Brand and Digital Marketing Tips in Uncertain Times
It seems everywhere we look, there are minute-by-minute updates of the COVID-19 spread worldwide. With news of record unemployment, businesses closing down, and the potential for an extended “shelter in place” mandate, we are all asking, what does this mean for my business in the short and long-term. Can marketing help here and if so, how?
On Wednesday we served up our inaugural #CollaborativeCoffee with marketing specialist, Shefali Bhasin Billon. We discussed a number of things that businesses can do with their Brand and Digital marketing during this time of uncertainty. Here are a few tips that Shefali suggests your business can implement as you pause your traditional marketing efforts and think about the things you can focus on.
Focus on what you can you control:
First of all, please stay positive - about your product and your company’s future. We’re all going to all get through this. The single most important thing we can control is how we react to what is happening. Think about how you respond to customers who are having to cancel or drop your service. How you choose to engage with your customers is critical.
What type of special promotion can you run? Companies are not only being creative, they are finding ways to offer something of value with their product, service or the resources they have. Don’t be afraid to ask your peers or outside advisors for their ideas too.
Spend some time on your long-term vision. We do not recommend any type of short-term promotion to earn money right now, but it’s a perfect time to visit your long-term strategy and how the world will look once the crisis is behind us.
Everyone is online - are they finding you?
Make sure people can easily find you online. Eighty to 90 percent of people are online during this crisis, so think about how you can take advantage of that? How is your website performing? Time to deep dive into SEO and look for opportunities? Consider using tools such as Moz.com, Yoast.com, screamingfrog.co.uk to analyze your website data.
Take a re-think on your content. Is there some old content that worked well that you can mix in with new content. Don’t reinvent the wheel but repeat what worked well before.
Going back to the fact that everyone is being creative right now, is there a pivot that you should be looking at? Is there a new approach or offering that you should investigate given the current situation?
Communicate with your customer:
Now is not the time to be selling, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be communicating with your audience. Quite the opposite. Simple messages that convey “we are here for you” and “how can we help?” are the messages that will resonate.
Do you have a partner that might want to curate some content together? Perhaps a guest blog post or interesting social media collaboration? It would be a great way to extend your reach and get in front of a new audience.
Re-look at your company core values. Ask your partners, along with your current and future customers what they think about your company. It’s an authentic way to engage with them and you’ll get a tonne of value from it!
What creative or collaborative approach have you tried that is working? Please share in the comments - you never know who might read this.
This was brought to you as part of Connection Silicon Valley’s Collaborative Coffee series. We serve up informative and interactive discussions with bay area leaders throughout the week.
Check here for our upcoming sessions:
https://www.connectionsiliconvalley.com/csv-collaborative-coffee