How should you present yourself and your business in this climate?
Two words...AUTHENTICITY & PROFESSIONALISM!
What does that mean? It means…be authentic though stay true to your brand promise by keeping the same visual and verbal professionalism. I have seen many businesses over the years make this mistake. They have a great foundation…a great brand logo, website, videos, photography and collateral and it all goes out the window after a horrible looking and sounding Facebook Live. A great brand teaches its customers what to expect...the mediums they choose to use, the messaging style or even the look and vibe from the CEO.
There is nothing wrong with dressing down a bit during this current time though keep in mind that your audience has come to appreciate and even expect how you communicate with them. What people seem to miss is that the general public associates themselves with brands that they identify with personally. There is something in your brand presence and your delivery that they love; therefore, to keep that loyalty it is imperative that one stays consistent to that brand promise. In a sea of thousands of companies in your local area and hundreds of thousands on the World Wide Web, your customer can easily shift to another voice that does what you do except in the way you WERE doing it.
The lesson here is to stay true to being authentically you; just stay away from downgrading too much.
The professionalism part comes in by keeping that same voice, that same brand promise that you originally set out to deliver. I’ve noticed that since the pandemic, talk show hosts have decided to film from their homes (which we are all doing these days) and go on air AL-NA-TUR-AL…no makeup or hair style! Many people may love the authenticity though may think… “Why can’t they dress up the way they use to when hosting or singing or cooking?”
That’s what I’m thinking. It leaves me feeling: “Are they still grateful for their status? Have they just given up?” It’s not about the hair and makeup as much as there was a brand promise there for years and now that isn’t important? Please don’t hear me wrong…I’m not judging…just being honest. I’m all about women being authentic, what I’m talking about is the brand promise and what we as consumers have come to expect from the brands we love.
So…be sure you stay Professional and do not change those brand promises that your clients have come to appreciate. Yes, we can absolutely be more authentic though let’s keep our professionalism because once this pandemic is over, don’t we want to keep the audience we worked so hard to build?