Marketing in these “uncertain” times…
What is the prescription for the malady we face?
The hot scare word of the day is “uncertainty.”
It’s been the big buzz word in the news for the last few weeks at least. Isn’t it something how these moments come about, where you hear the same phrases and buzz words being used by pretty much every news outlet?
It’s almost like it’s all coordinated. Maybe that’s a story for another day. Though I do often wonder, are these narratives a reflection of how the people feel? Or are the people being led to feel how the narrative guides them? Sometimes both maybe. If you read the history of propaganda, you know that usually it is the latter. But that stuff only happened back then. They don’t do that anymore. :)
I have some clients who feel good about what’s happening in the economy, and others who are not. I’m sure you’re seeing the same out there. Different industries are impacted differently.
Bottom line though, like it or not, everybody is exposed to the messaging of “uncertainty” and it is impacting business decision making. People truly are uncertain.
A shift has happened in the market in the last year. Now, certainly things can change fast. A few weeks from now we could be looking at things very differently. It’s impossible to predict.
But right now there is a lot of uncertainty. AI, Tariffs, Inflation, etc, etc. And I’m hearing from a lot of people that “trust” is way down.
A lot of marketing that used to work isn’t working as well anymore. On top of that, prospects are taking longer to move forward, and delaying decisions due to uncertainty.
So what is the prescription? There is no one size fits all. Of course each of us is going to have a unique approach and solution. Everybody’s business is different, we have different target markets, etc.
But broadly speaking…I believe this situation we are in makes it more important than ever to have a relationship building approach in your marketing. And to get even more in the weeds with your prospects.
If trust is way down…then you have to build deeper relationships. People don’t trust strangers, they trust people they know. We’ve all heard it before. Know, like and trust.
You have to put in even more work on the front end, to really build the relationship. Yes, that will take more time.
Fortunately there are ways to make the initial outreach efficient, on LinkedIn for example. But after that, you need to put in more time on relationship building once you are connected.
What does this really look like tactically?
A few ideas:
This means more conversations without pitching.
Organizing round tables.
Asking questions.
Sending videos.
Sending memorable gifts, tickets to games, etc.
Inviting prospects to be interviewed.
Etc, etc.
You don’t have to do all of them, but you probably need to have a few things like that in your mix.
To meet your goals this year, you may have to go HAM as the kids say. Leave it all on the field. Empty the clip.
What I mean by that, is you may need to put a lot more effort into the process of developing real world relationships with your prospects.
I’m thinking of hosting a round table on zoom, some time in the next couple weeks, to talk more about these ideas. Not a webinar. More like a real discussion with a handful of speakers sharing ideas, talking about what they’re seeing out there, etc.
Would you be interested in attending something like that? Reply and let me know. If enough people are interested, maybe we’ll do it.
Thank you, and let’s get after it.
(By the way, today is the deadline to join High Level and get my bonuses, all the details & tutorials are here.)
Josh
Josh Turner
Multiple times Inc 500 + 5000, WSJ Bestselling author, dad, #LetsGoBlues, top LinkedIn expert, helping businesses get more leads and clients online.
P.S. When the time is right for you, here are a couple ways we can work together:
My on-demand LinkedIn Accelerator, which includes training and 1-on-1 consulting with my head coach. This program focuses on my 5-step methodology to get connected to a lot more prospects, and build relationships with them through strategic messaging, to generate an average of 10-15 sales appointments per month. Message me for more details.
Work with me 1-on-1. Hit reply to this message, tell me about your business and let me know what you want to work on together. Then I’ll get you the details on my consulting work.