Now's the Right Time for PR

You’ve reexamined your forecast, reassessed spending, and are closely following business news to be able to chart the unknown waters of the 2009 economy. Have you thought about your messaging? If you haven’t, you could be seriously out of touch with your customers. Our world has changed in the past months. The way we communicate and market to current and potential customers needs a major overhaul.

Last year’s advertising, marketing and public relations messages simply won’t work. Unless you are one of the companies that saw the storm clouds on the horizon and repositioned your messaging… think Walmart’s “Save Money, Live Better.” Now is the time to rethink your company’s communication/ marketing messaging and plan.

Michael Cunningham, a physiologist and professor at the University of Louisville states that “people are influenced by the times.” Position your brand as an ally to customers. Not a dark approach touting the problems of the economy, but one which positions your company as a partner that can help. According to some of the best Madison Avenue thinking, there is a yearning for an emotional connection from customers. Business will need to be authentic and customercentric in today’s economic climate.

Reshape the message. Do not slash the price. That doesn’t mean do away with strategic sales to stimulate traffic. It certainly doesn’t mean to cut the quality of your product. Now is the time to showcase your company’s value in the marketplace.

Research your competitors and be sure to target your audience. Concentrate your direct marketing and communications dollars to the media that directly reaches your current and potential customers. This is not new strategy; it is a call for discipline. Focus your company’s energies where it will result in the greatest return on investments.

New media offers opportunity for free marketing. Are Facebook and YouTube right for your company? Think again if you believe social media are strictly for reaching a younger demographic. According to the Pew Research Center last year, for the first time, more Americans said they received most of their national and international news from the Internet. And 50% of YouTube viewers are over 50. Cross-channel, focused marketing is not the future; it is the best way to communicate with your customers now.

If you have strong marketing resources and the financial wherewithal, it might be the right time to actually increase spending for obtaining those new customers. As for your current, loyal base of customers, this is an opportune time to get new customers via personal endorsements and word of mouth. Are there strategic partnerships you can form with them to bring in new clients? Get rid of objections about spending and focus on your clients’ entire experience with your company.

I encourage you to be expansive in your thinking and sensitive to your customer needs, two strategies worth considering in these interesting times.

This article was featured in the Pocono Business Journal in March 2009. For more on the Pocono Business Journal, visit their website.