You’re jealous when people order their sandwiches to the library and you’re broke so you can’t do the same. You get so excited when you actually have enough money to get your hands on their famous Italian Night Club sandwich. And you get even more excited when you get a response to you Facebook or Twitter post about how much you loved your sandwich. If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m talking about Jimmy John’s, their mouthwatering sandwiches, and their social media strategies and tactics that have helped them create the brand we know and love.
In the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ book, Share This: the social media handbook for PR professionals, edited by Stephen Waddington, he discusses the idea of organizations listening to their audiences and how it has changes over decades. He describes previous ways organizations used to get public opinion by listening to their audience by conducting door-to-door, mail, and phone polls and surveys (Waddington, 2012, p.158). While these tactics are still sometimes used today, Waddington explains how social media has made a huge change in how organizations listen to their audience. He says, “From the standpoint of the public, they now have an easy means of expressing their views and opinions about pretty much anything. Brands and institutions make for natural conversation fodder” (2012). Mainly through Facebook and Twitter, the public can post about good experiences, bad experiences, what they think of the brand, etc. And because of how fast paced social media is, organizations have the ability to get “…real-time insight into the thoughts, views, and feelings of their stakeholder audiences in a way that would be unthinkable in earlier times” (Waddington, 2012, p. 175). Organizations should take advantage of this insight, both positive and negative, in a way that works with the organization’s brand, so that the public and customers are able to experience the brand without physically being in the organization’s store or office.
In a blog post by Hult Marketing titled, Jimmy Johns — Freaky Fast Social Media, an actual encounter with Jimmy Johns’ Facebook is explained along with how Jimmy Johns responded, and why the way they handle their social media responses is something other businesses should follow. Long story short, an account manager at Hult Marketing ordered JJ’s delivery, and it never showed up. So she had a few options, call Jimmy John’s, write an email, forget about it, or take her problems to social media. So, she ended up writing what happened on Jimmy Johns’ Facebook page and got a helpful response from a representative within 2 minutes. The blog states that, “You can’t have a show-pony Facebook page. Either make one and actually talk to your customers, or don’t have one at all (not recommended.) But, if you have one and never respond (especially to complaints) it shows you don’t care” (Freaky Fast Social Media). By Jimmy John’s responding the way they did in this case and it many other cases, it shows that not only do they have their social media under control but it also lets their brand identity shine through showing that they actually care about their customers.
Jimmy John’s has also been taking on the Twitter sphere by storm when it comes to how the company interacts with the public on their page. In a case study done by Kevin O’Connell on socialnomics.net titled, Jimmy John’s: Serving up Freaky Fast Tweets, he says, “they [Jimmy John’s] have created one of the most engaging digital voice’s I’ve come across” (2013). Since the company’s target demographic is of people ages 16-24, as explained in the article, it is vital that Jimmy John’s puts a strong effort into their twitter account. O’Connell credits Jimmy Johns’ Twitter success to their “minute-by-minute” conversation tracking. Also, their characteristic of being their audiences’ “best friend”, O’Connell says, “If you want to do social media right you must connect with your audience. Social media relies on a digital voice that is engaging, provides humor, has human characteristics and is relevant” (2013). Lastly, they don’t make their social media all about them, a large portion of JJ’s twitter page is replies to the public because, “…to do social right and connect you have to understand that it’s not all about the PUSH!” (O’Connell, 2013). Once again, how Jimmy John’s is present on social media shows the public that they care about their customers’ thoughts and experiences, not just about their company being successful.
Now, obviously this social media strategy isn’t one that will work for all companies. But it shows that although it is a serious matter to get a brand’s identity across to the public, the way a company communicates it on social doesn’t always have to be serious, and that authentic engagement with the public is important.
References
CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) (2012). Share This : The Social Media Handbook for PR Professionals. S. Waddington (Ed.) Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com
Lauren Staff 