20 Insights On Reach vs. Engagement From Our #WeRSMChat

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Here we go again! It’s the #WeRSMChat recap! On Sunday we talked with Greg Allum, Sony’s Head of Communities & Social, and we invited readers to discuss Engagement versus Reach. Here’s how things unfolded:

Engagement vs. Reach – what’s the most valuable to your brand?

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We first asked you what is the most valuable to your brand. Engagement or Reach?

Greg went on to share an interesting graph about how sales and engagement rates are not correlated – he came prepared!

In-channel engagement (ie. Likes & comments) is proven to have no correlation on sales revenue (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Kvfy29dpva
— Greg Allum (@GregAllum) July 31, 2016

to add to this, 77% of people don't want brands to be their mates #WeRSMChat
— POLLYANNA WARD (@Pollage) July 31, 2016

We then continued the Reach vs. Engagement debate with a tricky question: is Engagement becoming a more important metric since Reach is shrinking?

William argued that targeting is key, while Shae remained firmly in the Engagement camp.

A2) The vital ingredient is targeting. If done right, reach remains lofty & engagement with newbies abounds #WeRSMChat
— William Conboy (@WilliamConboy) July 31, 2016

engagement should be what drives other metrics otherwise why are you doing what you're doing #WeRSMchat
— Shae Leigh (@ShaeLeighCT) July 31, 2016

Oh and also, Greg invented your new favourite buzzword – Engaged Reach. You heard it here first.

Perhaps I should coin a new term 'Engaged Reach' ;) #WeRSMchat
— Greg Allum (@GregAllum) July 31, 2016

We often talk about Organic and Paid, but we tend to pitch them against each other – but can they complement each other?

The answer is probably… yes. Mich highlighted that Paid indeed saves a lot of time – Paid also helps boost successful content, making Organic + Paid a successful recipe, according to Tim. Greg explained that Paid can actually save you money, before confessing his mantra:

Agency pitched they could get 5m organic reach in 3 months at £15k per month. I can buy for <£10k. #WeRSMchat
— Greg Allum (@GregAllum) July 31, 2016

My mantra is ‘Less social. More media’. If the content is good enough then it deserves to be seen by as many as possible. #WeRSMchat
— Greg Allum (@GregAllum) July 31, 2016

#WeRSMchat yes, paid saves a lot of time & you can then engage w/ your desired audience
— Mich (@sayitwithsocial) July 31, 2016

Yes I believe so. Organic and paid work well unison amplifying successful posts & reaching new audiences #WeRSMchat https://t.co/CRlHWZuQki
— Tim Elliott (@TimElliottUK) July 31, 2016

Engagement can take on many shapes – so which one’s the best? We asked our readers… It depends, said most. But sentiment seemed to predominate.

There's no need to have just one metric. As long as you can tell the story and demonstrate meaningful ROI :) #WeRSMchat
— Greg Allum (@GregAllum) July 31, 2016

guess it depends, sentiment analysis is quite good for just gauging how people perceive our brands (: #WeRSMChat
— POLLYANNA WARD (@Pollage) July 31, 2016

A4) Sooo many variables at play. Sentiment obvs plays a huge part but otherwise campaign dependent #WeRSMChat
— William Conboy (@WilliamConboy) July 31, 2016

Greg also shared 4 metrics that define meaningful ROI:

1) Increased sales, 2) Reduced Costs, 3) Customer Satisfaction and 4) Brand Metrics. (no ER% in sight) #WeRSMchat
— Greg Allum (@GregAllum) July 31, 2016

On a side note, Polly said Facebook’s ad peak hasn’t been reached just yet:

agreed. The platforms are saturated! Also FB announced today ad peak will be next year 😱 #WeRSMChat
— POLLYANNA WARD (@Pollage) July 31, 2016

For our last question, we asked your opinion on whether organic reach would continue to go down. Overwhelmingly, you said yes. With even a bit of poetry from Will.

A5) absolutely. With more content generated and increase of tweets / likes / followers, organic discovery will decrease #WeRSMchat
— Aviral Sanghera (@aviralsan) July 31, 2016

A5) Yes, yes & yes. More ppl following more accounts. An Infatuation with Saturation is in Realisation #WeRSMChat
— William Conboy (@WilliamConboy) July 31, 2016

Talking about Facebook, Polly also argued that it’ll soon play out as a content library à la YouTube – early reports showed “impressive search figures”, she later said. Before wrapping things up, Greg said he was excited for Twitter this year, as live features should revamp the platform, notably with the recent signing of a partnership with England’s Premier League.

Twitter is going to be an interesting just signed Premier League Live Football opens up huge opportunity #WeRSMchat
— Greg Allum (@GregAllum) July 31, 2016

Tune In Our upcoming Tweetchat, Next Sunday 8pm GMT+1

If you liked what you just read and would love to discuss and learn from the best in our industry, join us next week for a new #WeRSMChat – our guest will be Chris Harwood from Havas People!

Join #WeRSMChat on Sunday 8pm GMT+1 to chat with @ChrisLCH from @HavasPeople!

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Also Read: Facebook Explains Why Organic Reach Is Declining

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