Marketing Monday: How We Show Up Matters
How we show up can be broken down into 4 basic elements:
Appearance, Attitude, Audience, and Delivery. To ensure that our message is
received with maximum impact and effectiveness, all four of these must be right.
Appearance: The Packaging for Our Message
Companies spend thousands of dollars on getting the
packaging right for their products and services. They understand that people
will judge a book by its cover and a product by its packaging. Slick packaging
can get a poorly designed product flying off the shelves, while poor packaging
will ensure that a great product does nothing but collect dust because it does
not attract the attention of buyers.
The same thing is true when it comes to interacting with
others both on and offline. The image we project when we show up is what others
will use to judge whether or not we have a message worth listening to. That’s
because our image IS a message all its own.
It tells people what we think is true about ourselves and
how seriously others should take us. It also tells them what we believe we are worth,
which helps them know how to value the things we say.
If we show up with minimal effort in our appearance and in
clothes that are poorly fitting or unprofessional, the message we send is that
we are not worth the effort or the expense of investment and we run the risk of
our message not being received at all. For this reason, it’s important to take
care in how we look and how we dress so that others will see us as worth the
investment because we showed up in a way that told them we feel we are worth
it.
It's also important to be sure that our message is dressed
appropriately when it is delivered on social media. Graphics should be sized
correctly for the platform we are addressing and the messaging should fit the
audience that platform attracts.
Attitude: The Intention Behind the Message
When we do show up, the attitude we have will also impact
how well our message is received. An attitude that is negative will cause
people to see our message in a negative light. An attitude that is
self-centered will cause people to respond in kind, wondering what’s in it for
them.
However, if our attitude is positive and centered around
what we can do for others rather than on what others should be doing for us, we
will naturally begin to attract the attention of others. Provided that the
delivery accurately represents the intention, the attitude we hold can even
help to overcome a poor appearance.
I remember walking into a speaker’s competition. I walked 3
miles from my hotel to the conference. I had tennis shoes on my feet. Although I
wore black pants and a nice top, it was certainly not executive-caliber
clothing. My hair was neat and tidy but I didn’t style it and I wore no makeup.
At the end of the competition, one of the men came up to me
and told me how impressed he was with my message. My attitude had won him over.
However, he told me, “Just looking at you I would never have guessed you had
anything to say that was worth hearing. You surprised me.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d been told that my appearance
led people to underestimate me and my message although my attitude and my delivery
were such that I was able to overcome that initial challenge.
Audience: Keeping In Mind The People We Are Addressing
If we package ourselves for an executive conference but we’re
attending a pool party, we’re not going to get the reception we want. We’re
going to make people uncomfortable. We’re not going to look like we belong
there, and that can cause them to reject the message we are trying to share
with them.
This happens a lot on social media. People show up as if
they were at a business conference shouting promotional messages at everyone
around them when that’s not why people came to the platform. As a result, most
people find them annoying or tune them out.
It’s important to know the audience, know what the
expectations are for that audience, and know what brings them to the platform
we’re using to spread our message. We need to look and act like we belong, and
tailor our message to fit their needs and their circumstances in life at that
time.
Delivery: Being Thoughtful in the Way that We Deliver Our Message
No matter how helpful our intentions may be, what we say can
be hurtful or even damaging if it is not delivered in a way that meets people
where they are and invites them into the change we want to see them make.
Remember I told you about the guy that approached me after
the competition? He wasn’t intending to be hurtful with what he said. He was
trying to be helpful, and I knew that, which is why I was willing to take his
advice to heart. However, if I had not gotten to know him over the course of
the competition, I might have been too offended by what he said to even be able
to hear the overall intention of the message.
Delivering a message that suggests people need to change
something about themselves or their life is never easy. People are naturally
resistant to change and are often emotionally tied to the way they live and present
themselves. They may see their dress, they way they live, or how they behave as
being “who they are” rather than as something that can be changed.
It’s important to be mindful of that when delivering the
message, especially if the message being delivered is going to require them to
change something about what they are currently doing with their lives in order
to see the benefit. Rather than focusing on what they are doing wrong, and
possibly putting them on the defensive, it’s a good idea to paint a picture of
what life could be like if they do things in the way that you are suggesting
they do them.
It’s also important to be sure that we’ve spent enough time
listening to the people we’re speaking to that the advice we offer about what
to do is relevant to their situation and will actually be helpful to them.
I once met a friend for breakfast. As we ate, I shared with
her that I’d recently visited a doctor and discovered that my thyroid wasn’t
working properly. I told her that I’d been concerned because in spite of
efforts to eat healthier and exercise more there was no change in my weight.
All of this information was given to her during the course of our conversation.
Imagine my surprise when I received a letter from her just a
few days later expressing her concern about my weight, how important it was
that I exercise and eat right, and she finished by telling me that I should get myself to a doctor to find
out if there was something wrong with me.
I knew immediately upon reading it that she had not listened
to a word that I’d said. Not only did I reject her advice as not being relevant
to my situation but her thoughtlessness ensured I wasn’t likely to listen to anything
she had to say on the subject in the future.
When delivering a message, it’s always best to start with
1) Listening to understand the situation, not to judge it or to respond;
2) Empathizing with where the person is and really putting ourselves in their shoes;
3) Asking relevant questions to be sure we understand their position, the things they’ve tried, and the obstacles they’re encountering;
4) Determining the best course of action for them based on the knowledge you've gained of their needs and current circumstances;
5)
Sharing a story that will help them put the advice into perspective and
understand why we’re offering it.
That’s what LEADS people to the conclusion we want them to
make, and it’s an important part of being a good marketer.
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