Coronavirus is Changing What Clients Value: Time to Hit Reset on Strategy & Messaging
Simon Erskine Locke, Founder & CEO of CommunicationsMatch™
What clients are looking for from businesses and their communications is changing. Value propositions and messaging will need to be different after coronavirus. We all need to think reset, not refresh, on strategy and communications to thrive or, at a minimum, survive.
We are experiencing generational upheaval that is shaking the country, the economy, and individuals to their foundations.
We will get through this crisis. On the other side, the new normal will be a different world.
The statistics are so big when it comes to jobs lost, number of cases, deaths, and economic losses, no one should doubt the financial and personal scars will have a long-term impact of client behavior and spending.
Hitting the refresh button on strategy, marketing, and communications to simply continue doing what we did before the crisis does not make sense.
We will need to reset.
To prepare for a post-pandemic world, we need to think about our value proposition before the crisis, what clients find of value now, and what they are likely to see as the greatest value afterwards.
Companies, marketers, and communicators that re-orient strategies, products, and messaging for this new world will have a significant advantage over those that don’t.
Now is the time to listen to clients, to understand their changing needs and challenges. It’s time to leverage research tools to map out what will likely be the new lay-of-the-land and what it will take to succeed in it.
It’s important to embrace uncertainty, not only because this is what we will have to manage through for some time to come as the world continues to respond to the crisis, but because behaviors that will drive consumption are still being shaped.
This does not mean that companies and communicators can afford to wait to assess their path forward. It will take courage in the face of uncertainty to make the call to take new directions rather than to look backwards.
Determining where you need to take your or a client’s business based on its post-crisis value proposition will provide the clarity of purpose and alignment of resources required to succeed when we move beyond the lockdown.
For every business the answer and opportunities will be different. But all will need to go through this process.
Recognizing the need for change and aligning businesses and communications around where you think the world is headed before choices are clear, are some of the hardest things leaders must do.
Positioning businesses and messaging around the greatest value delivered to clients now or after the pandemic will provide the strongest foundation for success. This will mean many things. For most, coming out in one piece – when many will fail – will be a significant accomplishment.
The recognition that we are entering into a new world, in which what will resonate with clients will be different, will drive the great “Corona Pivot” that is ahead of us all.
CommunicationsMatch™ offers search tools and services to help companies find, shortlist, and hire agencies, consultants, and freelancers, and help agencies and professionals generate new business leads. During the coronavirus pandemic, CommunicationsMatch is leveraging its resources to help connect struggling not-for-profits and companies with Communications Volunteers willing to give their time to help others at no cost or discounted services. Through its’ partnership with the Marketing IMPACT Council™, it is offering communicators access to a unique low-cost telehealth services program from MDLIVE, as well as additional time and discounts on membership plans. Find out more at the CommunicationsMatch Insights Blog.
