There's quite a bit of discussion about engagement. How should it be defined? Is the definition derived purely from a company's perspective? Others may define it simply as a consumer clicking 'like' or sharing a link. Some thought-leaders think the term has been bandied around so much, it needs to be retired. We (CI) view engagement through the lens of our clients, which means engagement needs to identify and support a behavior or action resulting in an outcome (sales, issue resolution) of value to an organization. So for us the definition of engagement is however a company may define it. Yes, this does get us off the hook by way of terminology but not in the filtering and identifying of those behaviors that align with that metric.

Engagement is Actually a Marketing Term for Action

When we talk with our clients about identifying and measuring engagement, they generally have very specific ideas in mind. For example:

• For call centers, it may be equipping CSRs with the right message and knowledge of emerging issues before customers begin to call
• For networks and producers, it may be identifying those in their audience, who have expressed an intention to watch, are currently viewing or have voiced their overall loyalty to a particular program
• For retailers, it may be identifying consumers, who have both expressed an intention to buy and are actively shopping in their store

The point is that for our clients 'engagement' means taking an action towards meeting a consumer, audience, or client need based on surfaced social intelligence. It's that action, the response or behavior that underpins the engagement, informed by analytics that needs to be relevant and appropriate.

What Can I Say? How Should I Say It? Where Should I Say It?

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Understanding your audience's intentions and preference requires both a view of emerging trends and real-time analysis. But more than that it means tying your social media analytics efforts to key business metrics, whatever those are for your specific organization. Of course, having a strategy for acting upon those insights is a critical exercise that can initiate additional consumer interaction creating a measurable (and hopefully successful) feedback loop. There's little point in filtering for pure data, identifying consumers expressing of an intention to purchase or who are having issues while physically in your store, if your organization is not equipped to act (engage) upon those insights.

So, when your organization begins to define what engagement means to your company. Think about what the value or measurements of success and how your organization can promote both your value and the value of your consumer.