4 foolproof ways to turn the ‘Great Reset’ into an advantage for your business
How many times have you thought, “This isn’t sustainable”? Well, that little voice is right. Business-as-usual is a one-way ticket to a going-out-of-business sale. The real key is how you’re responding to the crisis—and more importantly, how you’re innovating during this time.
We’ve seen plenty about how businesses are responding but very little about how they are innovating. Use this Great Reset to reassess your approach. What can you be doing smarter? Many restaurants, for example, have reinvented the foundation of their business: the way they serve customers. And those restaurants are thriving today. Now is your chance to do the same. Get control over your messaging, broaden and sharpen your marketing tool set, and re-engage your customers.
Stand out by doing what other brands have not:
Keep talking to your customers.
Talk to them about your business—more specifically, talk about what connected you in the first place: your services, products or even your storied history. Stay relevant with them. Your customers likely don’t know how today’s market is impacting your business or how your service or product is relevant to them right now. Even if you think it hasn’t changed, you have an opportunity to talk to them now. Your message needs to adapt, but you can still sell. NC State University knew they needed to remain meaningful with their base. The university did just that with a brand video reminding us of the rich history that helped them become an iconic institution and how they’re leading the way into a future full of possibility.
Help your customers navigate perceived barriers.
Everyone still has the same needs as before, but many are struggling to find new ways to meet them. Don’t make your customers work to figure it out. Get out front and share your new business processes. Tell your story of how you are innovating and adapting to serve them. Be their wayfinder, show them a roadmap, manage their expectations and ensure their experience in the New Normal can be as seamless as it was before. Stonerise, a transitional healthcare support network, needed a way to meet the same needs their clients have always had but in a way that fit with today’s social distancing mandates. Family visits to hospice, nursing centers and other transitional facilities just aren’t safe in today’s environment. So we had to innovate and adapt, and add in a tech twist. We gave them televisits!
Make a commitment to your customers.
In a world of unknowns, give your customers the reassurances they seek. Tell them what to expect. An uncertain future may be ahead, and your customers need to know they can count on you. Tell them what you are doing today and what you are committed to for tomorrow. Then promise to guide them along the way. Show your customers you are committed to getting through this with them—and just like they’re experiencing, business is not as usual. The Army National Guard needed to deliver a message of strength and promise during this crazy time. They wanted potential recruits to know the Guard is a place to go to be there for their country and to start building their own future. We created an integrated campaign that delivered that message as well as a reminder of the Army National Guard’s legacy of dependability.
Improve your listening skills.
To be effective in any market, your communications require a consistent and meaningful content strategy. Nothing about today’s craziness has changed this fact; however, as you adapt your messaging strategies, don’t forget to listen to what your audience is saying. Increase the monitoring of your social platforms. Increase your staffing for customer engagement. If you’ve seen the positive impact of social media conversations before, just wait until you double-down now, when your customers want it the most. Our audience engagement efforts for the Army National Guard and America’s Navy have significantly increased quality Leads for both by combining subject matter experts with a custom digital platform, creating a recruitment marketing wonder machine.
There’s an abundance of opportunity out there right now, and you know best what your business needs to be able to go out and get it.
Here are a few questions you need to answer to get started:
- Is your messaging adapting quickly enough?
- Does your digital platform help your customers prioritize, plan and navigate any barriers on their way to you?
- Do your customers know they can count on you to have a plan to move ahead, regardless of the unknown?
- Are you confident your audience knows you are listening to them and adapting for them?
If you’re ready to lead from the front, come join our family of happy clients. You can contact me here. Let’s talk about your way ahead.
Thanks!
Lisa
Lisa Menck-Shock, President & CEO
Lisa Menck-Shock is President and CEO of iostudio. A Major in the United States Army Reserve, Menck-Shock has been instrumental in growing iostudio’s client portfolio and managing internal operations for more than a decade. In addition to her executive agency role, Menck-Shock has experience as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Ophthalmology technician in both the military and civilian sector. She is trained and experienced in medical logistics, planning, operations and patient care and has served an administrative role as Commander for a unit providing statewide medical support.