People seek reassurance. That’s true also for business buyers. And so, the sense of urgency, threat, panic that transpires from your content is most likely driving them away.
People seek reassurance. That’s true also for employees. And so, the unilateral changes, the top-down priority, the additional stress that are communicated with dry words are most likely driving them away.
It goes without saying.
“Now more than ever …”.
It is pretentious to frame your marketing messages with the idea that all is the same, nothing has changed, and your product is as relevant as it always was (if not more). People have (momentarily?) shifted their assumptions and priorities, it might very well be that what was worth 100 two months ago is today worth 0. If your message sticks to 100, you are out of the game.
It is also pretentious to take out your crystal ball and assume you know what people will care about two months from now. The new reality, the new normal, is out of your understanding, and picturing your product at the center of it is tantamount to gambling.
Now is the only thing that matter. And the message(s) you are sharing in this moment will define your brand for years to come.
Generosity and kindness work very well as a marketing tactic, particularly in times of uncertainty and discomfort.
If you have something valuable to share, do it. But value is not measured on your income statement, in this case more than ever. It is measured in the impact you have on those you serve, in the difference you make in their lives, in the ways you enhance their capacity to get past such difficult times.
If you have something valuable to share, do it. In all other cases, just continue business as usual. Leveraging the pandemic, covid-19, remote working, social distancing to sell a bunch of new subscriptions and products is not something we feel the need of.
What we are not helps define what we are.
Yet certainly, that cannot end there. This is particularly true when we compete, when we try to influence, when we run against something that is already established.
We need to differentiate, and that cannot be done by merely saying “not-the-other”. The more you let this message run, the more steam you are transferring to your adversary’s engine.
Building movements that matter is hard job because they require self-reflection, deep knowledge of the playing field and story building.
All the rest is a shortcut, and short is the breath that will sustain it.
The stories we tell others, the ones we use to buy people into our cause, to inspire action, to convince buyers that our brand is better, to present ourselves and the work we do.
They are not lies.
They are ideals waiting for an audience.
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