Your Digital Epicenter

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: EXPLORING 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   TIER TWO ENGAGEMENT: INTERACTING 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   TIER THREE ENGAGEMENT: ADVOCATING 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!  

One of the most effective ways to define something is to both define what it is and what it is not.  This is a common exercise to set expectations, understand the scope, and simply manage the direction you’re heading.  Digital Engagement is no different… it’s good to know what it is and what it isn’t.  So let’s take some time to map out our two lists.    DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT IS Drive to Relationship - it should always be moving people from technology to personal relationships (much more on this in other posts).   Uniquely Personal - it should be unique to each person and tailored to who they are as a person. Grassroots - is should have the ability and grow from the bottom up (or democratized) so the community can own, shape, and grow organically. Guided Process - the overall experience should be guided and constructed by you to guide people well. Measurable Activity - it should give you the ability to measure how people are engaging, where things are falling off the map, and unique insights into your audience. Known & Intentional Next Steps - it should constantly be showing people their best next step and the easy ability to reach that.   Multi-Directional - it should include what you push out to your audience, means to respond back to you, and means to engage one another in the community.    DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT IS NOT Simply Social Media - it’s not simply leveraging social media platform to be present and reach people.   Simply Pushing Content - it’s not just pushing out content (social media plus other means) to your audience. One Directional - it’s not just communication on directionally to your audience without abilities to receive feedback and connect with others.   Two Way Communications - it’s not just speaking to you audience and them speaking back with you… it must include them speaking with each other.   Purely Online - it’s not all online and in a digital format.   You’re probably seeing a trend here in what Digital Engagement is and is not.  In some ways, Digital Engagement is a tough strategy because ultimately we believe that the goal shouldn’t be digital at all.  We believe that life is all about relationships and the digital resources in life should be bettered our relationships.   I heard a story once of a man who had over 700 friends on Facebook.  One day he decided to invite all of them to a party and to connect in person.  He set up an event and invited everyone… all 700.  A few registered to meet up at the park that day, but not as many as he had hoped.  When the day came, he sat on a bench waiting for people… not a soul showed up.  How do we begin to live in a world where we have “700 friends” yet not a single one of them shows up in person.  That’s why a clear definition of Digital Engagement is so important and how you as a leader should be helping people build a nurture true relationships.     Cause Machine Solutions The entire Cause Machine platform is designed around the principles expressed in this article.  The Cause Machine’s goal is to equip community leaders with great tools to connect with their audience and connect their audience with each other.  The greater goal for us at Cause Machine is to see your members making amazing personal connections because of the tools of the platform and your great engagement.  Schedule a demo today!