On social media, it’s all about engagement, engagement, engagement. 

Everyone’s talking about it.  But how many entrepreneurs actually know how to do it well?

And what does the right kind of engagement look like?  (Because not all engagement is good engagement, you know).

These are questions I get asked all the time by empire builders who follow me on Instagram…

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel…

And regularly read my emails.

Many have seen my 414,000 Instagram followers.

Or my 31,500 YouTube subscribers.

Or they’ve heard about the millions I generate in revenue each year…

And they want to know how they can replicate what I’m doing across my platforms, in their own businesses.

And that’s the reason why I’m coming to you today: 

To show you how you can build and monetize your own online following – by increasing your audience engagement. 

Now, before we dive into HOW you can ramp up social media engagement, I want to touch on exactly what I mean when I talk about engagement…

And why you should care about it. 

What is social media engagement?  

When I mention engagement, a lot of people think I’m simply talking about social media likes, comments, and shares.

So they focus all their attention on animating their followers, using the latest hacks and tricks…

Which might give their ego a quick boost, but likely doesn’t help their financial situation.   

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with generating likes, comments, and shares. 

They’re a great starting point. 

But what’s amazing is that for so many business owners, it’s virtually all they pay attention to. The problem is, they never realize that these are simply “vanity metrics”…

And that with a better understanding of the real purpose of engagement they can watch their sales and profits skyrocket. 

So, why does engagement matter? 

Back when businesses first migrated to social media, they made a catastrophic mistake.

They brought their dinosaur “Reach is King” mindset with them.

So instead of maximizing engagement, they focused on expanding their “reach”.

(That’s the total number of eyeballs getting hit by their content – thanks to coupon codes, free swag, and sponsored posts).

Trouble was…

Eyeballs did not equal cash in the bank.  So these businesses very quickly realized…

If they wanted to make money, they needed to pump up their social media engagement. 

This goes to why you must get your audience to engage with you.  

Not only that… a recent study by Constellation Research showed that businesses that increased customer engagement were able to:

Boost cross-sell revenue by 22%…

Increase upsell revenue by 38%…

And elevate average order value by a whopping 85%!

Just imagine what a 22%… 38%… or 85% increase in sales could do for your financial situation. 

Because this is what engagement is really all about. 

It isn’t about triggering a flood of Likes for Likes’ sake.  It’s about getting in front of the right people…

Building relationships…

And converting those relationships into sales, profits, and wealth.  Which – at the end of the day – is the reason we’re building our empires, right?  

So, when you’re building engagement, always remember that the real purpose for doing it is to make more money.  

The secret to generating social media engagement you can monetize:

#1 – Know your audience 

Hubspot recently ran a survey to see how well business owners really know their audiences. 

The results were shocking:

Because it turns out, more than half of all business owners do not even know their audience’s basic demographic data.

And even more worryingly…

71% of business owners do not understand the pain points and challenges their customers face.

This kind of baseline information is crucial if you want to engage with your audience.  And yet…

This data escapes most business owners, creating a disastrous “crisis of disconnection”.

The result? 

Poor engagement, stagnant sales, and rock-bottom profits.

Which is not what you want when you’re building an empire! 

#2 – Respond to feedback (yes, even negative feedback)

An often-overlooked benefit of building a business through the internet is that it opens up a priceless 1:1 dialogue between you and your customers.

This simply wasn’t possible in the past…

When business owners only had access to Yellow Pages…

Direct mail…

TV…

And so on. 

I’m amazed how few entrepreneurs tap into the power of 1:1 dialogue.  

Think about the message you’re sending out if a customer raises a concern…

Or asks a question…

And you ignore their message.

It tells them you don’t care.  On the flipside…

How do you think your customers will feel if you reply to their comments, answer their DMs, or quickly fix their complaints?

You immediately send a message that says, “I care and I value you”. 

Which is a surefire way to build loyalty and grow your business.  

Which is why you must respond to feedback (even negative feedback). 

#3 – Build a brand, then sell 

When a team of researchers from Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and Wharton School teamed up to understand the best ways to harness social media…

They noticed something fascinating…

Business owners tended to fall almost exclusively into one of two camps when it came to their online presence.

The first camp focused on generating immediate sales or “conversions”.

While the second camp prioritized “brand building” – with a goal of engaging with their audience in a personal way.

And which camp do you think reaped the greatest rewards? 

It was the Brand Builders. 

The reason why is simple.  Research shows that when audiences engage with brands they form a kind of “friendship”.

And this friendship makes it easy for entrepreneurs to persuade their audience to buy. 

This is why you should build your online brand first through social media engagement, and then sell second.

#4 – Get personal  

If you’ve ever seen my social media posts, you’ll know how much I love sharing intimate stories, behind-the-scenes footage, and personal opinions.

Of course, I LOVE peeling back the curtain so you can see inside my life.

But there’s another reason why I get personal on social media.

It’s because these kinds of posts radically increase engagement across my platforms.

Think about it…

Would you rather engage with a barrage of sales messages?

A torrent of how-to posts?

Or private snippets from my office, home, and travel adventures? 

99% of people would say they enjoy engaging MUCH MORE with behind-closed-doors content.

And your audience will be no different.

So my advice to you is to get personal – and then watch your social media engagement soar.     

I know generating engagement isn’t always easy.  

It took me years of trial and error to figure it out across my own platforms.  But you don’t have to navigate social media alone.

My team and I are here to help.

So tell me, what’s your #1 challenge when it comes to social media marketing?  Hit “reply” and let me know. 

Build an empire,

Elena Cardone

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