The Same Message Isn't Received the Same Way Every Time it's Read

I'm going to admit my extreme book worm tendencies by confiding here that I am currently reading Anna Karenina for the fourth time. The first three times were in my late teens and early twenties as part of college courses and then during post college work on my Russian language skills. I wasn't married, I didn't have children and my whole life was before me.


Today, I'm older (but don't expect me to admit how much older) and I'm reading this classic novel under different circumstances and with a much different perspective. I've been married for 15 years, I have two adorable sons and, although I still believe a good part of my life is ahead of me, I definitely have begun to feel my own mortality.


What in the world does this have to do with business communications? In a word, everything.


People perceive the same message differently every time they read it and that perspective gets even wider when you add in the length of time since they last read it, how many times they previously read it, and their current situation compared to their situation when reading it before.


If you haven't reviewed your business' messaging and marketing collateral in a while, then it needs a good once over, and not just from your perspective, but from your clients'/customers' perspective.


Consider this. Customers who viewed your website or picked up your marketing brochure a few years ago, are very likely in a different position now. The economy may have hit some harder than others. Think about your demographic. How hard were your customers hurt by the recession? Now figure out how your product or service fits into their new perspective.


Do they consider it a necessity? Then craft your messaging to make them feel like they are getting a good value for what they need.


Do they consider it a nice to have? Then build a message that helps your product or service feel more like a necessity at a great value.


Do they consider it a luxury? Then market yourself as the luxury worth spending hard earned money for.

In today's still tough economic climate, businesses can't take their marketing and communications for granted. A message that worked three years ago, may well fall on deaf ears now.