Authentic Messaging During a Crisis Part 4
These days, Zorro is very confused. Mask on? Mask off? Restaurants are open, but countries are closed. Everywhere, a hodgepodge of people are trying to figure out how to human in our new reality.
Which means when it comes to messaging: ya gotta be real.
You’ve listened, reviewed, pivoted, and planned, and now it’s time to actually get cookin’ and connect with your customers. A recipe for success contains 0% artificial ingredients.
Why? Because customers are smart and it’s blatantly obvious when a company is simply trying to mirror what everyone else is doing and not saying what they truly believe. They’ll sniff out an imposter like a traveler in search of a Starbucks after a red-eye.
Authentic messaging gives your customers confidence and reassurance in their decision to do business with you. When your passion for your work comes out in what you say in your emails and social, people want it. An emotional connection will always amplify any marketing efforts you do.
How do you connect?
Think about your customers. Who are they? What are they feeling (refer back to Step 1: Listening)? During the Recovery phase of a crisis, your messaging should be all about relating to your customers. Tell them you both share and understand their pain, challenges, and frustration.
In one of the most beloved examples of empathetic messaging, Coca-Cola harnessed the power of peace and goodwill with its “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” campaign during the peak of Vietnam tensions:
Then, take it one step further: offer them what we call a digital aspirin.
How can you relieve their pain? What will help your customers feel more secure right now? Perhaps it’s as simple as reassuring them that while your offices are closed to the public, your team is still working to produce/service/sell what they need to keep their business moving forward.
Consider talking to your customers the same way you would talk to your family during an emergency. Compassionate, empathetic, real, optimistic, calm, and solution-oriented.
Keep authentic messaging in alignment with your company’s core values. When you do that, your connection to your customers will be as real as it gets.
And yes, you can be real and professional at the same time.
Connect Checklist:
❐ Connect your message to your “why”
❐ Relate to pain points
❐ Offer solutions to pain points.
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