New Meaning to The Word “Engagement”

So, what exactly is engagement? No, we aren’t talking about when your significant other gets down on one knee and asks for your hand in marriage. We are talking about web engagement – the interaction of people with online channels.

Engagement comes in many forms today, through commenting to a blog post, to retweeting an interesting tweet, to connecting through a social network, to interacting to an online forum, and more.

There are a number of different ways people interact online. These people can be classified as:

• Searchers – These passive individuals scan online resources to find specific information and largely ignore social media. A count of unique visitors captures your best view of this silent group.

• Lurkers - They listen in on the conversation but don’t participate. These users can be tracked as repeat visitors above a certain frequency, say, more than three or five visits per month.

• Casuals – They are somewhat more engaged and participate lightly in social media. Metrics identify them as percentages of visitors who post comments or who become your friend on Facebook or your follower on Twitter.

• Actives – These people are higher up the value chain. They retweet to others, regularly participate in interactive threads and post comments frequently.

• Defenders – These active individuals are the most influential ambassadors – advocating, recommending and defending the brand.