How to Steer Clear of Marketing Tone-Deafness
In a pandemic world, tone-deafness is a fear of most business owners. While we are already heading into year three of COVID, we still get questions of, how do I navigate the new normal? Should our content be reflective of what’s going on? These are tricky questions to answer, but we’ve got you covered. This blog dives into how to steer clear of tone-deafness in your staffing firm content strategy. Let’s get into it!
Stay in-the-know
Things are changing at a rapid pace, and it is essential that you are on top of best practices when it comes to protocols for those returning to the office, as well as also maintaining proper communication with your remote folks. It is a great idea to be as transparent as possible about the precautions your staffing firm is taking to help the transition of remote to hybrid or back in office fully.
We caution you not to go too far with this, however, and slip into the politics of where our country currently stands regarding the health and wellbeing of citizens. A tasteful, brief mention on your website is sufficient, or you may even want to address your policies on social if you see your audience looking for, and/or engaging with this type of conversation.
Do social research
Important questions to ask yourself when crafting your staffing firm content strategy are, what does your audience want to know? What are they interested in? What are they currently talking about? Monitor popular trending hashtags, see what your competitors are posting, and make sure to think outside the box. What return-to-work articles should you repost? How might you share what your staffing firm is doing to protect your employees as well as those you work with? A good rule of thumb is to seek out what is being discussed, and then put your own original twist on it! (video is always helpful in increasing authenticity and engagement as well).
Review, review, review!
It is no secret that we live in sensitive times. Make sure to double and triple check both the wording of what you post as well as the images, graphics, etc. that you are portraying. It is essential to bounce this off of multiple people to ensure that the message and tone are coming across the right way, because you may know what you meant, but your audience may take it in a completely different way that you hadn’t considered. Remember who your audience is and how they expect to be addressed. Also, it is always a great idea to ask for people’s pronouns from the get-go, so you are confident in how they identify moving forward – make sure to never assume! 
Do you feel like your staffing firm content strategy is on the right track? Need help crafting yours? Let us know and we’re glad to show you the way! For other email marketing tips, check out our other blogs or reach out to us and we’d love to chat!
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations. www.sjhemleymarketing.com