Unmasking Customer Engagement
Dispelling Common Myths
Most marketers are obsessed with engagement. The more emails, loyalty points, interactions, and nudges, the better—right?
Wrong. At Un_Standard, we know true connections aren’t measured by message volume but by what actually moves your customer.
If your retention efforts feel like an endless chase, you may be falling for the same myths as everyone else. Let’s unmask the truth.
Myth 1: Customers Crave Relationships with Your Brand
You know who customers want a real relationship with? Friends, family, colleagues—their people.
A movement is only meaningful to the 23% who are cheering for your brand like it’s their city’s soccer club. The other 77%? They want you to solve their problem and respect their time.
Un_Standard Move:
- Separate your audience—find out who wants connection, who wants utility.
- Build brand-relevant experiences for the passionate minority (community, behind-the-scenes, advocacy content), and give the rest clarity, value, and speed.
- Stop wasting energy dragging everyone into a faux relationship. Meet them where they are.
Join The Movement
Myth 2: Interactions Build Relationships
Most brands double down on interactions—emails, DMs, popups—thinking that repetition equals relationship.
But movements are built when people see themselves, their struggles, and their aspirations reflected back. Research proves it: 64% of consumers with a favorite brand cite shared values as the reason—not how many touchpoints they received.
Un_Standard Move:
- Lead with philosophy, not just features.
- Put your brand’s “why” front and center—your commitment to better, braver, or more sustainable matters a lot more than your content calendar.
- Craft every drip, every blog, every campaign around themes customers actually care about—and be bold about it.
Proof: Brands like Patagonia and Bombas win with mission-first marketing that outlasts every coupon code blast.
Myth 3: More Is More
Spoiler: There’s zero evidence that turning up the volume on communication makes your brand “sticky.” Bombarding the inbox or chasing touchpoint goals only creates friction and fatigue.
Real engagement is about value and attention, not volume.
Un_Standard Move:
- Value your audience’s time like movement gold. Every campaign must make their life simpler, sharper, or more interesting.
- Run a content audit: kill anything that doesn’t make the journey easier (for them!).
- Before launching, ask: Am I reducing cognitive noise or just shouting louder?
How to Rewire Customer Engagement the Un_Standard Way
- Audit your campaigns and CRM flows: Are they built for connection, or just for activity?
- Map your values and philosophy into public-proof actions (not just statements)—walk the manifesto at every touchpoint, don’t just tweet it.
- Focus your best “community” features (access, feedback, learning) on your passionate core, and build seamless journeys for your broader base.
Ritual: Run quarterly “engagement value checks”—poll customers, review engagement data, and kill at least one empty-calorie program.
Clarity in Action: Proof from the Movement
A scaling fintech scrapped weekly engagement prompts in favor of monthly advocacy stories and user Q&As. NPS rose, retention improved, and brand mentions jumped.
A digital founder combined customer “why us” surveys and live mission workshops, refocusing interaction flow around three core values—leading to doubled customer engagement.
The Un_Standard Movement Way to Fail Forward
Un_Standard Manifesto for Engagement:
Lead with clarity. Build trust with shared values. Treat attention as precious. Reward participation, not just presence.
Ready to unmask the myths and build customer engagement that actually moves? Clarity, not volume, is your next power move.
Book a Clarity Engagement Audit With Un_Standard →
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David Garrard
Agent Provocateur & Chief Creative Officer at Un_Standard. David helps ambitious brands unearth clarity, break the rules that hold them back, and co-create movement-level growth. When not challenging the status quo, he’s in the kitchen inventing new flavors or chasing after his three cats: Hallie Tosis, Lester Een, and Jim G. Vitis. #BeUnStandard
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