Engagement is an interesting word that has undergone a change, thanks to social media. It used to be when someone was engaged, they were committed to a cause. When two lovers got engaged, they were announcing their intentions to wed. Or when someone was involved in an engaging conversation, they were focused on what was being said, hanging on every word and tuning out everything outside of the person talking to them. If you thought social media engagement was like making a big time commitment to you or your brand, you might want to think again.

The term "engagement” in social media circles is used to define any action taken by someone looking at your content. The more common engagements are liking, sharing and commenting on a post, article, photo or video. So what are you reading into the engagement analytic numbers that are fed to you by the backend of your social media sites? It could be that those numbers mean that you are doing a great job with your marketing and people can’t wait to buy your products and services. Or it could be that they are nothing more than people who have a favorable impression of your brand, but have no intention of ever buying anything from you. They are akin to the people who stop by tradeshow booths and eat all the free candy, but never purchase anything.

How do you know which way to look at your engagement? Let’s dice through it all by the actions people are taking. Not all engagements are created equally. I like to look at social media engagement in layers. Someone who follows you on social media is the lowest level of engagement. They may follow you just to get you to follow them. They may be looking for inroads to your company. Whatever the reason, they are interested enough in you to look at you on occasion, but not much beyond that.

The next layer is liking something you have posted. This action reveals their name to all others who are looking at the post. It is an endorsement of sorts. More importantly from a marketing perspective, a like puts your post on the newsfeed of the person’s network. This is where social media can be a very large boon to your business in a very short amount of time.

Sharing is another layer up from liking a post. Sharing sends your post to a specific person or group of people. I think of the difference between liking and sharing is like the difference between telling someone I like a certain restaurant and asking a person to meet me there for lunch. When someone shares something from social media, you should find a way to follow up with them. They are either very interested in buying from you or they know someone who is.

Finally, leaving a comment is yet a higher form of engagement. In social media, this often involves a complaint. Some of it gets off track, but many times, people are putting themselves out there to express a concern. This should be red meat for the marketing department. You are gaining feedback – be it good or bad – about your company and your brand. Take this to heart. If it is good feedback, find a way to touch that person. Send them a thank you note, a gift card, a visit from your sales team to bring them donuts, etc. At the very least, reach back to them through the same medium they left the comment. If the feedback is negative, first, determine if the person is legit or someone who passes the time leaving odd comments on internet sites. If the person is legit, try to find out the source of their complaint and fix it. Communicate with them and don’t run away from the problem. Take action to make things right for them and you may have turned a complainer into your biggest fan. This is where customer service and marketing cross paths.