Engagement Marketing: How Small Business Wins in a Socially Connected World

From the Author: Six Simple Ideas for Small Business Marketing

1. Buyers trust comments and reviews (even from strangers).
   According to a Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey, only 14 percent of people trust advertising, while 78 percent of people trust consumer recommendations. When businesses interact with current customers online, these socially visible interactions feed their referral engine.
2. A customer's friends are a business's next best prospects.
   We all want to find a rich source of qualified new prospects. Turns out every business already has one! The social networks of your current customers are filled with people like them - people who might be interested in your products or services.
3. Rise above the ordinary in small and large ways that wow customers.
   To create a connection, understand the experience your business delivers through a customer's eyes...and find one or two spots to create something a little bit special.
4. They won't join if they're not asked. (Yes, they really have to be asked!)
   People need to know why they should connect to an organization's social media vehicles like Twitter and Facebook. What are they going to get? Ensure that it is easy and compelling for them to connect, and then ask them!
5. Engagement drives social visibility.
   Social proof is the concept that when we see our friends and colleagues take an action, such as eating at a particular restaurant, that action is an endorsement. Social proof happens through social visibility. When people engage with a business - especially online via social media - their networks see this engagement, and they are enticed to engage, too.
6. Engagement matters.
   Engagement cements a connection between a business and their current customers, and drives the social visibility that will motivate and inspire repeat and new business. Engagement happens in small doses.