Johna Burke, of BurellesLuce addressed WWPR last week (recap by Joan Coyle here). She talked about social media measurement and provided lots of useful information about web tools and marketing strategies.
One thing, more than anything else Johna said, struck me as crucial: she talked about engagement and marriage. Engagement, Johna said, is just the beginning. It’s when everything is all promise and excitement (isn’t that ring all shiny?) Marriage (which most times follows the engagement) takes a lot of hard work and commitment.
In social media, people talk about engagement all the time. You have to “engage” with your followers. What does this really mean? Why are you engaging? The answer is simple–to build a lasting relationship (the “marriage”). If you are engaging just to engage and not to follow through, then you are just breaking promises. If you get caught up in getting Twitter followers but don’t provide any substance or reason to “stay together” then you are looking at social media (and any marketing) as being all about the excitement of it rather than the substance (which should be your marketing goals and strategy).
Engagement is just the beginning. It is your starting point to a marketing/communications strategy that seeks to accomplish a goal (e.g. establish thought leadership, increase sales, etc.).
Are you getting engaged all the time or are you working on your marriage?
Caffeinated ideas and views on marketing communications 
Thanks for the thoughtful post! I’m delighted you were able to make it to the WWPR event:)
Whenever I demo Twitter, the question always arises as to how I can possibly follow so many people. When I tell them I can actually tell you something about most of them, then they’re really floored. You’re right: following and saying hi is a good start — but it doesn’t get you very far if you don’t follow up.