Marketing to HR in times of uncertainty: how do we adapt our plan?

It has undoubtedly been one of the strangest years in living memory. And that goes for everyone – let alone the HR market – but in the early stages of the current pandemic, it was the HR team bearing the brunt of the business panic as it stepped up more than ever to support its workforce.

Everyone’s objectives and immediate concerns changed completely. Health and wellbeing of employees and customers became the number one concern for all. For some, rapid and large-scale home-working projects kicked in. For others, furloughing became a focus. Other businesses were adapting and just making things work. Demand for essential workers surged and, while some hiring was paused, other programmes continue finding ways to move into the virtual assessment and interviewing world.

So if all this has left you feeling a bit bewildered about how you can reach out to HR buyers, well, you’re not alone. There’s a good chance that your old marketing messages seem somewhat dated and irrelevant. When your clients are having to completely rethink operations to ensure the health and wellbeing of their staff, it can’t be much of a surprise when they’re not super interested in your product’s latest features.

From what I can see, the response from suppliers has tended to fall into three categories:

1.       Stop marketing altogether

2.       Ignore the issue completely

3.       Change the message

I get the sentiment behind the first option – the last thing you want is to appear crass or opportunistic. But history tells us brands that keep marketing during a downturn tend to be the ones that recover more effectively, so it really is important to get back out there.

The only argument for ignoring the virus in your messaging is if your clients aren’t going to be greatly affected by the changes it has enforced – this isn’t an option for most of us.

So that leaves option number 3. Changing all your carefully prepared messaging for 2020.

As a basic level and in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, your clients are likely still to be focused on the basics of security, safety and wellbeing for their business and employees. That means empathy needs to be at the forefront of your marketing messages.

But at a time when our inboxes seemed to be overflowing with messages from businesses acknowledging the new landscape and offering assistance, many HR suppliers went silent. Now more than ever, your clients need to know that you’re still available to help get them through the crisis.

The lesson to take away is there’s no point thinking about what you can sell. Instead, think about how you can help. Few HR buyers are going to be considering big purchases at the moment, so now is the time to build relationships. Offer prospects something of value. Find ways to support their recovery, because your business depends on it too.

Adapt or perish

One of the constants of this year has been the speed at which businesses have had to adapt to new developments. It has been chaotic at times and consequently it’s important that you’re agile enough to keep up.

Once the pandemic hit, one of my clients adapted quickly to set up a new internal taskforce, worked out new positive messaging, and backed them up with solid communications. It wasn’t a pivot (a widely used term I’ve heard so much recently) but a well-articulated reinforcement of how they work with their clients. Their senior leaders recorded video messages from their own home, and they understood that the production didn’t have to be perfect as long as the messaging was right.  

The point was that they were able to rapidly reach out to their customer base, reassure them that they understood the new reality and demonstrate that they were ready to support them.

A big part of their success is they recognised that while technically their target audience had not changed, the context of their decision-making was now completely different.

We know that research tell us that contextual factors are extremely influential when it comes to determining behaviour. It means that HR suppliers need to look beyond their traditional buyer personas and focus on what’s happening in the market – and not just at times of crisis.

So what is happening?

The most obvious shift is towards digital marketing and virtual events. People are both more concerned about what’s happening in the market and have more time to dedicate to researching solutions. Consequently, there has been a surge in webinar registrations and white paper downloads. In the words of one agency, no one is buying, but everyone is learning.

Social media use and video has also shot up while people have stayed at home, but that doesn’t mean you need to do away with things like thought leadership. In fact, video is widely regarded as the most engaging and shareable vehicle for this type of content, but it needs to be relevant to your client’s changing needs.

More than 80% of respondents to Edelman’s special report on brands and the coronavirus said they must be able to trust a brand to do what is right, so you need to reflect this in your content. The report breaks this into four key steps:

1.       Show up, do your part and make a difference

2.       Collaborate with others

3.       Solve, don’t sell

4.       Communicate with emotion, compassion and facts

In reality, we are still halfway through the turmoil of 2020 and it would be a brave bookmaker that took bets on what will happen next. Along with the four suggestions above, the best thing that you can do as an HR supplier is listen to how your customers’ needs continue to change and adjust accordingly. This year isn’t done yet.

If you’d like to talk about the next steps for how to adjust your marketing strategy, feel free to get in touch.