Given the challenging times we're living in, it's likely that the worldview your prospects hold today is not the same one they held a year, or even several months, ago.
Changing world views also shift perspectives.
Have your marketing content and sales conversations shifted along with that of your prospects?
I know. I can hear you groan - "But we just updated that content six months ago."
Not good enough. Chances are that it's no longer relevant enough to strike the chord it did last year.
Give yourself a content audit—just to be on the safe side. It may only take a few tweaks to update the relevance of some content. Other pieces may need to be re-told in a different way that addresses today's concerns.
Check Your Payoff:
- Is your content all about increasing revenues? Right now, cutting costs may be of more importance to your prospects.
- Are your testimonials doing the same thing?
- How about your customer success stories?
Measure the Tone:
- Carrot? Hope is persuasive and engaging.
- Stick? Negative gets old, depressing and ignored.
Assess the Scenarios:
- Are you addressing today's problem-to-solution scenarios, or have those shifted, too?
- Has the makeup of the buying committee shifted?
- What new factors are requiring more attention?
Rate Your Unfettered Helpfulness:
- Is everything you offer attached to your prospects giving you something in return?
- Consider just being graciously helpful with useful tips and techniques they can use today. They'll remember.
Enhance Dialogue Components:
- Is there an easy way for people to tell others how helpful you're being?
- Are you inviting interactions that feel more casual and less of a push into the sales process?
- What are you doing that entices your prospects to proactively engage with you?
- Review your calls to action.
And how the heck do you figure all this out?
Talk to your customers and salespeople. While you're at it, turn them in to featured heroes and write new customer stories about how they're riding out (or taking advantage) of today's challenging economy—with your help, of course.
Open your ears on social listening posts and find out what people are talking about in relation to your keywords. Tweet Grid is helpful for following keyword use on Twitter. Industry blog comments and topics can also provide timely insights.
The point is, this is no time to sit still. Content and the stories it tells must be on track with your prospect's mindset if you want to continue to build engagement with them.
What are you doing to make sure you're in touch with your prospect's worldview?
