“Recognition: the state or quality of being recognized or acknowledged”  Google

“There are two things people want more than sex and money. . . recognition and praise” Mary Kay Ash

The most powerful aspect of social media is a company’s ability to find conversations about their products or services by their consumers, interact with their consumers, and create positive perception with their audience. Yet with all of this power at their fingertips, many companies continue to completely miss the most important piece to social media engagement: recognition.

Recognition: The Power of Acknowledgment

Why is recognizing a consumer or client so important? The power of acknowledgment. People want to be recognized and acknowledged for their efforts, opinions, actions, and thoughts. The key is to value your audience and their input.

Recognition and Acknowledgment: Two Steps to Customer Engagement

This incredibly simple, but vastly overlooked strategy requires two steps:

1. Recognition: recognize a consumer’s opinion, thought, or request with a direct communication to that consumer. Make sure that the message is personalized and not a canned or scripted message that lacks sincerity
2. Acknowledgment: publicly acknowledge that the consumer’s message is important, relevant, and of value to the discussion