The hard truth is that no one came out of 2020 unscathed. So, as marketers, how does that change the way we work with our customers in 2021?
Here's a quick reminder of why personas are so important (even if they've fallen off the top of your priority list) according to this helpful article:
- They explain who your ideal customer is through demographic and psychographic details.
- They offer buyer insight that helps you understand why your ideal customer pulls out their credit card or PO form to buy from you or your organization.
Ask yourself: How has the pandemic, social unrest, or uncertain political environment changed your ideal customer profile (ICP)?
2020's Impact on People
Let's take a peek inside the windows of the homes in which organizations' employees reside.
Parts of the US are still in lockdown, and we're also still in a precarious political situation and struggling with blatant racism in our country. People are having visceral responses to those realities, according to the CDC:
- Fear and worry about their own health and the health of their loved ones, their financial situation or job, or a loss of support services they rely on
- Changes in sleep or eating patterns
- Difficulty sleeping or concentrating
- Worsening of chronic health problems
- Worsening of mental health conditions
- Increased use of tobacco, alcohol, and other substances
Do any of those sound uncomfortably familiar? If this were a Facebook quiz, I'd be a 1, 2, 3, and 6, with a side of 5.
How do people react to anxiety?
Animals react to anxiety differently than they do to fear, according to a paper published by the US National Library of Medicine: "Anxiety may just be a more elaborate form of fear, which provides the individual with an increased capacity to adapt and plan for the future."
How do people react to fear?
According to the same paper, fear is a different beast: "Animals may learn to fear situations in which they have previously been exposed to pain or stress, and subsequently show avoidance behavior when they reencounter that situation."
Assuming that the laws of the animal kingdom apply (highly likely in my opinion because, of course, science), there's a whole subset of humans spending a lot of time on avoidance as they face the daily grind of exposure to complex and exhausting circumstances.
But where can they go to avoid the fear? Being in lockdown means the very source of the fears we want to avoid are right there in our living rooms, our home offices, and on mundane errands such as trips to the grocery store.
How People and Companies Buy Your B2B Products Today
Whether the businesses you're targeting are thriving or not, their employees are dealing with a complex range of emotions—from oppression to general uncertainty. Those emotions are triggering tangible behaviors that will, in turn, affect how you do business.
Now, I'm not saying to take advantage of the precarious situation we live in—in fact, quite the opposite. It's important be sensitive to the situation so you don't accidentally step into a giant puddle of "NOPE" in a bid to serve your customers.
Your best-case scenario is to be of service to people who are struggling with fear and anxiety by offering tools and products that better support them, whether for anxiety-induced planning (How can we help them plan for the future?) or avoidance (How can we help them take in meaningful information while making authentic connections?).
