3 Commonly overlooked elements you shouldn’t forget when adjusting brand messaging
Adjusting brand messaging has been vital for businesses to stay relevant and provide reassurance for their customers in a pandemic-altered world. This continues to be something that companies must pay attention to as lockdown loosens and businesses begin their journey into our strange ‘new normal’.
During isolation, many companies have rightly pivoted company messaging aligning to the new needs of their audiences. They’re providing new solutions and reflecting customer sentiments with an appropriate tone of voice.
Yet there are other vital (but commonly overlooked) elements that must be included in messaging adjustments if you want to improve your image:
Remember your employees
For the most part, messages are altered with buying audiences in mind. For obvious reasons, this is vital so customers still resonate with and buy your products and services.
But remember employee needs when changing messaging. If new messages are at odds with what people feel about their employer, they’re likely to be vocal about the real company values and priorities, potentially impacting engagement and productivity (you don’t want a social media or Glassdoor moment).
We saw the negative blowback when Uber ignored staff’s welfare in favour of a message that only appealed to their audience, so it’s crucial to avoid the damaging attention that can come from this.
This is especially true when targeting HR buyers. After all, if your messaging neglects your employees, you aren’t going to be looked on favourably in a market that’s big on employee wellbeing.
Consider the media’s needs
So you may have thought about your customers and employees - but what about the media? They have their own interests when covering stories and if your messages don’t fulfil their needs then it’s a sure-fire way to neglect a well-rounded marketing strategy.
When publications publish your content or mention your people and brand in relation to an important topic, it shows your audiences that you’re a respected authority, subject matter expert and that journalists value your ideas.
However, if you don’t consider media requirements for your stories or points of view - perhaps well-informed research and data, market advice or industry insights - your message may not get the chance to be seen in online or traditional publications. This can mean a big loss in being visible to clients and supporting brand reputation.
Stay true to you
In a bid to stay relevant and in demand, many businesses have had to shake things up, considering what parts of their brand and offerings to emphasise, alter or leave aside for the moment.
But problematically, during this change, it’s important not to ignore the real areas of expertise or promote ideas that don’t reflect true business aims and values.
Now let’s be clear, I’m not suggesting that change isn’t vital for staying up to date with audiences’ ever-changing needs or that a business shouldn’t seek to alter its plans to stay healthy.
But what is key is not to forget what you stand for. You don’t want to promise things you can’t deliver, and it’s vital to remain true to your brand values so your customers aren’t left wondering what’s happened to the old you.
Understandably, forgetting these three aspects is easily done when messages have been so quickly changed in response to COVID-19. Customers are, of course, essential, but there are other key elements that influence a brand’s reputation and visibility.
Adapting with the whole picture in mind is powerful for branding.
Want to know if your brand is well adjusted to a world affected by coronavirus? We’ll soon be offering a free brand assessment to help you find out if your company stands up to the HR market’s changing priorities. Look out for more information shortly or get in touch to see how we can help.