The Future of Engagement
In the past 20 years of the digital marketing space, I have seen progressive evolution in the measurement of reach. When I first started in 1996, I was trying to track the traffic to our website. I was told to count 'hits' on very antiquated report. No joke! Some years later, we were told to start counting 'page views'. And after that, came the 'unique user'. We finally felt we were getting somewhere.
The same is true about digital marketing. We have 'reach' which is kind of like counting 'hit's back in 1996. It's a vague term that can mean just about anything an organization wants to make it embody. One thing is for sure, it is guaranteed to be heavily weighted to the one offering the solution. Then, we have 'impressions'. It is kind of like page views. There are a number of ways to calculate those impressions, and we aren't really defining if they are good impressions or bad impressions. I don't even like the term. From my experience, there aren't usually many valid 'impressed human beings' on the other side of these numbers. There are few who have really been affected with the brand, the product or had a meaningful impression of the marketing.
And then, we have 'engagement'. It is a step in the right direction, kind of like a unique user. But, every measurement tool has it's weakness. There is always a margin for error. Engagement means there was interaction from a human being with the marketing. Why is that important? Are they qualified? Do they even want this product or service? Does engagement really get us further than impressions?
I think the evolving future of digital marketing is going to force this question more and more. With the 4th digital transformation well under way, engagement itself is going to be redefined. Engagement is just a start. It should be an indicator that there is some interest on the other side. But digital marketing often falls too short right now, feeling that is the end. It's just the beginning. The real question is, how can you create ongoing engagement? And that is where I see digital marketing headed in the next 2-5 years. Digital marketers are going to need to be very strategic at harnessing all of the assets at our disposal to create ongoing engagement. Just because they watched your video on Facebook last night and shared it doesn't mean you can throw a party. All too often, the 'success stories' I read about lack any evidence of ongoing engagement. I can't settle for that. And I feel if you do, you will be left in the dust in the very near future. Times are changing, and ongoing engagement is going to be the baseline for success stories, technical developments and the next big things in marketing.