I’ve not shared this with anyone publicly, but I thought I saw a UFO recently. I was out on my deck late at night, it was very dark outside and a perfect night for stargazing. As I looked Northwest, I saw lights that I have never seen before. They were perfectly aligned and there was a stream of them moving from left to right in different, but perfect cadences. My legs shook, my palms got sweaty, and I grappled for my phone so I could record this unimaginable opportunity.
First, though, I googled it. Turns out, it was Elon Musk‘s Starlink satellite system… a growing stream of satellites that offer internet via satellite worldwide. My heart rate settled down, my palms dried, and I said to myself, “Wow, things have changed!” Not only did I witness the evolution of mankind in space, but I was able to identify it from my computer that I keep in my pocket! What’s even more astonishing is that within my lifetime, I will look back and laugh at all of this archaic technology.
It reminds me of two constants in this life: change, and the fact that we tend to resist change.
If there ever was a time of change in the modern business world, now is it. We communicate on screens, we stream entertainment, and many of us now work remotely at least part time! None of these things existed when I entered the workforce 25 years ago.
It is important to note that changes like this can also have a major impact on how you reach your target audience. I’d be willing to bet they live, work, recreate, and even business differently than they did just two years ago. So, it makes sense that reaching them in new ways might be worth your effort. In other words, embrace the change, don’t resist it!
Here are three things that you can do to make sure you are keeping up with the times and reaching your audience with your message in changing times:
- Consider where your audience is. A great place to start is with yourself. What programs do you watch? Do you find yourself watching a lot more Netflix than local news? Do you play Spotify in the background during your work day? Are you watching and listening on your phone or laptop, or do you still keep a radio on your desk? Just becoming aware of your media consumption can help you establish a starting point. The next step, ask and observe your audience in the same way! Step two, note where they’re at and be there!
- Find out what’s important to them. This one’s easy. What are your audience’s top 3 questions when they first reach out to you? Now, make sure those questions are part of your message. It’ll help reduce barriers and get new customers reaching out because you already are answering their questions! In summary, find out what they want to know and say that!
- Invest in your success. You wouldn’t run a construction project just using wheelbarrows instead of hammers and drills because the boss likes wheelbarrows right? But we see this a lot in marketing plans, believe it or not. The right tools make all the difference and they require an investment. Marketing is an investment in your brand and like any investment, it costs money. If you haven’t already, add marketing dollars, along with a plan to spend them, to your budget. You might be a great company with a great message, but if it doesn’t reach your audience, it can and will affect your growth.
At the end of the day, the benefits of progress are never achieved without effort. But you don’t have to be a marketing expert to make a solid effort to connect with your audience, just follow these three steps and you’ll have the foundation you need for a marketing plan that can help you establish meaningful and fruitful connections with your audience in any market!