Marketing Tips During COVID-19

Communicate With Empathy During Coronavirus Crisis

As we all try to navigate the new normal amid the Coronavirus pandemic we find ourselves practicing social distancing, canceling travel plans, canceling all plans, avoiding crowded places, family time activities, home schooling and so much more.

Professionally, most of us are working from home with an indefinite timeline of when we’ll be returning to our offices and to some semblance of our lives before the coronavirus.

During this time, there are many questions that arise around how you should move forward — do you continue marketing as normal? Should you address the situation at hand? Do you communicate the measures you’re taking as a brand? Should you put a hold on that large announcement, your huge product rollout or that media push you’ve been planning for months? How much communication is enough and how much is too much?

There is no book written to guide us through these challenging times and it can all be a bit overwhelming, to say the least.

Planned Initiatives

Before the coronavirus dominating our everyday lives, you were likely strategizing which efforts would help you reach your 2020 goals.

At DES Marketing, we do not believe you need to put a HOLD on all of the progress you made in Q1 but we do recommend you consider new ways to position your product launch or new services in a more appropriate manner that considers some of the challenges your customers are facing.

DES Marketing understands, so as you contemplate the best way to communicate with your customers and as we collectively navigate this crisis, we’ve developed a few marketing tips to share with you.

Relevant Email Communication

Everyone is being flooded with a vast amount of information right now including messages from brands you normally don’t hear from. While it’s important to keep customers in the loop about measures of cleanliness, sanitization, and the precautions you are taking to prevent the spread of the virus, now is a great time to consider how much is really necessary to share.

The goal of your email communication is to provide insightful information to your customers. Consider only sharing information specific to your company’s processes and procedures relating directly to your products or if you have important company updates such as shipping delays, out of stock products, etc.

Communication to Avoid

Many brands are encouraging their customers to shop online. We are definitely in agreement to encourage shopper social distancing while supporting businesses but consider a few messages to avoid with this approach:

• Do not make your discount code “COVID19” or “coronavirus.” Not a good way to represent your brand.
• Consider highlighting the ways you plan to give back, donate a portion of your proceeds to relief efforts, or help your community.

During this time of uncertainty, we all need to be sensitive with the language we choose to use in any marketing materials. Brands must be careful that their tone matches the current climate without being flippant or disrespectful.

Take a look at your content calendar for the coming weeks and decide whether the automations and the content you have scheduled is fitting. Determine if the content is still relevant, whether it could be considered insensitive, or if there’s anything that could make it more helpful. Make any necessary tweaks to your copy to be more empathetic to your customers’ potential situations. Maybe it’s time to rethink your email strategy for the upcoming weeks.

Be smart about striking the right tone with your customers at this time.

Be Kind. Show Empathy.

Building deep, long-lasting relationships with your customers should always be your #1 goal in the best of times and even more importantly in the worst of times. Show empathy as to what your customers may be dealing with personally as well as professionally.

It’s important to find compassion, lighten up your message, and remind everyone that we are all in this together.

Remember to ask your community what resonates with them, how do they want to hear from you.

Unfortunately, no one has all of the answers during these unprecedented times. Some of your customers may take the less-is-more approach while others may want to hear from you as much as possible.

Adjust your communications, offers, and special discounts based on what they want. This approach will definitely pay off in the long run.

Many more changes are likely to unfold in the coming weeks and months and because there is no “official guide” as to how to best communicate with your customers during these times we highly recommend you reach out, listen, and adapt as needed.

We are all in this together!