Stay Relevant, Update Your Value Proposition
Think about the value your organization brings to your customers. Has that value changed in the past few months in response to the pandemic? Have you updated any customer-facing services, policies, or product features? Do any of these changes have an impact on core value proposition and if so, have you incorporated the change of tone into your marketing collateral?
Let’s kick this off with an example:
Slack
If you’re not familiar with Slack, it’s a well-designed messaging app for organizations - infinitely customizable, but still extremely simple to use. At the beginning of the year, here’s their above-the-fold website headline:
(Jan 1, 2020) Replace email? Yes, please! I’m signing up for this as soon as we carpool back from this team lunch at the local buffet!
This almost seems quaint now, but Slack perfectly identified the cacophony of internal company emails. They had a ton of buzz in many digital focused agencies. It’s as if their website visitors were saying, “Okay, I’ve heard about it, but what does Slack do exactly?” So glad you asked, we “keep conversations organized.”
Flash forward about a hundred days - it’s mid-March and the CDC has just classified COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The day after the announcement, Slack updates their homepage to this:
(March 12, 2020) Unable to know how any of this would play out, Slack anticipated that many people would suddenly be working from home
Slack uncovered an admirable amount of balance with this new headline. With the phrase “brings the team together,” they acknowledged people who may be feeling lonely working from home. It’s almost wistful. Although, they allowed some ambiguity in the headline, with “wherever you are.” Are you working from home? Still in the office? It doesn’t matter, you’re together if you’re using Slack.
Next up, it’s late June, the novelty of our working situation has passed, and Slack pushes the following change (as of 9/1/20, this is still the current iteration):
(June 25, 2020) Who’s still working from home? Who’s returned to the office? Who cares, if they’re on Slack, they’re working!
Of the three, this headline is my favorite. The change is subtle, and as a result, the meaning is more direct. By June, Slack assumes the majority of their customers are working remotely, so it’s unnecessary to mention it in the headline. And, there is sly wordplay. Yes, customers may be “working from home,” but the “work happens on Slack.” Clever.
In contrast, the previous headline acknowledged the uncertainty of the situation, and provided reassurance that it’s possible to collaborate without being together physically. Personally, it left me pondering the question “Where should I be working?”, whether or not that was intentional. Regardless, I was no longer thinking about Slack and I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t convert as well as they were hoping. So the team at Slack decided to ditch the uncertainty, simplify it, and go with the direct statement, “Slack is where work happens”. This is empathetic copywriting at its best!
Let’s get back to you. In the example above, Slack does not announce any news or updates, and they’re not touting any new features to help make life easier during the pandemic. In fact, the only thing that changed is the day-to-day lives of their potential customers. And, that’s our point. Your customer is the only audience that matters, and just like Slack, you have to pay attention. It’s what Katie outlined in our last insight, and something we’ll continue repeating. It’s the foundation to every client engagement and the keystone to Wimbly Stoke’s process.
What’s changed for your organization the past few months and how does that help your customers? We’d love to help you figure that out! Email us, give us a call, or complete the form, we never charge for an initial consultation!