Pivot in Practice | no.2
This is the second edition of Pivot in Practice, Nimble.’s recurring series aimed to address some of the most frequently asked questions we’re hearing from trusted clients and teams during this unpredictable time.
With the aim of delivering relevant strategies and marketing solutions to help our teams get through this together, we hope you will follow along and contribute to the conversation.
Have a question? We’d love to connect.
Alternatively, contact us for a complimentary 30 min. strategy session.
Q: How do we deliver marketing messages that are both sensitive and forward thinking?
When discussing your communication strategy during this time, remember to lead not with sensitivity, but instead with empathy — for your teams, your customers and your industry communities at wide. As you think through the best way to communicate with your audiences, here are five quick considerations to keep top of mind to help ensure an empathetic approach and clear delivery.
Avoid insensitivity.
This one is simple. Approaching communication with empathy means ensuring your tone matches the current social climate, without being disrespectful. Messaging that reveals a level of awareness of the struggles and challenges people are facing will not only be better received by your audiences, but will also be more likely to resonate during this time.
While we adore a good pun or a playful hashtag, now might not be the time to iterate on discount codes that involve the words Corona or Covid, for example. At the end of the day, making your promo code “COVID19” is probably not how you want to represent your brand when it comes to conveying sensitive information.
2. Rethink your email content and segmentation strategies.
Right now, as you are probably experiencing first hand, inboxes are being flooded with a dense amount of information. You might be receiving more email correspondence than usual from brands that typically don’t reach out on a regular basis. While it seems as though everyone is in a race to be the first to turn this present reality into a positive, this isn’t a one size fits all situation.
Taking a look at your content calendar and any automated e-blasts that might be scheduled for the next few weeks presents an opportunity to re-evaluate whether or not the messaging is still fitting. Equally important is the opportunity to segment your lists based on the relevancy of information. Segmenting based on location and recent interaction is a great way to get started.
3. Spread some joy across your social media platforms.
While email list segmentation will certainly play a critical role in leading with empathy and clarity to audiences, if you’re concerned about greater reach, don’t forget about the power of your social channels! This is the perfect place to distribute your messaging on a more public platform, while still ensuring that you aren’t contributing to flooded inboxes.
While crisis communication might be top of mind right now, it’s also important to remember that not all communication needs to necessarily be serious or formal. If you have a playful brand, push yourself to craft fresh social content that walks the line of lighthearted and compassionate.
4. Ask your community what they want to hear.
If you are at a loss for words or meaningful content at this time, sometimes we have to ask questions in order to unearth the best answers. While this will look different for every company involved, if you are in a position to source private responses from loyal clients about what is resonating right now — more power to you.
Let’s call this a design thinking approach to communications — sometimes the most meaningful thing we can do is to simply ask.
5. Stay flexible.
Just because everyone else is managing things a certain way doesn’t mean that the same communications model is right for you. True to our name, the best advice that we can share with you as you adjust your strategies and continue to pivot during this uncertain time is to stay nimble while remaining true to your brand. Transparency, like empathy, won’t go unnoticed right now.
While we hope these five considerations support your communications endeavors, we will be the first to acknowledge that nobody has all of the answers right now.
Because it’s impossible to predict the new challenges that could arise in coming weeks, constant adaptation an an increased level of comfort in pivoting is key to adjusting strategies along the way. While communication can be a difficult thing to navigate, learning, adapting and listening to your audiences will yield the insights you need to act forward in the most informed, empathetic way possible.
Important Announcement:
Nimble. is offering complimentary 30-minute strategy sessions from March 23 through April 3 to discuss market and property challenges and develop a game plan of tactics and support.
→ To schedule, contact Maria Royal, at maria@nimbledesignco.com.
Contribute to our growing conversation on Pivot in Practice.
We’d love the chance to answer your questions in an upcoming post. We’re grateful for the opportunity to support an industry that has raised us up for over a decade and counting.
Please –– share your concerns, challenges, and pivots with us so we can work and solve for current times together.