The COVID-19 Pandemic & What It Means For Your Brand
The COVID-19 Pandemic & What It Means For Your Brand
The current, unprecedented health pandemic has definitely tested us all. While we as a society continue to work from home, maintain social distancing, and keep our hopes up, it is important for business owners and marketers to adapt their strategies accordingly so that once this is all over (and it will be, soon!), we can all get back to business as usual.
So what should you do?
In times like these, it’s critical to edit your marketing strategy to the current scenario and the limitations it presents. Your brand communication and marketing is now centre stage, leading the audience’s loyalty and purchase decisions during this difficult time.
Moreover, if you’re a business owner or marketer, all eyes are on you. Your employees are looking to you for guidance, and at the marketing department to keep the momentum going. While this does present immense pressure, the key is to develop and deliver a proactive plan regarding the team and leadership, speak to your customers, and manage your brand effectively and efficiently.
There are some key things to consider if you want to stay ahead of the curve while the rest of society helps #FlattenTheCurve. We are sharing some real life examples (of our own clients) which will throw more light on these pointers:
1. Have the right message
Building and delicately moulding your main line of communication can be challenging in a fast-paced, ever-changing situation. While you definitely need to be keeping up and watching your competitors closely, you also don’t want to look like you’re doing your best to cash in on the situation and are on a social media war revolving around trending formats. Keep it crisp, clean, and simple. Evaluate your imagery and language – don’t use phrases like ‘get in touch’ or pick up stock photos of crowds that encourage social mingling instead of distancing. Don’t take a sudden departure from your brand identity, and be smart about your end goal. Above all, communicate with compassion, emotion, and facts.
2. If you haven’t already, go digital
Stores are closed, and people are locked down in their houses. That billboard you put up near the highway? We’re willing to bet that it’s not getting you any business anymore. It’s time to switch and leverage the powers of digital and social media. Moreover, since almost everyone we know is on ‘work-from-home’, this means that we are going to be consuming a lot of content – scrolling social media, perusing the news, going through Whatsapp forwards, and more. Here, digital media gives you the chance to get into the mind of your customer and understand what they need at this point. After all, you’re probably getting minute by minute updates about their thoughts on Twitter! Use that information to your advantage – but remember to solve not sell, be subtle, and talk about things they want to hear. This provides us with a golden opportunity to create a strong recall in our customer’s minds and have our brands shine, front and centre.
Social distancing is key to protecting ourselves and the community at large against #COVID19. ACMA urges everyone to abide by the #21DayLockdown. #StayHomeIndia a href=”https://t.co/Wt8OJUr9BG”>pic.twitter.com/Wt8OJUr9BG
— ACMA India (@ACMAIndia) March 26, 2020
3. Keep a close eye on your customers
You must engage with them and monitor their changed behaviour and preferences. See the comments on your latest post. Ask your customer care executive what the latest concerns are. Be firm and honest about your deliveries – if it’s not realistic, let it be. Show them what you’re doing to help as a brand, whether it be a CSR activity or simply spreading useful factual information. In fact, this is a great time to join forces for the greater good, most critically with governments and not-for-profits. This is the time to build and retain trust amongst your loyal customers.
4. Have a plan in place for what happens next
One day or another, this will all be over. We will step out of our houses, start buying things off our Amazon wishlists and go attend some really cool concerts again – even though they may just be live streams for a little while longer. Prepare for this transition thoughtfully and proactively. Have your content plans ready. Keep your customers engaged. Secure media early. A new kind of normalcy is arriving soon.
