A reader asked how to get customers to participate on Facebook, their LinkedIn Group, etc. She also wanted know how to encourage people to give feedback.
In a nutshell, you have to ask for participation and you need engaging content. What do I mean by “engaging”? Content that your customers and fans find interesting. And content with a reason to participate.
You know what makes for dreary content? A link to a press release. This is not an example of engaging content. Plus, the reader has no call-to-action to participate.
What’s more engaging? How about a fun photograph that shows your kiddie guests participating in “Take Your Child to Work Day”?
Little, easy, quick
To encourage participation, add callouts or questions to each piece of content. To that picture of the kids visiting your office, you can ask:
- “Did your office participate in Take Your Child to Work Day?”
- “If your office participated in Take Your Child to Work Day, what was the favorite activity?”
Or, you can specifically ask for the “thumbs up”:
- “‘Like’ if your office participated in Take Your Child to Work Day.”
One of my favorite ways to encourage participation is the “Fill in the Blank” sentence.
Keep your questions—and required responses—simple. Remember, many people access social media from their phones. They may see your post while filling in a few minutes of wait time. Make it easy for them “like” or leave a quick response.
Offer incentives to encourage feedback
A survey is one of the best tools for soliciting feedback. “Little, easy, quick” applies here, too.
Many companies now use one-question surveys. You visit a site or an application and they hit you with a question. You answer it and “poof,” it’s gone and you’re on your way.
The company gets the data it wants—without bothering you.
For longer surveys, offer people an incentive for taking it: gift cards, free reports, a chance to see the replies of other survey takers (as long as they’re anonymous).
It also pays to request feedback as close to the purchase as possible. In my post, “Have You Made It Easy for Your Customers to Connect with You?” I used the example of a restaurant that asks people for their feedback as they’re paying the check.
Set expectations by telling people how much time is required to take your survey. Two minutes is about all you have in today’s distracted world. Ten minutes for a survey? Delete!
Do you have a question about Engagement Marketing? We’ll answer it in a future post. Send your question to socialsuccess (at) ConstantContact (dot) com.
In my book, Engagement Marketing: How Small Business Wins in a Socially Connected World, you’ll find two chapters (4 and 8) filled with easy tips for encouraging participation. Be sure to check them out.
