Change management and marketing: aren’t they really the same thing?

I’ve recently taken a new view of marketing – thanks to a new job outside of it.

Last March, I took a new role at my current employer focused on helping our associates manage change, mainly using a change management process called ADKAR.

If you’re not familiar, ADKAR was developed by Jeff Hiatt in 2003 to help manage the people side of change. It’s actually an acronym that stands for the phases a person goes through as they deal with change.

First, people must be Aware of the need for change. Then, they need to have a Desire to change. Next, they must have the Knowledge needed to make the change and the Ability to implement these new skills and behaviors. Finally, there needs to be Reinforcement to sustain the change.

The ADKAR methodology can be used to help people through a change like adapting a new system or process, and many organizations use ADKAR for this today.

But I also see a link to the behavior changes brands are trying to create with customers and prospects. Think about it – isn’t this what you would like your future customers to do:

Awareness:               People know why they need to change (and choose you)

Desire:                       They have a desire to choose you

Knowledge:               They understand why they should choose you

Ability:                       They have the ability to choose you

Reinforcement:         They can choose to stay with you (or continue to choose you)

So, yeah, change management is marketing, in a way. Not in every way, of course, but there are helpful similarities. So, what can you do with this information? Plenty:

1.     Take a look at your marketing today. Are you helping customers and prospects become aware of the need for choosing you? Perhaps a deeper, more important question: do consumers feel a need to choose you? This can be at the category level (here’s why you need a car) or at the brand level (here’s why you need a Buick). Your brand’s maturity will dictate this.

2.     This is where it can get fun, but also challenging. Do people want to choose you? Give them a reason! People always have other choices for what you do/provide, so how do you stand out and convince people to choose you? This is what us old-time ad guys used to call a USP or unique selling proposition. Today, we usually call this your reason for being or your differentiator. Call it what you want, but make sure your target audience knows it.

3.     Have you given people the information they need to be able to choose you? You may have the best smelling, longest burning candle in the world but, if people don’t know why it’s good for them, it just doesn’t matter. Don’t just get the word out, tell your story.

4.     Can people choose you if they want to? This includes important marketing elements like distribution (Can I find you? Are you where I expect you to be?) and pricing (Can I afford you or justify your cost for the value you provide?)

5.     How can you make sure people continue to choose you? This includes after-the-sale service and other retention efforts that don’t always get the same attention that acquisition efforts do. They should.

The next time you’re asked for a marketing strategy that delivers, consider thinking about your challenge as a change management strategy and use the structure and power of ADKAR.