Obscuring Your Message: How to make sure nobody cares

Everybody is jumping on the content marketing bandwagon these days, but not everybody does it well. People think that having a free e-book or a video to give to customers and prospects will give them a credibility boost and help them increase sales. Sometimes it does, but the reality is that 80% of content doesn’t even reach its intended audience and the effect of the content on those who do engage really depends on the quality of the content itself.

So what mistakes do people make with their content? The biggest mistake people make is in letting their message become obscured. I see a lot of written content which is full of typos and grammatical errors. Your message will be obscured if it is not easy to read. Those mistakes will also undermine your credibility.

Video and audio messages can also be obscured. I have also seen video where the speaker sniffed through his entire presentation. Sniffing is particularly problematic, not only because it is disgusting, but also because it makes the viewer question the reason for the sniff. Does the speaker have a cold or allergies? Maybe he’s just done a line of coke. Do you see why that’s a problem?

Bad audio is another problem that can obscure your message. Hearing garbled music, or the sound of saliva in the mouth will turn people away. Nobody will take the time to listen to your content if it makes them cringe on any level.

Graphic content can be very interesting to look at and presents an opportunity to provide a quick visual message. Unfortunately, some people think that wild and fancy pictures are really great to use for printed or web-based content. Actually, they usually aren’t. Whenever you choose to use graphics, make sure they are visually appealing and fairly simple. The busier the picture, the more your message will be obscured. Less is more.

Of course, the other thing with content, is that you really have to have a clear message to begin with. What are you trying to tell people? What is the purpose of the content? What are your key messages? Have you put together a complete communications plan? Fortunately, I can help you sort out all of your marketing communications needs and it really doesn’t have to cost a ton of money!

 

Renée Cormier is a Public Relations and Communications Specialist, published author, sales and marketing strategist and all round great gal! Visit www.reneecormier.com to contact.

 

 

 

Reputation Management: Five Things Big Bird Never Told You

It’s true. Everyone makes mistakes. Big Bird sang a whole song about it. In business, however, mistakes can cost you the reputation of your entire brand. A DUI charge, embezzlement charges, sexual harassment charges; any criminal allegation that results in someone going to prison is a problem for your reputation. Below are some things to keep in mind should you find yourself in hot water.

Fess -up: Nobody appreciates a liar. Denying your mistake and hoping it will go away will never serve you well. Neither will trying to place the blame on someone else. There will always be a reporter willing to dig up the truth and make you look even worse. Admitting and taking full responsibility for your mistake is the first step in rebuilding trust with the public.

Apologize: Offer a sincere apology. Say how terrible you feel for having caused so much grief to others. If you don’t mean it, then you are a psychopath and no one can help you. Stop reading here.

Pay restitution to victims: Use all financial resources available to you to provide compensation to those who suffered because of your actions. This is a very important gesture and a must-do; no matter what. If you don’t pay, then you are not owning the mistake and no one will trust you ever again.

Send out a good will gesture: Now that you have made such a serious mistake, you need to rebuild people’s confidence in you. Do whatever you need to do to make people confident that you will never make that mistake again. If you don’t do this, you will look like a narcissist.

Become known for better things: While your mistake may have had a tremendous impact on you and others, you don’t want it to be the first thing people think of when they think of you and your brand. Do great things to demonstrate your ongoing commitment to making the world a better place. Be sure the media knows what you are doing and consider them an ally rather than an enemy. At the end of the day, the media just wants to tell a story. News is news. Be the good story in the news.

Renée Cormier is a Public Relations and Communications Professional. Need to improve your company’s reputation? Renée can help. Visit www.reneecormier.com for more information.

How do opinions get infuenced?

Six things people say that drive me nuts

Although I grew up in the Maritimes where people are often made fun of for their diction and pronunciation, I have to say, I was taught to speak rather well. I remember my grade two teacher in particular, telling us to pronounce the “r” in February (and I still do) and to open our vowels when we speak so that “our” doesn’t sound like “are”.

While I’ll admit that I have fun slipping into Cape Bretonese on occasion, the pronunciation and grammar lessons of my youth are fully ingrained in my every day speech and were solidified even further when I became an English teacher. Grammar and pronunciation have always been important in my world. I guess that’s why hearing the incorrect use of certain words and phrases penetrates my nerves like nails on a chalkboard.

Take the term, “anyways”. OMG! There is only one way! The word is an adverb. It cannot take a plural or possessive form; hence, no “s”. I remember when I first met my husband he used to tack an “s” on “anyway” when he was speaking. I couldn’t stand it so I wasted little time correcting him. Since his mother had been quite a grammar fanatic, he considered this was correct. I challenged him to find it in the dictionary, and of course, he couldn’t so he had to humbly retreat and start using the term correctly. I love it when I am right.

Another confusion that people make is using the term “unsatisfied” instead of “dissatisfied”. Here’s the easiest way to tell the difference. Dissatisfied is an emotion, as in, “I was dissatisfied with his performance.” In other words, it made me feel unhappy or disappointed. Unsatisfied can only be used when you are not referring to an emotion. “His hunger was unsatisfied.”

Regardless of what you believe, “Irregardless” is not even a word! It is a word that is so commonly misused, uneducated people believe they sound intelligent if they use it. Can't you see they don't?

“Orientated” is another one of those common non-words that people use. The proper term is “oriented” which refers to finding your direction or position. It can also refer to the way someone thinks. One might say, “I am very business oriented” or “I had to re-orient myself after nine hours of travel”. Remember, the word has four syllables, not five.

If you say, “I could care less”, then you are not even thinking about what you are saying. You probably mean, “I couldn’t care less”, which of course means that it isn’t even possible for you to care. Think about it. If you could care, then you have the ability to care. If you couldn’t care, then you do not have the ability to care. Trust me. I am right.

“Myself” is a reflexive pronoun. What that means, is you can only use it when you are talking about doing something alone. “I will do it myself.” In this case you are the subject and the object of the sentence. You may also use “myself” for intensity such as, “I, myself, have witnessed such atrocities.” If you are planning a meeting with another person, then you cannot correctly say, “Jerry and myself will be holding a conference call at 8:00.” If you took Jerry out of the sentence, you would have to say, “I”.  It is sadly very common to see corporate announcements stating, “John Smith will be reporting to myself.” The correct pronoun to use in this case is “me”.  It’s pretty simple, really, so stop referring to yourself in reflexive form when you are sharing space with another person.

Renée Cormier is a Communications and Public Relations Specialist, published author, former English teacher and sales/marketing strategist. Renée can be contacted through her website at www.reneecormier.com

The value of CSR: Show me the money!

Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives can be challenging. Many companies find that even though they like the idea of doing something to benefit the world around them, the cost of implementing and sustaining such initiatives is prohibitive. To the untrained eye it may be difficult to see the return on investment around such initiatives, but there are many different ways to calculate this once you understand all of the areas of your business that are positively affected by CSR initiatives.

One of the greatest benefits of a strong CSR campaign is employee engagement. According to a 2012 Towers Watson Global Workforce study, CSR is among the most important drivers of Employee Engagement. Provided the campaign is perceived as being valuable to all stakeholders (internal and external), a strong commitment to CSR instills company pride and makes the employer more attractive to potential job seekers. If you can attract and retain good people, your company is making money. If those good people continue to be engaged at work, then you are saving money through great customer service, reduced turnover and absenteeism. Furthermore, your employees will put in a much more productive day than their disengaged counterparts. That’s the simplified version of the benefits of an engaged workforce. Engaged employees can save you millions of dollars.

Another place to measure your return on investment with your CSR program is to measure how your program affects sustainability. For example, if you have a CSR program which supports green efforts, then you will naturally want to reduce your carbon footprint. Replacing business travel with web based meetings and training sessions, can significantly reduce the amount of money your company spends on travel. How much paper are you wasting? Factor that in as well.

Building a strong public image through CSR increases brand awareness and ultimately sales, so that is another measurement for you to consider when calculating the ROI of your Corporate Social Responsibility program. It is a fact that people buy from people and organizations they trust and they will remain loyal to you as long as you continue to be trustworthy. Your CSR campaign is an investment in your relationship with the public. A recent Cone Communications Echo Research study states that 90% of consumers claimed they would stop buying products from a company if they learned it was using deceptive or irresponsible business practices. It also found that over half of those people had stopped buying a product or service in the past 12 months because of such behaviour. What is your reputation doing to your business?

These are just a few simple things to monitor as you embark on your CSR campaign. Corporate social responsibility is definitely good for business. Any mid to large sized company can implement a successful campaign and make it worth their while. Even small companies can engage in activities that will positively support the world we live in and build a loyal following. Who do you buy your products from? What charities do you support? All of this matters. It matters to employees and to consumers alike, and it matters to business.