Media Marketers created a marketing strategy process called G.E.A.R. to analyze your current marketing efforts and brainstorm and implement an effective plan for taking your efforts to the next level.

We’ve already shared information about the first two steps—Generate and Educate.

The third step in your marketing strategy is to ACCULTURATE your audience.

I know what you’re thinking. “What in the world does ‘acculturate’ mean?” But trust me, it’s actually a good word that simply means, “engage your audience.”

The word gives some clues to what it stands for. The word “culture” is right there in the middle of it. Acculturate is simply the action taken to create a culture.

Apple Computers is perhaps one of the shining examples of someone who created a culture. Whether or not you’re a “Mac” person, you recognize the subculture that been created from one company, their products, and their attitude to “think different.”

When you’ve built your own following, you need to hold onto them. You need to engage them where they are. You need to create a place and a culture for them. That’s the purpose of this third step.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even Google+ are methods that you can incorporate as a business to engage your audience, keep in contact with them, and gather insight into how they view you. Using these tools, you can have a conversation with your customers and keep top-of-mind awareness in the loop.

An engaged audience is one that will stick around. To get your audience engaged, talk with one of our marketing consultants.