Sometimes, my marketing and communications planning discussions with clients can throw unexpected light on potential blockages in their business. I was on a call recently when the person suddenly realised that what they were trying to express was that they were at a bit of a crossroads in the direction of their organisation.
I would say that this isn’t unexpected. We sometimes launch our businesses in a flurry of excitement and ideas, only to find a little further down the line that our priorities have shifted, or perhaps the situation around us has changed. It’s only natural. It’s like with our careers – how many of us have the exact job we’d planned when we were first starting out straight from school?
Our big ideas may seem amazing, but once we’ve tested them in real life, perhaps the audience is a different one from what we were originally anticipating. Or a competitor is doing the exact same thing as we are. It’s one thing to have a business plan on paper and another thing entirely to carry it out in reality.
Change can be a scary thing. But it’s important to not avoid those ‘bigger picture’ discussions and work out where we really should be turning our attention. This will help direct our focus, allow us to decide upon better ways of working, and discover what we really need to do to help our business succeed.
This attitude can really help with everything we work on. I guess it’s reframing a fear of failure into a feeling that change can help us find the right path. When I’m writing content, I’m not someone who can just get it all down onto paper in one attempt. Oh no… I’m definitely a methodical rewrite and rewrite type of person.
In fact, sometimes the best thing to do when you’re suffering a ‘block’ is to either get someone else involved to provide a fresh perspective, or literally sleep on it! So many times, problems can be solved by getting a change of scenery, enjoying some fresh air, or by waiting until the next day to sign off on a piece of work.
What we do is constantly evolving, and that’s why a communications strategy is a continually evolving thing too – it’s not just a case of writing it and then forgetting about it. We need to revisit and adjust according to the direction of our business and the environmental factors that are evolving around it too. That’s the only way to make sure the communications strategy remains integral to what you’re doing.
Now, I challenge you not to keep on shouting ‘Pivot!’ in the style of Ross from Friends for the rest of the day…