I recently chatted with Mark Schaefer about the changing nature of how companies communicate with their customers. Social media engagement is just one of six digital layers between companies and their customers.

The Six Layers of Customer Engagement:

1. The Web: When companies moved to the web, they asked customers to be self-sufficient with regard to things like product information, customer service and ordering.

2. Social Media: The social web opened up possibilities of public, two-way conversation.

3. Facebook: This is the internet for many people, and they handle all of their communication, with friends and companies, through the world’s largest social network.

4. Mobile: With a phone in every pocket, customers are now looking for information that they can consume on their mobile devices.

5. Augmented Reality: Digital information can now be placed on top of the real world.

6. The Game Layer: This builds on the mobile layer and lets businesses turn the world and their businesses into a game.

And during the interview, Mark demonstrated his ability to “walk the talk” of social media by sharing these ideas on a leisurely stroll.

Tags: Facebook, gamification, mobile, Social Media