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Jaggers Communications

Dec 08
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5 Ways B2B Organizations Can Use Social Media

By Communications, Social Media

There are so many misconceptions about social media and its use in business — I don’t even know where to begin to address them.

Wait, no, yes I do! The assertion that there is no role for social media in business to business marketing is patently untrue. Consider the following relationships (because, in case you’re unaware, the core purpose of social media is relationship development):

  • Trade media
  • Potential employees
  • Potential investors
  • Existing team members (from employees to board members to investors and vendors)
  • Current customers

Are these individuals with whom your organization needs to communicate? Well, yes! Of course! Making it as easy as possible for all of these audiences to discover your company, to learn what makes you tick, to understand what it is you do and how you do it, to receive news and important information about your business is just good business. The way to do that is by publishing content on your website, making the information available through search and sharing it with networks you continue to build of the very people mentioned in the groups above.

That’s all B2B social media is. Seriously.

From the KoMarketing blog:

According to Accenture Global Marketing’s recent report, Embracing Social Media in a B2B Context, a mere 8 percent of B2B companies are heavily engaged in social media.

Furthermore, researchers found that 17 percent of respondents don’t feel social media will be important to them in the coming years.

However, contrary beliefs were also revealed. Despite the lack of overall involvement, 65 percent of those polled considered social media to be “very important,” while 30 percent believed it is “extremely” important and cant be ignored.”

So it is to the 65 percent (and the 30 percent) that I offer . . .

5 Ways B2B Organizations Can Use Social Media

  1. Publish your news release in a way that is searchable — and can be found by interested communities. New releases published with an option to subscribe via an RSS feed is the best practice in this area. Create a news room on your website and post your content there.
  2. Encourage leaders in the business to expand their industry network and business connections in a virtual way. It assists the whole team in relationship development when the leaders make their connections visible to others in the field. LinkedIn is a very useful tool in this area.
  3. Monitor the web for industry mentions and organization-specific references. When your brand is published about, it’s worth knowing, sometimes reacting to and often, requires a response.
  4. Blog. If you need lots of great reasons, you can start here.
  5. Be a facilitator of relationships in your industry. As business-oriented people, we appreciate the connection, the referral, the well-thought-out endorsement of another business. Connect others within your network and be remembered fondly and fortuitously for having done so. The rewards for you, and your business will come to fruition.
Dec 01
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Business Blogging: Are you Overthinking it?

By Communications, Social Media

Blogging for and about your business is more important now than ever. And yet, businesses are still struggling not only with the execution, but the concept. 

Here are some of the hangups I hear from clients roadblocked by blogging fear or misunderstanding:

  • We don’t have a consumer project, so it doesn’t seem like anyone would be interested in reading what we have to share.
  • Doesn’t it have to be personal? We don’t really want to share our dirty laundry online.
  • What if we are boring?

Telling the story about your business and what you do is valuable to your community, no matter what that community is. They self-select into your content, so don’t pre-judge by saying that people who read blogs are only interested in consumer products. You may discover much more about your audience and your business by the community that emerges around the content you share.

Being personal doesn’t mean airing dirty laundry. Being personal means being a real person, using language that is down-to-earth and spin-free, sharing a bit of yourself that underscores the fact that you are a real human being behind the brand. (Someone just walked past me wearing swishy — snow?– pants and those awful Five Fingers shoes. Distracting! — See? I’m a real person with really distracting co-workers, just like you.)

 

You can’t be boring if you’re not boring yourself. If YOU find your business and what it offers exciting and you share your passion for your topics, that will be evident to your audience. Feel free to mix it up now and again — be creative — be funny — but above all, be yourself, and quit overthinking it.

 

Where do you blog? Please feel free to share your blog in the comments for the Change the Conversation audience to enjoy.

Nov 29
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Social Media: Providing Valuable Content or Just Over-sharing?

By Communications, Social Media

It’s a really fine line sometimes, the balance between over-sharing company news and content on social platforms and making sure you’re providing value to your audience. It’s the difference, I think, between selling and telling your company story. It’s hard for a lot of individuals representing organizations to make this distinction. One way to keep this practice in check is to constantly ask yourself what value you’re providing your audience with the information you choose to share.

Your content may be leaning to the “too self-promotional” side if every link you share is to content of your own creation. Try to share others’ content at least a third of the time. Another self-check is to see how often your tweets are @ replies or RTs. Ask yourself a few questions:

  1. Are you engaging in conversation with your readers by replying to comments or tweets?
  2. Are you commenting on others’ blog posts?
  3. Are you facilitating introductions within your network to help others build business or find opportunities?
  4. Are you teaching a skill or sharing information to others’ benefit?

It’s easy to slip into the habit of traditional marketing tactics and resort to selling . . . focus on providing value, instead and watch relationship development grow and improve.

(Thanks to Rusty Speidel for the inspiration for today’s post. Read Rusty’s thoughts on social media fatigue, and what communications professionals should do about it.)

What are some ways you keep your commitment to providing value, rather than just self-promotional content, to your audience?
Nov 02
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Jaggers Communications Adds Business Development Team Member, Erika Gennari

By Communications, Jaggers Communications News
Erika Gennari, Jaggers Communications

Erika Gennari

More than ten years ago I worked for a metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri-based eyecare company in its marketing department. Every semester we had an intern join us to support our efforts in public relations, internal communications and marketing. Some were forgettable, of course, but some stood out and left an impression of a student with great promise and a solid future in communications.

Fast forward to last year, when, out of the blue I received an e-mail from one of those outstanding interns. She was moving to Charlottesville, Va. and had heard from a mutual friend (the CFO of that eyecare company) that I had settled here. I was — and am — delighted to be reconnected with Erika Gennari. The 21-year-old student I knew then is now a wife, a mother and an experienced professional salesperson, marketer, recruiter and communicator. She’s the same organized g0-getter with boundless energy and ahead-of-her-years professionalism that I admired all those years ago, now with more than ten years’ additional work experience added to her resume.

And so, I’m delighted to share that Erika has joined the Jaggers Communications virtual firm to provide business development outreach and management. Erika will be helping manage the pipeline of prospects for the business, assisting in proposal development and conducting outreach on behalf of the firm. It’s exciting, for me, as the entrepreneur behind a ten-month-old business, to have the opportunity to institute this role in the firm and to be working with Erika again. I know that members of this community will enjoy knowing and working with Erika as much as I do.

Please say hello to Erika on Twitter @erikagennari1 and welcome her to Charlottesville! You can also reach Erika at egennari (at) jaggerscommunications (dot) com

Nov 01
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J.C. Penney Defines their Brand and How it’s Different from Kohl’s

By Communications

I caught the end of a J.C. Penney TV commercial this morning and a line stood out  . . .

Unlike other stores, J.C. Penney doesn’t make you return to save.

For regular shoppers, you know this is a direct hit on Kohl’s and Penney’s nailed it.  Kohl’s offers a program of “Kohl’s Cash” getting consumers to return to the store to spend dollars earned within a short time after their visit. Penney’s asserts in their advertising that they’re offering shoppers the savings up front, instead. Pretty savvy advertising.

It also struck me that the line is what I consider a critical element of a brand position — defining how your brand is different. It’s astounding to me how difficult this is for some brands to define. Take some time today and think about your organization and start with “Unlike other,” and see where the definition takes you. How can your company change the conversation about what you offer to your community through a strong brand statement? I’d love to see your results in the comments.