"Engagement" is a term that has sprung up in the vocabulary of email marketers worldwide as a metric, a program goal, or even a brand directive. And though we can apply multiple definitions to this important word, in the nearer term we need to be approaching it the same way the Internet service providers (ISPs) are—as a measurement of consistent open and click behavior by your email subscribers.

Though open and click metrics are waning in importance as an overall measurement of program success, those are the metrics available to ISPs, which will therefore use them to determine whether your message makes it to the inbox, bulk folder, or nowhere at all.

The good news is that email marketers recognize the overall importance of email engagement and are focused on it this year. According to a recent survey conducted by StrongMail of nearly 1,000 global business leaders, 52% cited increasing subscriber engagement as one of their top priorities in 2011, making it the No. 1 initiative.

To effect this change, however, you need to do more than recognize the need; you need to understand what is driving it. The short answer is ISPs.

ISPs are inundated with email traffic—so much so that many categorize upwards of 90% of traffic as unsolicited. Depending on the inbox provider, you could be talking about billions of emails each month—and, unfortunately, some of those messages may be yours.

Inbox providers trying to make the environment as pleasant as possible for their subscribers are constantly looking for new ways to determine inbox placement, and this year it's engagement.

The Pros

• More relevant email communications. If you're focused on driving increased open and click behavior on a consistent basis, content relevant to your subscriber base is going to be crucial to that success.
• Increased focus on life-cycle-based messaging. Communicating with customers at a time that is integral to your relationship (relevant timing) will help drive consistency in engagement.
• Improved program performance. If customers are engaging more consistently and your content and timing is more relevant, you should see spikes in your overall program conversion.

The Cons

• Seasonal business. If you have a seasonal business, getting recipients to engage consistently and frequently during off-peak periods will be difficult.
• Resource strain. Attaining a high level of relevance may strain your already-taxed resources. Achieving relevance to drive engagement may mean more content development, increased production requirements, or even infrastructure strain—all things that need to be considered before diving in headfirst.

The Best in Class

Some marketers are finding inventive and just plain fun ways to drive engagement today. Let's look at how some organizations are meeting this new challenge head-on, and how you can apply it to your email programs today.

• Crocs drives engagement to other channels via its email communications. You can shop for Crocs footwear online (click), find a brick-and-mortar location (click), or even provide preferences to help mold the long-term communication plan (click). Each email message provides multiple options to drive click behavior regardless of where you prefer to shop.
  
• Just tell your subscribers what you want them to do—GameStop does. In the fourth quarter of 2010, GameStop sent a message to subscribers, encouraging them to share their opinions in exchange for points in its rewards program. Often, encouraging engagement is as simple as asking.
  
• Show some gratitude. These two little words can mean a lot: Thank you. Fandango figured that out. As a way to thank recipients for subscribing to its emails, Fandango entered them into a sweepstakes to win movie tickets. But to find out who won, subscribers needed to open the email announcement on a specified date. The message was image heavy, and to render it subscribers needed to enable images—which recorded an open. Engagement, check.
  
• Bribery can get you everywhere, especially if you are United Airlines and have a subscriber base that loves to collect miles! United Airlines encouraged customers to provide permission to receive terrific email offers—in exchange for bonus miles. Sometimes it takes more than the promise of intriguing content to drive engagement. Don't sell bribery short!
  
• Just be creative. Though many say that a mere 20% of the conversion dependency for email is on the creative, sometimes it may just be the creative that is driving engagement... period. Check out this email from UncommonGoods. Thinking outside the 650-pixel box that has become your email creative may just do you some good. Using creative elements that require enabling images, excessive scrolling, or click activity to reveal something fun can drive the behavior you seek. UncommonGoods recognized that through its innovative Knock Knock campaign. Who can resist a good riddle?

Though we as an industry have not yet standardized the definition of engagement, one thing is for sure: Your subscribers' engagement with your email program will have some effect on your deliverability in the future. You may as well get ahead of the curve and start focusing on it now. Start by doing the following:

• Define what it means to be "engaged" for each of your email programs.
• Determine how you will measure engagement.
• State your goals and objectives surrounding engagement.
• Start!

Don't let the ISPs relegate you to the bulk folder. Get engaging... today.