#9: How to Shift Your Message for Deep Connection
In the last few weeks, everything has changed. People have changed. Their needs have changed, businesses have changed, and the world around us has shifted fast.
The one thing you need to do to stay relevant in this new world is to create a deeper connection with your clients, customers, and prospects.
In this podcast episode, I share three ways in which you can shift your marketing message to do so.
The business that you're running came out of your heart, and if you can tap into that deeper why and use it as a point of connection,you'll find that people will respond.
And when everything goes back to “normal”, it will be your business that they remember.
What is the secret to scaling with joy? It’s simple- making more profit with less stress. To find out how to make more profit and work less, visit https://tenprofitdrivers.com. Yes, it’s possible to grow your company without adding on complicated programs, products or divisions. These are the same simplified growth methods that I have used over and over with my own private consulting clients and national brands, in info products, retail e-commerce, and service.
Listen to the Show:
Laura (00:00):
This is the Scale with Joy show, episode nine: shifting your message for deep connection.
(00:09):
Welcome to the Scale with Joy show, a podcast about scaling your company while living your most purposeful life. Because here's the thing: there are no rules to say you can't grow a massively profitable empire and have joy in the everyday. My name is Laura Meyer and let's get started.
(01:18):
In the last few weeks, everything has changed. People have changed. Their needs have changed, businesses have changed, and the world around us has shifted fast. Sometimes it's really hard to believe how quickly it all happened and that it will work out for the best. But as an eternal optimist, I believe it will. So it's during times like this that we need to connect even deeper with our clients, our customers, and our prospects. Ways in which we've never done before. We need to be over-serving, over-delivering and over communicating. It's the number one thing that we can do to show the people that we serve, that we are there for them, we are willing to shift for them, that they are our top priority. So, when things like this happen, it's important for us to show a really strong sense of empathy for what they're experiencing and give them a sense of expertise in a way in which only you can. Ways in which you can help them as a leader, as an entrepreneur, and as a business owner.
(02:20):
Today I'm going to be giving you three steps that you can take right now to shifting your marketing message. I'm also going to be teaching a live masterclass on this in my Facebook group. This is a group specifically for established entrepreneurs and high growth businesses. So make sure that you check out our Facebook group where the masterclass will be held by going to www.joybrandcreative/shift. Because now more than ever, it's important that your ideal audience feels like you're speaking directly to them. And we're really addressing two main issues that our target market wasn't experiencing a month ago. The first is the quarantine that everyone is in their home now and have a whole set of needs that they didn't have previously. And for those people who are at home and who are nonessential workers, they have a whole set of needs that they didn't have a month ago and those needs are very real to them today in this moment.
(03:08):
And the second need is the pending recession and economic situation that we're in and that could go on for many years. And so by shifting the message immediately, you're going to stay relevant in the marketplace. The biggest thing I would recommend is to not disappear. This is not the time to pull back on your communication on your messaging because this is the time that as entrepreneurs, as leaders, we get to rise up and have a voice. This is the time that we get to lead, and we get to help people in a positive way whether they invest in our services or not. We want to be defined by the way in which we show up when things get hard, not just in times of abundance. And the way in which we can do that is by first asking what is the new pain point of my customer? What is the new current reality they are in and what are the struggles that they are facing? I’m going to encourage you to be obsessed with these questions as a result of that new reality, a reality that we're not totally sure when things are going to normal and I'm not terribly convinced that it will ever go back to normal we had before today/
(04:24):
I think people will start to adapt. They will start to create new routines. They will start to invest differently. Something that they get in the habit of and will continue doing well past when this is over. So what are some of their current challenges working from home and all the things that go along with that, like looking good on camera and making sure that you have a beauty routine that you can maintain yourself. Having all sorts of services that are available to you online that maybe you relied on previously offline. And for many of the companies that I'm helping, if they were offline before and they're starting to ass online components such as e-commerce or video delivery from their previously offline only services. And what they are realizing now is that when they start going back to in-person, the current services that they are developing can be an additional revenue stream that they could add on down the road.
(05:27):
This is also true of products that are all of a sudden selling online on FB lives or going into e-commerce. That can be another revenue stream when they reopen their brick and mortar locations This is not something that they're just going to do temporarily, and they'll go back to business as normal before. What you are probably realizing is this could be an add on service. This could be a way to make it easier and more accessible for their customers to use their services in the future. So maybe before, you just had brick and mortar retail distribution or wholesale only. And what you may be quickly realizing is that going direct to consumer is a great way to diversify how your distribution takes place. Because the early stage data is that online shopping is way up. Some studies are showing up to 40% increase in online spending. The consumption of online goods and services has grown astronomically in a three-week period. And so while yes, there are some people who are in financial distress, no doubt, and unemployment numbers are skyrocketing, not everybody has cut back on spending. And what we're seeing is that they've continued to spend, they're still spending, they will continue to spend in the future, it's just in a very different way.
(06:30):
They're spending on different pain points than they had prior to the pandemic. So that's the first pain point that your client is experiencing is how do I do all the things that used to do that brought me happiness and joy and made me feel good about myself. At the time of this recording, today is my son's sixth birthday today. So big pain point is, how do I create a beautiful celebration for him at home? When he woke up in the morning, I had balloons everywhere and what I had previously thought I would invest in a birthday party, I have now invested in huge t-rex dinosaur balloons all over the house. He gets presents throughout the day, on the hour and video chats with friends and family. So as we are quickly adapting to this new normal, our habits have changed.
(07:13):
What's really interesting is that a few weeks ago, I went on Amazon to buy all of the things I would normally buy for a birthday party and realized that nothing was going to arrive in time. So I thought to myself, well let's see what I can do to support some other smaller business owners. Let's see if I can find some companies online that I can support, that I maybe I didn’t think of previously because it’s just so easy to hit that prime button, right? But what happened is that I started shopping around, I had a little bit more time. I started looking at specific websites for his age group and found games that I had never heard of before, things I thought he'd really like and that were only available on niche online businesses. Those types of businesses had very short shipping windows, whereas Amazon, I would have had to wait a really long time for. And I'm actually really happy with the way everything went considering the circumstances.
(08:03):
So I think for many people, what they're realizing is that maybe their former habits of how they used to shop and those distribution channels that they were relying on previously are no longer available to them. And they're finding other small businesses online. They're finding those niche products and services online that were not necessarily expecting and didn't know about before but will now become part of their spending habits moving forward. So in a lot of ways, this excites me. I am very excited about those who are able to move online quickly. I know not everybody in the world today is experiencing that type of growth. But I know that if you had a successful business before, even if it was offline, or let’s say that you were building an online infrastructure, there is so much opportunity based on what we're seeing in early stage spending data.
(08:57):
The second message to really consider when looking at how to communicate in deeper with your audience is the pending recession. And this was a message that I really started to get very good at 10 years ago during the last economic crisis. And while I found is that not everybody was impacted, everybody was sensitive to value. When I say value, I don't mean price. It doesn't mean that everybody's looking for the lowest price and that all of a sudden you need to cut and get really cheap. I don't recommend that at all. What I mean is that they're looking for the best value. So whether you have an eCommerce store, whether you provide services online as a coach or a consultant or education or fitness, or any type of service, people are looking for value. They're looking to justify what they're spending by analyzing that cost-benefit analysis in a deeper, more significant way than previously. They are looking be able to see if they are going to get a return on investment, whether it’s time, money, or otherwise.
(09:47):
And I don't know if you remember, but during the last recession, this is when Target started coming out with their fashion lines that were luxury for the masses. It was a campaign where they would hire high end fashion designers to create and knock off clothing within their own brand, which was so smart. If you are going to get knocked off as high-end fashion designer, you might as well get knocked off by yourself, right? There were sections within target where you would go and shop those quote unquote high-end designers and there would be lines out the door, remember that? And I don't know if you've noticed but for the most part, that whole craze of luxury for the masses has really faded away in the last 10 years.
(10:20):
It was the hottest and it launched during the last economic crises. And what it found is that it actually sold more clothing for that high-end designer for their upscale couture offering. So it was really interesting, what happened? They created a lower, more accessible luxury for the masses price point, and it actually increased the perceived value of that higher end offering if and when the time came where the customer was looking to invest in something better. It kept the customer within the brand with a lower price point. And so this something you can consider doing with your messaging. Not necessarily lower your price, but think about what you are currently offering, and what is the smaller version, the smaller bite, of what you are currently offering that can turn into a bigger purchase down the road once people get to know, like, and trust you.
(11:25):
When people are uncertain, it's really difficult to say, can you make this big huge purchase, can you join this big package, can you be part of this big long-term program? It's much easier to say, why don't we work together a little bit and then we can move you into the higher offering when you're ready. That is a much easier conversation to have, so it's not, again, that you give up your economic opportunity. It's that you just approach it differently when you're packaging your offer and messaging it to your audience. So here are just some quick guidelines that you can follow when it comes to shifting your message. The first is be super empathetic for where people are so that are connecting with you and you're communicating from a place of expertise but also a place of deep empathy.
(12:10):
Second, you want to make sure you are balancing that with a sense of authority so that they know they can trust you when it comes to leading through the level of uncertainty that most people are facing right now. So you want to have a somewhat pivoted offer, but don't depart and don’t discount from your current offering altogether, just have some kind of variation that makes it easier for them to do business with you.
(12:32):
And finally, show up more frequently, and then what you'll find is dedicated people, the people who are right for your brand will migrate to the messages that you're putting out from that place of I hear you, and it is totally understandable to feel the way that you're feeling right now. And also, I want to share with you how I can help, and this is how I've changed my offer in a way that serves you during this uncertain time. And if you can take that overall tone, yes, you're going to have maybe some people who are saying you shouldn't be selling it all right now and they have every right to believe that I believe differently. I believe that if we have a way to help, it is our responsibility to show up with that new marketing message that is meant to connect in a deep way, and this has to come from a place of genuine authenticity.
(13:28):
It can't be manufactured, but if you're a small business owner, if you're an entrepreneur. If you're a business came out of your heart anyways, if you are the founder of your business anyways, you can tap into that deeper why and use it as a point of connection. What you'll find is that people will respond, and they'll remember you. If anything, you're just building Goodwill in the short term in order to be able to serve them long-term when they're ready. When you are messaging your product, brand or service, remember that connection is currency. And now that is true more than ever. People need you to show up and let them know how you can help them, that you care about the problems they are having, and that they can rely on you and your brand to provide that expertise.
(13:58):
Make sure to visit our website, www.joybrandcreative.com/podcast where you can subscribe to the show in iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS so that you'll never miss an episode. While you're at it, if you find a value in this show, we'd appreciate a rating on iTunes or if you just simply tell a friend about it, that would help us out a lot too. Thanks so much for listening.
The Scale with Joy podcast dives into the mindset and strategies of scaling your company to the million dollar mark and beyond. Each week, we follow the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts and leaders - sharing behind the scenes stories of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned-all while building their multi-million dollar empires.