What sets exceptional engagement marketing campaigns apart?

What’s the definition of engagement marketing? As a marketing professional yourself, you may have your own ideas, but to many, it’s about mastering the art of establishing emotional connections with your audience. It doesn’t happen by accident. In fact, it often takes imagination combined with blood, sweat and tears to achieve.

For instance, takes Ubisoft’s hugely popular Ghost Recon console game - a niche gaming field perhaps, but one that was ably translated into the mainstream by MCI’s engagement marketing experts in collaboration with Hotwire PR. An immersive and highly shareable experience was created for global media and large social media influencers.

Engaging gamers, non-gamers & more!

Turning the game’s usual digital hostile military storyline into 3D real-world scenarios that could also be enjoyed and related to by non-gamers, it represented engagement marketing in its purest form. What’s more, each individual’s personal experiences were shared with thousands of followers, greatly extending the game’s audience.

Evidently, customer engagement b2b or otherwise, involves a strategy that focuses on creating meaningful interactions between the brand and its customers. At a time when consumers are bombarded every day with endless content streams, it can be vital in capturing people's attention and keeping hold of it.

By sticking around and reading to the end, you'll discover what it is that separates these supreme marketing campaigns from the humdrum.

Exceptional engagement marketing involves deeply understanding your audience

Look at book one, chapter one of the 'What is engagement marketing?' handbook, and you'll learn that understanding your audience is critical to success. You need to know that your messaging is striking a chord with the type of people who are going to be interested in your products and services.

So, what this means is that learning who your ideal buying personas is is a pretty basic step. However, the way in which the very best customer engagement marketing campaigns differ is the level to which they dig down into the demographics they're trying to attract.

They put a lot of time and energy into looking meticulously through every possible parameter about the people they're marketing to, including elements such as:

Demographics - Their age, gender, income level, education, and marital status.
Geographics - The customer’s location, urban/suburban/rural setting, and climate.
Psychographics - Interests, hobbies, values, attitudes, lifestyle.
Behaviours - Their buying habits, interactions, product usage, and service preferences.
Occupation - The Industry they work in, their job role, career level, and work environment.
Challenges/pain points - Which of their problems and obstacles will the product or service solve?
Media Consumption - The channels they frequent for information and entertainment, such as social media, TV, podcasts, and publications.
Technology Use - How comfortable they are with technology, devices and the types of software they commonly use.
Communication Preferences - The ways in which they prefer to receive marketing messages and customer service (email, text, social media, phone, etc.).

There is literally no stone left unturned when using the very best engagement marketing services, with every minute detail being sought out. With this ultra-detailed insight, the target audience’s needs, preferences and behaviours are nailed down.

Creativity & originality

Naturally, a primary ingredient in the secret sauce of outstanding engagement marketing campaigns is creativity. The average person sees an incredible 10,000 ads per day, and very few of them are likely to leave a lasting impression. Therefore, the marketing you put out needs to have a hook that allows an emotional connection to be made.

What was the last marketing campaign that got you involved? Maybe it was Taco Bell’s Snapchat Lens or Ted Baker’s Instagram Stories. Either way, the likely reason it caught your attention is that it was creative and original. At the very least, the strategy used was sufficiently innovative and different enough to rise above the ‘noise’.

Daring to break the mould

Of course, being original and creative is easier to say than do, but the aim should include the courage to be different and break from the norm. Originality in your campaign’s design encourages users to spend more time with your content, share it with their friends, relatives and work colleagues, and interact with your brand.

The “Share a Coke” campaign by Coca-Cola is another great example, as people just loved seeing their name’s emblazoned on the iconic bottle. This was again more than a decade ago, but it’s still marketing that people remember and relate to.

The campaign’s success was rooted in its creative personalisation and encouraging customers to become active participants rather than passive recipients of the marketing message.

A seamless omnichannel experience

In the digital age, omnichannel marketing is a necessity for any commercial enterprise simply because modern people use so many different channels. The same applies to engagement marketing, meaning that a strategic approach is needed to ensure that customers get the same experience with a brand, no matter whether it's in-person or via social media.

If someone gets a stellar experience when visiting a brick-and-mortar store but a substandard or inconsistent one online, this can undo the good work done in fostering long-term engagement and trust. This is why the best brands focus so hard on getting this aspect right.

Take Starbucks as an example. Irrespective of whether you're on their app or buying a coffee in the UK or abroad, it’s the same iconic logo, the same service and the same quality. The advantages of this unified method will be of interest to any ambitious company, as a smooth omnichannel experience gets you:

Enhanced customer satisfaction - By offering a seamless experience across all channels, customers enjoy more convenient and personalised interactions, resulting in higher levels of satisfaction and loyalty.
Increased sales and conversions - A smooth and consistent journey minimises buying friction, which makes it easier for customers to buy from you.
More data insights - More customer touchpoints mean more opportunities to gain insights into customer preferences and behaviours.
Improved retention - A great omnichannel experience engenders loyalty and credibility, leading to more people coming back to buy from you again.

This relentless consistency helps to solidify your brand's identity and values in the minds of the consumers, making all of your marketing efforts more effective and memorable.

Authentic, value-driven content

How important do you think authenticity is in engagement marketing? What if we told you that almost 9 out of every ten people view it as being a key factor in which brands they support? It's a fact that cause-driven initiatives are viewed as being more ‘real’ and worth listening to than the advertising that companies use en masse.

Due to the sheer volume of available information online these days, people are much more savvy and have also become weary of traditional advertising. That's why they’re increasingly seeking out genuine connections with brands that stand for something over and above the services and products they offer.

Promoting sustainability with engagement marketing

Imagine a brand telling you to trade in and invest in used products rather than buying new ones. That rather goes against the grain of how large companies are traditionally viewed, but it's what the Patagonia brand is doing in their Worn Wear engagement marketing campaign.

Promoting sustainability and aiming to address the problem of around 85% of clothing ending up in landfills, the campaign also involves the publication of content that teaches consumers how to prolong the life of their products. This demonstrates the brand's commitment to something other than profits and also serves as a financial benefit to the customer.

Authentic, value-driven content like this can be very persuasive when used correctly, building an emotional connection and giving real sincerity to your company's messaging.

Leveraging technology & innovation

The boost that technology is able to lend to any engagement marketing strategy can't be understated, as it can be transformative. We're not talking about using tech for the sake of it but rather leveraging the customer benefits of using cutting-edge innovations to add to the overall experience they get with you.

For instance, the IKEA Place App allows iPhone and Android smartphone users to go to a virtual world and use augmented reality (AR) to visualise how IKEA furniture will look in their homes. This is something that traditional media just can't match and turns passive viewers into active participants while establishing a strong brand connection.

Engagement marketing at its finest allows standout campaigns to be created that get people involved and talking together about it. There's more and more tech available to marketers with every passing year, and those who can harness it can get ahead.

Looking to supercharge your engagement marketing efforts?

Superlative engagement marketing campaigns transcend traditional advertising and often leave behind an almost indelible mark on people. Central to achieving this end is knowing your audience completely, being creative and consistent and making the most of every available tool. It can be a complex process, and that's why you need an experienced engagement marketing partner with a proven track record in this area to guide you.

At MCI, we possess an unmatched depth of understanding in engagement marketing, something that allows us to create campaigns that captivate and encourage interaction. With the help of our experts, we can develop marketing engagement strategies that take your brand to the next level and form lasting emotional connections with the public.

So, why not take a look around through our range of services or get in touch with our team? We’ll work with you to realise your goals now and in the future.