There’s so much attention on extremist views or activities that it’s easy to forget that the majority of people in the world aren’t actually extremists.
Yes, we hear about them the most, or we see them amplified across social media channels, but that doesn’t mean they are the majority.
In fact, a Pew Research study showed that 92% of U.S. tweets come from 10% of Twitter users. That same study showed that the median user tweets once a month, while the most prolific Twitter users tweet 157 times each month, according to Pew Research.
Although they have smaller numbers (let’s face it, “small” is subjective), they can still cause a lot of harm to your brand. We aren’t going into dealing with activists or extremists today, but we have talked about them a lot so check out our other posts on being prepared for a crisis.
Today we’re going to briefly talk about the non-extremists, or you’ve probably heard them referred to as the middle, or the term I like is the “moveable middle”.
Who Are The Moveable Middle?
These are the people that aren’t on the very ends of any spectrum. For marketers and communicators, this is the group that you have a shot of selling something to or getting them to take action on something.
This group is willing to listen to opinions or arguments, even ones that don’t align with their current viewpoint. And I do mean current viewpoint, as they are often willing to adapt or change that viewpoint based on the evidence they are presented with.
The good news is that this group is typically larger than the extremists of any topic, issue, product, service, or message.
In politics you hear a lot about playing to the base while increasing the base. The only way you can increase your base is to take more of a share of that moveable middle.
Having spent quite a bit of time working in the zoo and aquarium and animal welfare world, I can tell you there’s always a battle for that moveable middle.
And there’s no shortage of opinions on ways to reach them, or science behind why people make the choices they make on particular issues. From confirmation bias to cognitive bias and everything between, this can be a very complicated topic.
Connecting With the Moveable Middle
Today, I simply want to give you some tips I’ve found that help to attract more of that moveable middle for your branding and communications efforts.
1. Make it simple and easy to understand:
The reality is that most people want to be a part of something bigger and better than themselves, but they really don’t have the time to dive deep into a complex issue. What this leads to is a scenario where whoever can make the information easy to understand and meaningful in the eyes of their audience wins.
For brands, you need to make sure the information you’re providing is super easy to understand and simple to explain to others. Even if your audiences get that you are a good organization doing good things for the world, if they can’t explain it to others then you’ve lost them as an advocate for your brand.
And that leads me to the next tip.
2. Empower your supporters as advocates:
It takes a lot of time and resources for a brand to garner trust among its key audiences. And no matter how much you try, how meaningful your mission is, or how authentic your brand is, there will also be a barrier between you and your audiences.
People naturally distrust brands, which is why you’re always one comment away from a crisis.
But people LOVE endorsements by what appears to be unbiased sources. I saw a stat from earlier this year that said 84% of people trust online reviews as much as they trust recommendations from friends.
So, if you want to move more of that middle, you need to empower your supporters as advocates that will go to bat for you. Make them feel good and empowered to write reviews, make positive comments, and defend you, if necessary, during a crisis.
Your words will only take you so far, but the endorsement of others goes a long way with that moveable middle.
3. Leverage transparency:
The worst thing that can happen is when a segment of your audiences thinks you are hiding things. Even if you aren’t, the perception that you are hiding something can turn an incident or issue into a full-blown crisis.
If you adopt a model of transparency, you can foster a stronger relationship without that moveable middle even knowing you’re doing it. I’ve talked about the 5 Ws of Transparency, so take a look at that blog and tips to ensuring you’re being transparent.
For the sake of today’s discussion, what you need to know is that everyone you want to communicate with wants transparency. In a tough situation, if you’ve leveraged this idea effectively, that moveable middle may not go somewhere else to get information about you. Even if they do, they will be more likely to believe what you’re saying because you’ve “always been transparent”.
Even in positive situations, they’ll be more likely to purchase a product or service, or believe you when you say you’re a mission-driven company because they believe you’re being transparent.
Use transparency to build the equity you’re going to need to turn that moveable middle into advocates, or at least customers.
4. Answer the difficult questions:
It’s not always roses and sunshine for brands. In fact, most larger brands get tough questions every day. And it’s a difficult thing, but the idea is simple. If someone asks a tough question, provide an answer.
I’m not talking about trolls who are out to damage your brand or make you look bad. Those should be managed a completely different way.
But, if you have customers, followers, fans or other audiences engaging with you that ask a difficult question, don’t ignore them. Be actively engaged in the conversation.
By showing the human side of your brand, and that there are actual people behind the computer, you’re putting yourself in a position to garner the trust of that moveable middle. Again, in a tough position, people can be forgiving and will respect brands who come out and address difficult question.
5. Create purpose and meaning for your audiences:
We’ve talked about what it takes to create advocates and brand supporters, but you can’t get them to talk about you if they don’t feel good about it. Find ways to infuse purpose behind your messaging, and certainly for your calls to action.
If you can create meaning behind their engagement, they will feel better about endorsing you to their friends and family, and across their networks. If they can be a part of making the world a better place, helping something, or supporting a cause, they will naturally want to support the brand, moving them closer to being an advocate vs. a detractor.
We can talk for days about this very complicated topic, but use these tips and you’re on your way to engaging that moveable middle for your brand.
But Wait, There’s More
Here are some recent posts to help as you create your Strategic Communications campaigns, including the importance of having a strategic communications plan:
– Do I Really Need A Strategic Communications Plan?
– Tips For Managing Unethical Communications Requests
– A Meaningful Message, Or Pandering Without Purpose
– Pitching Media Like The Pros
– Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of Effective
– Wake Up. Kick Ass. Repeat.
– How to Create Content That Engages Audiences and Builds Brand Trust Quickly
Let’s Get RADD
I’ve also been discussing how you can find success following the Coronavirus crisis through the RADD approach, which is Recognize, Adapt, Develop, and Deploy. Check out our previous posts to see how you can succeed with the RADD process:
– Get RADD And Plan For Success Following Coronavirus Crisis
– Prepare for Success and Get RADD, Part 1: Recognize
– Finding Success By Getting RADD, Part 2: Adapt
– Get RADD, Part 3: Develop Plans For Success
– Deploying Your RADD Communications Plan
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