[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/01\/17\/how-to-lose-friends-and-not-influence-people-when-brands-act-as-a-channel\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/01\/17\/how-to-lose-friends-and-not-influence-people-when-brands-act-as-a-channel\/","headline":"How to lose friends and not influence people: When brands act as a channel","name":"How to lose friends and not influence people: When brands act as a channel","description":"If something is to be considered great content, it must answer tough questions and offer value to the reader. In the age of personalization, words, how often you say them, and where you say them matters more than ever.","datePublished":"2018-01-17","dateModified":"2021-09-08","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/jack-dyson\/#Person","name":"Jack Dyson","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/jack-dyson\/","identifier":152,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d3b4b398e8aea3b7b406b7f646a735eb4ec2827c327fa6570e9ce500329a73a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d3b4b398e8aea3b7b406b7f646a735eb4ec2827c327fa6570e9ce500329a73a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/thumbnail-177b156860b1fef39b3fa2e3a425c54f.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/thumbnail-177b156860b1fef39b3fa2e3a425c54f.jpeg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/01\/17\/how-to-lose-friends-and-not-influence-people-when-brands-act-as-a-channel\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/content-marketing\/","name":"Content Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Content_marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q558685"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/customer-engagement-marketing\/","name":"Customer Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q5196451"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/marketing-general\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/trends-commerce\/","name":"Trends","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fad","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q787045"]}],"wordCount":850,"keywords":["Customer Engagement","Customer Experience | CX","Personalization"],"articleBody":"If something is to be considered a great piece of content, it must be able answer tough questions. Favorites are: Is it good? Does it actually say something new? Does the audience truly need to know the information? Really, though, do they?About ten years ago my friend Tomas was auditing brands\u2019 social networking and blogging capabilities. He\u2019d identify the strongest internal candidates, build teams, that sort of thing. The clever \u2018extra\u2019 he bolted on, though, was to also assess whether or not they benefitted from being active on a particular channel in the first place.As he said at the time (I\u2019ll paraphrase because it was a while back): \u201cIf you can\u2019t do something well, should you even be doing it in the first place? That\u2019s the thing, all these people race to get on Twitter or whatever, but they don\u2019t have the bandwidth or expertise to do it right.\u201dDon’t create channel staticThis observation really struck a chord with me. When Tomas said it, I was working with all sorts of global brands who wanted sophisticated solutions, but weren\u2019t able to commit to supporting them beyond the first iteration. Our recommendation at the time was almost always to do one thing well, and in breaking new ground, not to be too self-conscious or \u2018down with the kids.’We see brands stumbling on social from time to time. The reality is that some types of business just don\u2019t suit a custom Snapchat filter or a bubbly Twitter persona. Either because they\u2019re not a natural fit for the demographic, or because they struggle with the demands of consistently programming that much content and keeping it original (and good), or both.And that\u2019s fine. It\u2019s okay to screw up (within reason), and so long as you learn from it, you ensure it brings about a positive change and your shareholders don\u2019t string you up too high. But Tomas\u2019s tough questions work for mainstream tools, too. For me, the main contender is the humble newsletter.Scourge of the inbox, serial ignorer of a gazillion ineffectual \u2018unsubscribes\u2019, a persistently dull newsletter only has its own template to blame. Instead of being encouraged to discover amazing things and share them when they have something new to say, the poor creators\/editors are often obliged to find ten stories to fill it each cycle and send it out, and do so religiously, less they miss their KPIs.It\u2019s not a recipe for success. And it\u2019s not a sure fire way to ensure standout.Weighing in on customer experienceThis week I used a web form to arrange a session with a personal trainer at a new gym. Instead of a confirmation email, instead I received a \u201cthank you for subscribing to our newsletter” message, which I immediately unsubscribed from.During a follow up call, the conversation went like this:Gym employee: I see you unsubscribed from our newsletter.Me: Yes, I don\u2019t really want to get one. Sorry if that comes across as blunt, it\u2019s just I already get so much email I\u2019ll never read it.Gym employee: Well, to be honest, it is a bit upsetting.Me: I am already trying to become a customer, so you don\u2019t need to sell to me.Gym employee: But there\u2019s lots of nutrition stuff in it.Me: I appreciate that but I\u2019m happy with my nutrition and I just don\u2019t want another newsletter.Gym employee: It\u2019s not just a newsletter though. It\u2019s a series of emails that count down over time to your first appointment.Me: But my first appointment is tomorrow.Gym employee: Well, we can talk about it when you come in.Me: I want to get confirmation emails from you. I just don’t want the newsletter.Gym employee: We\u2019ll talk about it when you come in.Suddenly it is as if I\u2019m embarking on a service where between reps I\u2019ll be made to feel guilty for not reading stuff I don\u2019t want to read.And of course, by the time you\u2019re reading this, I\u2019ll have had that first session, and either had to mansplain my way through my negative attitude regarding newsletters, or sit there awkwardly and do my best Hugh Grant apology. I like the team, I think it\u2019s a really cool operation, and I want to give it a good go, but it\u2019s not the sort of experience I\u2019d want a new customer to have.It\u2019s tricky to stand out, especially for small and medium businesses, but when there is a personal relationship involved, it\u2019s worth considering the purpose and identifying an easily managed cadence.Far better to send out a quarterly update with the occasional extra announcement than a biweekly newsletter that runs out of steam.  In 2023, customer loyalty dropped 13%.In 2024, it fell by 10%.Is your brand retaining \u2013 or repelling \u2013 customers? Get the data + details on how to keep consumers loyal in this REPORT. "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2018","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"17","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/\/01\/\/17\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How to lose friends and not influence people: When brands act as a channel","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/01\/17\/how-to-lose-friends-and-not-influence-people-when-brands-act-as-a-channel\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]