, essentially eyeballs on your digital assets
Downloads - free downloads of resources (with or without contact capture)
b - simple expressions of liking something they’ve seen
This tier begins to see more interaction and transparency. People start to share who they are and their contact information. This stage becomes more back and forth with the constituent, but they are still exploring. You do have the ability to start nurturing these individuals since you now know who they are (and they need nurturing!). Some examples are:
Comments - action to share something and be noticed in the community
App Downloads - taking action to download an app asset onto their phone
Subscribe - share their contact information and request to know more
Sign Up - registering and signing up for something you offer (asset or event)
Create Account - creating an account and/or becoming a member
This third tier is where you see someone more from interacting to advocating. This is where the person becomes a champion for your vision/brand. This is also where true engagement happens because the person is not only interacting with you but they are also interacting with others around them. That’s the goal of almost all digital engagement… to see people engage each other. Some examples are:
Sharing - taking the action to share with friends or on social - advocating this to others
Invite - taking the initiative to invite others to join in on something they are attending
Groups - join or launch groups that bring together people in real life
Post - posting content or stories to help enrich the community
I’m certain there are many more examples here so please add your own ideas. My goal in this segment is to paint a picture that not all measures or engagements are the same. In fact, I wouldn’t even call early-stage active “engagement”. I believe engagement should be reserved for when someone starts connecting with others and advocating for your vision.
My challenge to you is to explore and build your own tiers of engagement. Please, take these tiers if they make sense to you, or start from scratch. But you need your own grid of tiered engagement so you can (1) measure properly, (2) set goals properly, (3) track conversion from one stage to the next property, and (4) celebrate member maturity.
Cause Machine Solutions
The entire Cause Machine platform is designed to help bring various tiers of engagement to life for people in your community. We believe in the nurturing of individuals in these private communities and the goal of helping everyone reach toward a deeper engagement… true tier-three engagement with your community and each other. Schedule a demo today!
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