How B2B marketers can help
My friend Doug Kessler wrote a great little post about this very problem on his company’s blog. (Doug is one of the most thoughtful and creative people in marketing. He’s also one of the kindest. I’ve benefited from his counsel more times than I can count…sel?)
Doug recently asked for some comments about the piece, since he’s rightfully sensitive to the issue of B2B marketers figuring out just what to say or do during COVID-19. Do you continue to promote your product or service? Keep publishing your blog posts about HR benefits or recruiting and hiring or sales or marketing or engineering or product design? Isn’t it at least a little weird that you’re acting like nothing is happening in the world? (Doug thought so. He shares a vulnerable and welcome moment he experienced as a creator and marketer himself. Seriously, just read Doug Kessler already…)
So, since Doug asked, I thought I’d respond here in brief.
To identify what we should do in atypical times, it starts by identifying how we already help others in normal times. As B2B marketers, our content should help make the audience’s work easier. That is our default, in good times … and during this time.
Take, for instance, a B2B company that teaches marketers how to make podcasts. (Purely theoretical and not at all in reference to a very real business I happen to know decently well.) (Okay, fine, it’s my business.)
If we already focus on teaching marketers to find and share their voices, how does that evolve into teaching them how to find and share their voices … during moments of adversity?
If we already help marketers understand how to get creative with their shows, how does that evolve into helping them get creative with their shows … when they’re working from home and feeling low-energy or pressed for time and ideas aren’t flowing and, and, and…?
As a B2B organization, our content should make it easier for them to do their job. Thus, in times like this, whatever our organization already professes to make easier (e.g. podcasting) is what we should lean into, with a more empathetic, gentler tone and no pushy pop-ups or tactics anyone who considers themselves a “growth hacker” would proudly push. (In other words, don’t push.)
"Our brand already aims to make X easier or better for others. What would that look like during this time? What's gotten harder for them to do in this line of work?" (Hint: It can't all just be tips for remote work!)
This isn't THE answer, but maybe it can be a good place to start our thinking and conversation with our teams and customers/clients.
Read Doug’s post (now a series called Worrying From Home) here.
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PS: Three things on offer during this tough time:
1) The 1-Star Club — free for makers and marketers facing adversity. This is a weekly Instagram Live I’m hosting, with a set format and special guests, to help push and inspire us to move forward and keep making, together.
>> Follow @jacunzo and watch for the live call every Tuesday at 1:30pm Eastern. More details here.
2) Break the Wheel is temporarily on sale on Amazon. For orders of 10+, I’ll do a live call with you and your team. Share receipts to secure a spot. The book is unexpectedly relevant for this time: How do we find clarity and make better choices when surrounded by feelings of overwhelm? When the “best practices” won’t cut it, thanks to the variables of your unique situation, what do we do then?
>> Find the book here.
3) For speakers and event organizers, I’ve repackaged my experience developing narrative-style podcasts and docuseries into a repeatable formula for enhancing keynote speeches for the virtual event environment. You can read about my philosophy here. This service is a combination of brief consulting and post-production to turn your talk into an experience virtual audiences love.
>> Email my business partner Josh White, speaking@unthinkablemedia.com, to discuss packages.