7 ways to enjoy stellar engagement with stakeholders
Author: yinkaolaito
Yinka Olaito is happy,excited and passionate Communications & Media specialist, Trainer and speaker. Yinka Olaito helps Profits and Non-profits with effective communication and positioning for premium service delivery and returns. Yinka Olaito also has special interest in Development Communication and has consulted for noted UN Agencies. Yinka Olaito is the CCO of Michael Sage Consulting(Communication/digital media), African Child Education Right Initiatives(NGO) and Content Director, Africa Development Talk( online Platform for discussion on Policy, Governance, development across Africa) and Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals
Brands, whether personal, products, corporate, without engagement is a water of time and resources. Engagement speaks volumes about passion, commitment, loyalty and ‘likeability’ between two entities. In this sense, a relationship between brand and desired targets. It is inability of most brands to enjoy deeper engagement with desired audience that eventually leads to shut down.
There has to be a relationship, exposure to or a form an awareness before engagement can grow strong. One is not attracted to something or somebody he/she has not seen or heard something positive from. Life is all about connection. Connection begins with a certain value allignment. There must also be a form of emotional connection for engagement to be mutually beneficial. So to have a stellar engagement with your target which produces better result for your brand, there is a need to properly manage the following:
What is your story: Human are great story lovers. Story exposes, teaches and enhance our understanding who the other person’s are. Story also builds emotional connections in terms of shared values as well as give us hope of what is available to us. Many brands are not enjoying engagement because they have not understood the impact story role.
Contact points experience: in the this age and time we all know sticking to phone call alone will ruin your brand in a big way. Having multiple contact channels will do the magic. As much as this also sound great, bad experiences at any of your contact point will destroy the rope of engagement.
It is no longer expedient to just hire a never do well or people with just and qualifications to handle the brand’s Contact points. Your contact points must be given the best shots. This has nothing to do with fine beautiful faces only. A beautiful face with bad manner will destroy whatever strategy you nay have In place.
Speed: Speed is a major requirement today. If you are slow or sluggish in this age, your next door neighbour will become the darling of your targets and carry them away with you a snap of the finger. Work on your delivery speed. Be avaialble, be relevant and be on time.
Creativity and dynamism: There may be nothing entirely new under the heaven as we commonly hear. The best way to go ahead of the park in building emotional connection which leads to stronger engagement is for you to be creative innovative and creative. Besides these, you have got to note everything changes at the click of a seconds. Embrace change and follow trend that will make your brand appear as like a magician.
Promote openly and reward your influencers: being stingy will not help much today. Be generous in many ways. Part of this for you to study your target audience with the aim to identify those who are working hard for you. Be sure you praise and acknowledge them openly. This will encourage them to do more. Aside from this, it will motivate others to remain on your radar.
Prioritise, segment and deliver wow experiences to every audience: we are in the age of personalisation. Individualism now reign supreme. Different people desire different attention. know how to prioritise, segment and deliver desired experiences to different classes of your stakeholders. This holds better mutual reward for you and the target..
Listen, listen, review and act: when success comes, sometimes it is very difficult to maintain. We have the tendency of becoming overwhelm with the responsibilities of success. Those things we used to pay attention to sometimes become non issues. Stellar engagement will require you listen the more, review and act as promptly as possible.
How are you doing in these areas?