Our dog never used to be afraid of storms.
We got Finn as the cutest little 6-week-old German shorthair puppy, and he’s basically been the sweetest, most loving dog ever. He’s never had a want or a fear in his little life.
But last year he was outside during a really loud burst of thunder. Is that a thing? A “burst” of thunder? No wait, it’s “clap”. A really loud clap of thunder. Anyway ….
That one loud clap of thunder terrified him, and from that moment on, he gets really upset when the weather gets stormy. He whines, runs for a stuffed animal (his ultimate “prize” or comfort toy), and becomes super-glued to one of us.
It doesn’t help to remind him that he wasn’t afraid of thunder before. It doesn’t matter if we reassure him and try telling him he doesn’t need to be afraid. He had an emotional experience, and it has permanently changed how he feels about storms.
He is afraid of thunder now. It’s just something that IS.
Change Affects People Too
Right now, the whole world is reeling from a thunderclap unlike anything any of us have ever experienced. Try as we may, it doesn’t help to remind ourselves that we weren’t affected by pandemic before, or that everything will be okay and we don’t need to be afraid.
Things are different now. And that’s just something that IS.
Once you’re affected by something, it changes you. It changes how you feel and think, and it changes how you make decisions and what actions you take. It changes what you need help with and where you look for that help.
What does that have to do with your clients’ marketing?
Everything.
You Can’t Continue To Market The Way You Did Before
If crisis teaches marketers anything, it’s that we must help our clients create messaging and offers that are relevant to today. What your client offered before the pandemic may not be what their audience needs in the midst of or after the pandemic.
If you haven’t helped your client assess where their target audience is in terms of their needs, wants, emotions, beliefs, and actions, then your client may be missing opportunities to better serve their audiences.
They also may be missing opportunities to grow their businesses, even during crisis.
The world needs enterprise and entrepreneurship and small and large businesses right now. As marketers, we can help our clients create a plan to meet their audiences right where they’re at and serve them at a high level.
If your clients can create ways to give their target audiences what their target audiences need NOW, guess who they’ll come to tomorrow, and next month, and next year?
Lessons From a Dog
The best thing our clients can do for their target audiences is to meet him where they’re at and be there for them in the way that helps them most right now. For Finn, that means letting him hover with his chin on one of our knees and telling him he’s a good boy.
For our clients, that may look like creating some educational content, showing up live more often to offer help and assistance, opening up more ways their audience can contact them, or creating unique offers that specifically address issues they’re having right now.
Those who can do this now and do it well build trust and validity with their ideal clients and customers. Here are a couple of examples of several clients and friends of mine who are doing it will. (Names are withheld for privacy reasons.)
Client A has created a day-long virtual workshop to help marriage partners and family members gain the skillsets, tools, and strategies they need to create more peace and harmony at home during social distancing.
Client B has created a Facebook group and is going live every day with the open invitation for business owners running ads to come and ask questions for free so they can keep their ads up and running well.
Client C broke open their vault of amazing resources and created a new, financially-accessible membership specifically designed to teach entrepreneurs and business owners how to create systems and processes needed to help their businesses grow during the crisis.
I could go on and on with amazing examples of how I’ve seen people step up to the plate and really, truly serve their audiences right now. And there are many, many small and easy-to-implement ways to serve right now too, like free guides, extra training sessions, or extended access to membership features that would normally have expired.
More from Christa Nichols Messaging
The point is, we’re in a new world working towards a new normal. The way we marketed before will not work today. We need to meet our audiences where they are and serve them with value. And if you’re a service provider like I am, you can help your clients come up with ways to do the same for their audiences.
Want to learn more about how I work one-on-one with clients to create sales conversion copy that helps them catch audience attention, connects with their audience on a personal level, communicates important information, and leads to conversion? Visit https://go.christanicholsmessaging.com/home