Social engagement through digital networking has moved from the realm of geeks and technophiles to a wider non-geek audience. This is supported by a recent survey conducted by Neilson which found that 67% of all those going online were spending time on social network sites, and that reach was spreading across all age groups with for example, a quarter of Facebooks users being over 50 years old. Search and destination sites remain the most popular online activities however social media and network exposure continues to grow.

Previously such engagement sites may have been seen as, at best, a toy and at worst a productivity destroying menace. However it is now believed that they can provide the ears through which to listen to your audience and to engage in open discussion, encouraging participation and promotion of your company and brand. It allows you to communicate with your audience in their environment, moving from push marketing to a much more natural approach.

Social networking tools are plentiful and to build up a full programme of social engagement could be time consuming and costly. Simple steps which may help you best utilise such opportunities are:

1. Social ring fencing

Creating company or brand tied accounts on tools such as Bebo, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and Wikipedia will stake your claim for the brand for potential future use.

2. Promotion in the right areas

Monitor what works and amend focus accordingly. In each instance there are two important facts to remember. Social networking is opt-in by your audience and normally generated through recommendation, it is therefore highly unlikely that you will see thousands of connections from day one. To use the tools to their fullest, the approach must be social, brash marketing and sales messages may annoy the audience and encourage negative feedback and opt-out. In addition, listening to your customer is vital, you should not be afraid of negative comment but rather, respond accordingly and allow this to inform what you do.

3. Online personas

A company persona should be adopted. This will allow multiple people to maintain the social presence and if chosen correctly will be a persona your audience can identify with. In tools such as Twitter that are mainly ongoing public conversations, persona adoption and personality is key in establishing the engagement with your audience.

4. Useful marketing

Marketing must be useful in order to earn attention. Users can choose or block content in social networking environments making it vital to earn this attention. Does your approach have talkability? Is it quirky, exclusive or shareable? Have you timed your approach for optimum relevance?

5. Make it easy

Allow your audience to follow the path of least resistance. If you wish for users to place your website in social bookmarking sites then allow them to do so at a click of a button by placing the link on your site. If you have a presence on Facebook or any of the other social networking tools ensure that you promote this on your site with a link to the appropriate presence.

Most importantly, have a go and have fun! Don’t let your competitors leverage all of the opportunities. Social engagement and networking can seem like a daunting environment however it needn’t be. The more you show a passion for your own brand, the more your audience will too.