Adapt your messaging

It's a very good time to check your default. 

What are the default messages, responses and funnels you've got set up that usually just 'run'?

What do you have that is automated, that will do 'this' if 'that' happens? 

You'll need to change something, most certainly. 

We are seeing and hearing marketing, customer, advertising and communications messaging that is not adapting.

It's time to PULL or PAUSE your canned, pre-written and pre-scheduled content that was done in the motive of 'productivity'. 

It was created in another time. Those images and words were made for another era. 

The language, pace, imagery, message (and metaphors) could be tone deaf, way out of alignment and not a good match for these times.

Check on it ... and then adapt it to these times and tones. 

And soon, you'll probably need to change it again. 

Collect plenty of ideas

Not just one idea or three, but plenty. You never know when you’ll need them.

Many people ask me about my blogs and posts.

They ask:

- How do you post everyday?

- How do you come up with ideas?

- Tell me/show me how you do it...

The key things you need are to be able to generate content, to deliver value via that content and then to execute on the idea ... among that is to have a wad of ideas. (I don’t know how many a wad is!)

I focus on ‘curating’ my ideas; collecting them as I think of them. I don’t ’sit down to have a good idea’. I grab them when they arrive. Once collected in an Evernote file, I wander through that file each day and think, ‘which of these ideas is buzzing for me?’ (Singing, buzzing, humming, glowing - whatever the verb, it’s about the idea that I react to.)

That’s the one I pick ... and then I write.

I don't stockpile pre-canned posts.

I don't copy and paste from the past.

It's more like I’m riffing from an idea I collected, likely a while ago - days, weeks, months.

You can do it too… to share your thinking, ideas, thoughts and value.

Become what I call a ‘Leader of Value’. So to get started, collect plenty of ideas.

3 Questions to help them 'get it'

Speaking with a leader last week and there was that frustration you get when people in the team and across the business just don’t ‘get it’.

The leader said 'people aren't understanding what the change project is really about, even though there have been plenty of presentations, packs, information sessions and hours spent talking about the information.'
 
Yes there’s plenty of information available, but which pieces are important; how do you help people make sense of it… and quickly?
 
My distilled visual is from a presentation by Tom Shanley on Interactive and Immersive Data Visualisation and there's some insight there about beautiful, insightful and functional information. 
 
When there’s a torrent of information flooding in from all directions, people are secretly asking three questions in their mind:

1. What are you trying to tell me?
2. What’s the story?
3. What am I meant to be looking at?

The rise of infographics and data visualisations certainly help convey deep information and data quickly, clearly and with creative appeal.
 
These and other visuals work because our eyes see patterns – it’s Gestalt Theory. Images help people see the trees and the forest ... and helps it become a two-way conversation.

And what's so beautiful about information? I love thumbing through David McCandless' book 'Information is Beautiful' (also called The Visual Miscellaneum in some countries). It's one for the coffee table, reception or waiting area or the meeting room, to give you a boost of visual inspiration. 
 
So what do you need to help people ‘get’ right now? Answer this:

1. What are you trying to tell them?
2. What’s the story?
3. What are they meant to be looking at?

Answer those questions and you'll help people 'get it' and make sense of it all – otherwise it’s all too much and they'll give their attention to someone else answering those three questions.

Is there a meme in your message?

So you've got this message and information you need to share, spread, roll out or deliver to people.

You want them to take it up, listen to it, understand it, know it, trust it and love it so bad that they'll 'do it' and then share it with others so more people listen, understand, know, trust, ....

But wait.. what! They're not? They must be. Aren't they?

Not only are they not sharing it as you'd like, they're not acting the way you'd like. They haven't taken it (fully) on board, and they haven't changed their behaviour.

In fact it's worse than you think; they have done something with it! They're making fun of it. (Yes they are; just not in front of you.)

They've found the funny in it. They're sharing that. They've found the laughing bit, the rude bit, the cheeky bit and the risky bit. They've found the part that is shareable ... and unfortunately it's not your PR-speak "key message".

Every message needs a meme 
A meme is a central idea, a shareable, viral, culture-based and symbolic message - every message needs ... a meme. Without it, your message is just, bluh.

That's not to say your change or leadership message needs Grumpy cat or some Rickrolling or even Shark number 2 - but it does need:

• a clear idea on why they should care
• an element that just has to be shared with others; and
• a visual punch that hits them between the eyes.

With the rise of Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat and other smartphone and visual social sharing tools, you've got to create a clearer visual picture of your message so that it can be passed on.

'Meme' comes from the Greek word 'mimeme' to mimic or imitate. (Yes, well they might be imitating your message but not how you'd like them to be!)

Get meme therapy
Go get some contemporary meme therapy here at Meme Generator and you can see what people are buying in to, understanding, altering, editing and sharing. (I make no apologies for the naughty or 'inappropriate' memes that might be at that link. They're memes after all!)

Then you can go deeper into the thinking on the physics of it all from Nova Spivack, or check out the research behind memes from biologist Richard Dawkins and his work on evolution and how things spread... (and mutate) including his views on how the internet has hijacked the meme.

Pause. Before you punch out a list of BS bullet points on that slide deck for your presentation, spend some more thinking time to craft, create and generate something that will stick, transfer, build and ... live on.

Give them something they want to mimic... for good.

What's your wallpaper of the week?

When you think how often we check our phones and digital devices in a day...

This morning alone I've looked at the screen to off the alarm, check my diary, check a weather app, look at email notifications, see who liked an image I uploaded to Instagram... and most of this isn't even work related. I'm on holidays!

While we're absorbing all that information, data and stuff, I wonder what opportunity there is to reinforce what we really want to be focusing on.

What's on your home screen? Is it a photo of a loved one, the kids, the dog or cat? Maybe it's a serene scene of a beach or holiday memento? Or maybe you're using one of the stock images provided on the device.

This year I'm trying out a new 'wallpaper of the week'. Want to join me? Wallpaper of the week is an image I choose as something to inspire, focus and keep me on track for my goals, targets, ways of living and intentions.

Yes, holiday photos and pictures of Fluffy are sweet, but what piece of mindshare might I claw back by having a focused message, inspiring quote, or visual anchor to keep popping up on my home screen or wallpaper.

For most of us, the amount of screen time we have is growing. With many people detoxing, turning devices off and being more choosey about when they're online, why not be more conscious about what you look at in that second or two when you're about to delve into your device?

Choose wisely what impresses on you every time your fire up, swipe or touch your devices.

There's some prime real estate there up for grabs; use it to your advantage and leverage the mini billboard that gets your eyes throughout the day.