This last month I have been thinking a lot about what it means to market a business – or even to offer what your business traditionally offers – during this time of change as we cope with the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pivoting is become commonplace.
How many times have I told you about brand consistency in my Marketing Tips of the Week? How many different angles have I taken to explain why consistency matters? At any other time, it is a truth of marketing that if you want to establish yourself as a go-to, known quantity and build the loyalty of your following, you need to be clear and repetitious about what your audience can expect from you.
Right now, we are living in an unusual time. Consumers have changed. Almost all of our target markets made drastic shifts to their behavior. They don’t even really know what normal behavior looks like for them.
So, is it even possible for us to stay consistent when our target markets are doing different things, showing up in different places, demonstrating different needs, or exhibiting different behaviors?
We have seen many businesses pivot their business models in the face of this crisis. Fine dining restaurants that transition to offering take out or walk-up burgers to go. Museums giving virtual tours. Dance classes taking their classes online. Cupcake shops delivering decorate-your-own-cupcake kits.
And they aren’t just pivoting and pretending like they aren’t. We are seeing some incredibly honest website copy and social media posts explaining the situation and the why and how of the pivot.
Here’s what I keep coming back to: Depending on what your business is, you may have to pivot what you do. Right now, the thing you offer is either relevant or irrelevant. If it’s irrelevant, and you want to stay in business, you have to adapt, at least temporarily. But the businesses that succeed with this won’t let go of who they are. Consistency DOES still matter, even if you are pivoting your business model. It matters in why you do what you do, the value you system you do it with, and the way you make your customers feel.
Consistency DOES still matter, even if you are pivoting your business model. #biztips #business #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur #covid19
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As I think about what seems to be working for the businesses that are doing this well, what strikes me is that they ultimately have stayed true to the spirit with which they used to do business. Even if what they are delivering is different, at the core they are still the company their customers know and love. If anything, they leaned in even further to the values, the tone, and the brand that they created long ago.
How do you want to make your audience feel any other time of the year? Hold that at the center of your decisions. If you have to pivot in what you offer, explain it to your audience in a way that remains true to how you would normally talk to them. At the end of all this, when your business has surmounted the challenges we face, announce whatever ways you are changing back with that exact same voice.
One of the strengths that we have as small businesses is the humanity behind what we do. We lead with customer service. We can develop bonds with our leads and our customers that make them remember the people behind the brand as well as the relationships they built with them.
Succeeding in this time isn’t about just asking for help with your hand out. We already know most businesses need that help. Succeeding in business while pivoting through COVID-19 is about leaning in harder than you ever have to what is true about your brand voice. It’s about putting extra care into the consistency of how you communicate with the people in your circle, even when you are communicating changes in what your business is doing.
Succeeding in business while pivoting through COVID-19 is about leaning in harder than you ever have to what is true about your brand voice. #business #covid19 #smallbusiness #smallbiz #biztips
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There is more compassion and understanding for your business if it needs to pivot right now than there would normally be. Do what you need to do. But do it while still being you.
Do what you need to do. But do it while still being you. #brand #marketing #covid19 #business #biztips #smallbusiness #smallbiz #entrepreneur
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The post Brand Consistency vs. Pivoting During the COVID-19 Pandemic appeared first on Melissa Forziat Events and Marketing.