Even the most successful organizations cannot deliver only good news. Those that do are scams. At the moment, watching leadership share double-digit tariffs, record-breaking plane crashes, and climate crisis consequences is an exercise in what we should and shouldn't do.
Simply put: You need to read the room.
Your audience will not respond well to disappointing information, especially if it contradicts promises or commitments made by your leadership. It's hard to keep up community enthusiasm over economic policies when the price of eggs has not come down, proverbially or literally.
Those you serve will not appreciate glazing over the disappointment. Circumstances happen. It's best to see them, work with them, and provide a strategic way out of them.
Most notably, you will have to know when the tide has shifted. Your advocates may have cared about customer service yesterday, but have grown and see speedy delivery or one-click convenience as your best feature. Using customer service as your trump card can turn your strategy into a weak hand.
What can you do aside from hiring a mind reader? Let smart partners help you see around corners.
At Onside, we use a data-driven platform curated by human insights. It comes down to two powerful proprietary indices: One to see how people feel and one to see where people need more guidance.
If you know how people feel, then you can create content that speaks to them now.
If you know where people are curious, then you can develop ideas that speak to their future.
And if you take the best of both AI and human intelligence, then you can prepare your audience to have your back - no matter the news.
