Jaggers Communications

Three Myths About Quality Customer Engagement

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The Power of Going Unplugged

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In Which I Cave to Oxford Comma Pressure

I was never an Oxford comma person. It always seemed superfluous to me, and my history as a public relations professional, which required writing according to A.P. Style, ensured that I was Oxford-comma free. And then there was this: . . . and a family dinner in which my adult son and his fiancé, my… Continue reading »

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Three Myths About Quality Customer Engagement The Power of Going Unplugged In Which I Cave to Oxford Comma Pressure

May
24

Three Myths About Quality Customer Engagement

by Rusty

As PR, branding, and engagement professionals, we see it as our jobs to “maximize engagement” and help our clients start and maintain conversations and relationships with their customers. So it’s tempting to base success on the quantity of those efforts sometimes. How MANY connections, and is it more than last month? How MUCH content publishing, and is it enough to keep our clients “top of mind?” Marketers are rewarded (or fired) based on the ROI of their efforts and the increased sales they generate through them. So more relationships are always better, right?

Well, according to this excellent article in The Harvard Business Review, not so much. Their research has uncovered a few myths about how customers really interact with their favorite brands, mainly that people really DON’T hold brands in as high esteem as they do friends and family members–in fact, only 23% in the study said they had a relationship with a brand. So don’t attach unrealistic expectations to those other 77%. They aren’t interested in connecting at that level.

Secondly, interaction does not build relationships–shared values do. So no matter how often you’re communicating with a customer who doesn’t share your philosophy, you’ve wasted a lot of time and effort. Find the customers who share your values and make sure they are satisfied with every aspect of what you do. Be authentic. Of the consumers in the HBR study who said they have a brand relationship, 64% cited shared values as the primary reason.

Third, frequency of contact doesn’t really enhance these relationships. Treat EACH interaction as precious. Ask yourself–does this email make my customer glad they know about us? Are we providing value in every post? Are we providing useful, actionable information or joy? If so, then five or ten really well-timed communications can have far more power than 300 canned marketing speeches. The last thing you want to do is overload them with more of what we all claim we’re trying to avoid–NOISE.

Treat your customers they way you would like to be treated, and focus on those customers who share your values. Somehow that seems so simple.

Tags: branding, business blogging, digital communications and privacy, how to use social media for business, PR and social media, Reputation management, Social Media

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May
23

The Power of Going Unplugged

Social Media

by Marijean

I’m taking a little time off, and for me, it’s important that that time include disconnecting from social networks and the internet, in general. Because my work is so intimately tied to platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, I’ve got to refuse to log in, otherwise risking getting sucked in to engagement that will take away time and focus on the task at hand. A client who is a small business owner like me advocated going without checking e-mail while I’m gone and, indeed, I’m going to attempt this. “You’ll hate yourself for it if you do,” check e-mail while away, she said.

What’s the task at hand? Total relaxation. An opportunity to rest and refresh. Time to celebrate friends and explore new places.

I’m lucky that I have a great team, people I totally trust to mind the store while I’m away. That, and trusted friends and family give me the peace of mind I need to shut off, shut down and just chill (hopefully there’s a beach in my imminent future). I am a big proponent of taking time away from work — I don’t admire the workaholic or the business owner who has “never” taken a vacation. Where’s the fun in that? I strongly encourage the people I work with to take time away, to value it and reap the benefits of it. YOU should do it, too!

I’ll be back with great stories of adventure and (hopefully) uneventful travel.

Tags: how to use social media for business, Jaggers Communications, Marijean Jaggers, Marijean jaggers and social media, Social Media, social networking for business, unplugging

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May
21

In Which I Cave to Oxford Comma Pressure

by Marijean

And then there was this:

. . . and a family dinner in which my adult son and his fiancé, my husband, and my 15-year-old daughter all ganged up on me and made the case for the Oxford comma. They were convincing.

In addition, this year, I started working with Rusty. He’s an Oxford comma guy. And unless I want to spend all my time editing out commas, I think I just need to move on and accept it.

Where do you stand in the Oxford comma argument?

Tags: oxford comma, serial comma

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May
17

Why Your Business Needs a Facebook Page (Even When You’re Sure it Doesn’t)

by Marijean

When businesses began to ponder whether they needed a website, the same conversations occurred:

What for?
Who is going to look at it?
We’re not a consumer business; Facebook doesn’t apply to us.

The same answers apply now as did then; when people go looking for your business online, you need to manage what it is they find. If people (and, as we know, they ARE) are spending time on Facebook, then you should be there. If your business has a page, you should spend the time needed to make sure it works well, looks OK (is your logo there? Is there a good cover image?) and has captured the page’s custom URL.

Get it done — it can be really messy if someone who is unauthorized does it for you.

Tags: facebook fan pages, facebook for business, why you need a facebook business page

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May
16

Still Working. Still Committed.

by Erika

Does that sound familiar? Do you feel like you’ve heard that somewhere? That’s because BP Global does not want you to forget that they are still working in the Gulf of Mexico funding nature research, promoting tourism, and helping the area recover from the oil spill of 2010.

Look, I know no one loves big oil, but they have done a phenomenal job with their crisis communications. Here’s a feel good video for you:

Restoring the Gulf

Everything you could want to know about where they are and what they are doing is on the website dedicated to their restoration work. What actually happened during the spill? How have they changed their safe guarding measures? What are local residents saying? How has it all affected wildlife? Yes, it is all on there. The bad news and the good news on what happened and BP’s response program; it’s all there. What is great about this? Hearing live people tell their stories. These voices are of real people affected by the spill. This is not a spokesperson telling us how they are helping:

Hope with BP’s Vessels of Opportunity Program

Showing the hard realities of the crisis makes the positive response feel more authentic. This spill happened 2 years ago, and BP has invested heavily in their communication to make sure that the public knows they are involved. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube are updated regularly. The stories are both informative and personal.

Crisis Communications is one of those aspects of our work that doesn’t get a lot of day-to-day attention. It’s easy to talk about Social Strategy or Brand Positioning, but when it comes to a crisis, you want to have that red folder to turn to. We work with our clients to think about what would be a crisis within their company, who would be your spokesperson, which media would you reach out to, how would you acknowledge fault and move forward with an actionable plan. And then, like BP, truly invest in that actionable plan.