The Great Myth of Engagement

Engagement is to 2017-18 as integration was before it, and synergy before that.

A dangerously hollow buzzword.

Somehow it gains traction in the business community and the momentum quickly becomes unstoppable. FOMO kicks in hard as nobody wants to be left behind.

Here lies the problem: most organisations don’t have a clear, agreed definition for engagement. Let alone any metrics by which to measure its effectiveness.

The new Deloitte report Shared Stories: building brand in the digital age states 18% of marketing professionals rate ‘Building Customer Engagement’ as a top marketing objective.

This is separate to ‘Increasing Sales and Revenue’ and ‘Increasing Market Share’.

So what exactly is this engagement? What strategy do these businesses have to convert engagement into sales and revenue? How does it move a light or non-user into someone who will buy the brand?

In an age where every company looks to extract maximum value from every department – revenue centres vs cost centres – it’s startling to see some marketing professionals using limited budgets to chase a nebulous concept.

With over 55 million views on YouTube alone, we all loved The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.

We watched, laughed, shared and watched again. Was it engaging? Absolutely. Have I – or anyone I know – ever bought Old Spice? No.

Engagement was high. Brand awareness spiked. But that’s worth nothing if consumers are still walking past it in the supermarket as they pick up their Nivea, Dove or Lynx.