Digital engagement is one of many concepts that play an essential role in any modern organization. Since modern business practices are evolving rapidly, many organizations are rethinking and renovating their models and practices to stay competitive and relevant. Not investing in a digital presence is not an option. There needs to be a connection with your audience of past, present, and potential members to establish and build strong relationships.

By providing members with a host of digital options for content, including podcasts, webinars, and other creative interactive methods, you can begin to amp up your digital engagement. Here’s a closer look at what those entail.

Brand Consistency 

The process of maintaining aesthetic uniformity throughout all your company's outputs is known as brand consistency. Everything, including logos, typefaces, colors, and other visual elements, play a role in how your brand is presented and recognized. 

To ensure you stay consistent with your branding, it is best to create brand guidelines for you and your team to follow. These guidelines can include a color palette, rules for logo usage, visualization styles, type styles, and design layouts for different media types.

Creating templates to maintain brand consistency will make it easy to switch out information to change the content. By incorporating video into your social media strategy, you can expand your brand's reach and your audience's awareness while continuing to engage and entertain. Adding compelling video content to your channels is more likely to generate potential customers with more personal interaction with the brand.

Social Channels

If your business isn't on social media, you're undoubtedly losing out on a chance to interact with current and prospective members. A great place to start is finding where your competitors and target audience are most active and where you can engage most. Then, focus on the platforms most relevant to your organization and your audience.

Once the proper channels are chosen, you must support them with high-quality content. What's currently trending doesn't always make sense for our organization. Your social media strategy should complement your association's goals. If using a specific social media channel isn't going to assist you in achieving your business objectives, there's no use in maintaining a presence there.

Before committing, you'll want to ensure you are familiar with the types of content that do well on each social media site and that you have the means to produce high-quality content consistently. Finally, consider your goals for using social media and which platforms will assist you in achieving those goals. Set benchmarks for the social media metrics you want to track and plan to adjust your strategy based on your findings. Every interaction can yield insightful information about your audience's interests, values, and preferences.

Real-Time Engagement

Connect with members and prospects looking for answers to their questions about your association or the industry it serves through real-time engagement. A recent survey found that 82 percent of people prefer live video content over other social media posts, and 80 percent of audiences would rather watch a live stream than read a blog post. 

Going live creates more engagement and feels more authentic to your audience. It also allows them to interact with members in real-time. Social platforms that offer live options include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more. 

Beyond going live for videos, you can also implement a chat feature on your website for real-time communication with interested visitors and send them personalized welcome messages, improving your chances of conversion.

Surveys

Implementing surveys into your communication strategy is a win for both the association and members. They allow a way for your audience to tell you their thoughts and what is important to them, which then helps you plan. Associations can use surveys for market research, concept testing, and event planning.

Another great way to get your audience's feedback is by creating polls on social media platforms. This provides interaction with your audience, and they can be built and deployed instantly. You will also be able to respond directly to your audience and include hashtags to increase exposure. 

Feel-Good Stories

Remember to connect with your audience through storytelling and authenticity. People are seeking feel-good stories and something they can relate to. Share the passion behind your brand, and others will begin to feel it too. Then, take it one step further and add member testimonials to gain your audience's trust and boost their interest. 

You'll want to continue to tell your story to ensure it's not getting lost in your other messages. You can easily do this by utilizing different platforms. For example, you can split it up into social media posts, create a blog, or welcome emails for new members, and you can continue this tactic by sharing "how it's going" and "where it's heading" stories.

By interacting with current and potential members through various digital channels, you will have endless opportunities to build long-lasting relationships and keep your audience up to date with your association.