We all know that there is a need for relevant and targeted content for your audience. But do we have to stick to the corporate image or can we show who we are personally and perhaps even add some humor. That depends.

Many companies tend to play it safe and show no personality while others are much lighter and share more of the personality of those responsible for their posts as long as it aligns with their tone of voice and brand. Once content is shared, it never goes away so before you post it is important to know your market. Then you can decide if your content could use some personality.

The top emotions we invoice in social media Content

BuzzSumo analyzed more than 10,000 of the most shareable articles for topic and tone. What they found is that the top three emotions invoked were laughter, awe, and amusement. When you publish for content marketing, it engages a psychological contract, which is why it is so important for you to comprehend how you can call upon the correct emotions to make the online connection a positive one.

We understand that people sometimes become angry and this can cause damage to your brand, which in turn can cause a loss of sales. But can we still be controversial if we are not being political or personal? It is important to balance engaging, positive content that is sharable – there is no question that this can be a challenge. Although is some market sectors like B2B it can be easier.

The question becomes should you play it safe or should you take the chance and push your boundaries by including content that is entertaining and thought provoking and that may not be agreed upon by all. According to the experts the benefits of sharing entertaining positive content far exceed the risks (at least in most cases) because it is this kind of content that is likely to be shared for its value.

Your visitors are likely to share this type of content with others who may not be currently following you and this can lead to a growth in followers and potential customers. An interesting topic can be an excellent ice breaker, and when you add a little personality it can take you from zero to one hundred in no time – at least when it comes to sharing your content and that’s the goal here right?

It’s important to not be worried about showing personality but rather to ensure you have set boundaries around that personality so none of your followers or visitors is negatively affected and you do not negatively affect your brand.

Creating integrated a communications lifecycle that engages your customer

If you want to keep your customers connected, you need to create some type of communication lifecycle. You can’t just sell to them and forget about them. In fact, you might call this the Holy Grail in engaging customers and keeping them connected to your company and your brand. You can take advantage of marketing automation to accomplish this task.

There are a number of marketing automation tools on the market. Be sure to check them out and find one that works for you. This is an area that is in its infancy but it is being developed by some of the best in the integrated marketing automation industry like Eloqua or EDialog. Smaller companies are making this kind of technology available to smaller companies. Marketo, Office Autopilot and Genius are three of them.

Marketing automation is very large and there are a number of different platforms, each with their own strengths and focuses. Marketing automation will include the gathering of information, analytics, auto lead generation, lead conversion, and cross department flow. This is going to save a great deal of time and it is going to make it much easier to stay connected with existing customers and potential customers.

The best starting point is a lead from a B2B marketer, who focuses on the automation of lead generation and conversion. Focusing on email that is outbound is the simplest example of automated marketing. From there it grows and grows.

It is complex and has so much to offer. Information is constantly being added, changed and updated and at the end of the day, you have an incredible amount of knowledge to help you to keep and grow your customer database.

The power is in having the ability to layer on the purchasing intentions through web forms and click through behavior, and then to turn up/down the intensity of promotions and to strengthen the offers that are applicable to the consumer.

You need to integrate your email communication, SMS, direct mail, etc. and it is completely doable using these platforms because you will design your own communication sequence for each of the segments and sub-segments. Your communication with your customer needs to begin before the sale and carry through long after the sale. Your communication needs to complete a lifecycle so that consumers are engaged from the beginning to the end and beyond.

The value of likes and shares in engaging your customer

Engaging your customers online is an important undertaking of every business and one of those ways is to engage them through social media. The social response is a way for your customers and potential customers to weigh in on what is being said on social media. When a follower likes your content it generally means they have read it and they found it interesting or agreed with it.

For the most part if a person, likes something it means it didn’t offend them. A like is similar to a ‘thumbs up.’ If they share your content then generally it means that they see it as having some value to others. If you earn a comment, you need to realize this takes the most amount of effort so it is apparent that you have successfully achieved a high level of engagement and that is what your goal should be.

To know that you are engaging with your customers online in an effective manner, you want to see them leaving comments on your posts. If day after day your posts get little engagement then you need to consider what you can do to change the situation, because it is apparent that you are not successfully engaging.

Of course, results you can measure relate to why you are on social media to begin with. If you are there just to raise your brand’s awareness than you will likely have to accept getting likes and shares and little more. However, if you are there to engage with your followers or connections then you will want to create a two way conversation as much as possible.

Excerpted from the book Online Customer Engagement.

This excerpt has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Download this book on Boostlane:

https://boostlane.com/p/boostlane/836/online-customer-engagement/