In North Carolina, we are experiencing Hurricane Florence this week. Fortunately, Raleigh just received a lot of rain and some wind but no significant issues. We lost power for about six hours, but we survived although I had to delay making coffee until later than usual. #firstworldproblems
My daughter and son-in-law came from Wilmington to get out of harm’s way where the brunt of the storm made landfall. They came with their zoo. (Walter, a puppy collie along with his feline family, Olive and Charlie)
Flood of Information
There was a flood of information from TV and online. So much of it was sensational and not too useful. The drama was replayed over and over as if representational of the situation.
What the news shared was confusing, contradictory and challenging to interpret. I’m well aware of the difficulties of being on air during a storm, but how information was communicated and organized, made it hard to decipher what to do and how to prepare.
What I thought was missing was the chance to help tell the news from the perspective of different audiences. They could have done a better job of telling more personal stories of the conflicts that people struggle through during emergencies.
People who left – like my daughter and son-in-law, they wanted to know if the roads were open and wanted to understand the challenge of returning. What happened in their neighborhood to their house and their friends? How about their favorite hangouts – were they still intact?
People who stayed– like some of my kid’s friend; people who didn’t evacuate needed different information. When will the power come on, are the roads safe, does any station have gas, can we find any food supplies or restaurant that are open and have power?
What Can I Learn?
I often frame situations like this by looking for a marketing lesson.
During emergencies, TV can talk generally, but don’t answer the question – what about me? What about my neighborhood? What about my concerns? They are active at 36,000 feet. But most of us care about our issues, our interests, and our local community. Just like the weather, products and services need to get down to earth to tell their stories.
Ironically, big networks aren’t the most reliable source of news for individuals. They try and reach everyone, but don’t answer the most critical questions in our minds. They focus on the sensational not the factual.
The Weather Channel and several other stations also have so much information on the screen you don’t know where to look. They look like NASA dashboards and its just too much information. They should be telling one story at a time – rainfall, wind, flooding. I can’t follow twelve stories on the screen at once.
I know it is challenging in dangerous conditions to do their work, but they didn’t seem to answer vital pieces of news. If one house floods, it gets replayed over and over again as if representative of the entire region. They show reporters in heavy wind and rain as if everyone is standing out by the ocean during a storm. The news distorts things – not always intentionally, but it makes storm-related help questionable.
Personal Networks
It was informative to watch how those who stayed in Wilmington, quickly became a news network to their community of friends. Those who stayed behind could visit specific neighborhoods and sections of town to see what was happening. My kids’ friends could go into their house and look around and provide a first-hand look at if they had any rain or wind damage. They could provide trusted information in ways that networks couldn’t answer.
Instagram became the most reliable news source for Fanny and Tony. It was a news network where local friends were posting videos and photos of neighborhoods and well-known landmarks. It was as if the Weather Channels and MSNBC gave a big picture, but my kids weren’t watching the TV. Instead, their phones were the best source of information.
There is an Instagram account called What’s Up Wilmington with over 26,000 followers. Wilmington only has 150,000 residents. This network is unique in being able to connect people to hyper-local information like a neighborhood, a block or a cul-de-sac. It became the go-to resource for those who wanted the real story, not a sensationalized view of what was happening.
Reminder – The Value of Local
These past days reminded me of how communications and marketing have gone from broad to narrow, from mass to local. When I work on marketing campaigns, I like to keep slicing the market as narrow as possible. I think about delivering valuable, useful information at the most granular level. Instead of talking to everyone, I want to talk to someone.
Watching all of the weather-related news reminded me of the critical communications issue of being empathetic to the pain and challenge that your audience is feeling. Market segments matter and make a big difference in the message you deliver and how you help them understand your story.
Segments and Tailored Message
- Of the people you want to reach, they don’t all have the same problem or challenge. How well do you understand each portion of the audience’s problem? Of course, in a hurricane, we care about the conditions in our state, but we care more about our small neighborhood and community. The same is true in marketing.
- Do you need a different message told through different channels? During the storm, everyone wants to learn something different. In marketing a product or service, the same is true. For example, three people who work at the same company may be concerned about similar topics. Think of a VP of finance, an engineer and a purchasing agent. The same software solution could help them all, but your message and medium might need to be different to connect to them effectively. What do they care about?
- Go narrow, go local. In the middle of a hurricane, you can sympathize with people 100 miles away, but you care about your small piece of the planet. Similarly, in marketing, how can you break down your communications to tap into short, narrow and specific markets, instead of a “spray and pray” approach to reaching everyone? How precise and personalized can you get when sharing information. Is there a personal network that can support your campaign?
Whether it’s the weather or marketing, audiences tend to focus on how you will have an impact on them. WIIFM. What’s in it for me. Why should I care? How will it change the story I tell myself?
Want to weather the storm? Tell a story that is personal and local to the recipient of your message. The future of marketing may move from social networks to even more personal networks.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
