You might have lived through strange times, but none are as odd as the Coronavirus pandemic. A global health crisis has shut down the world’s economy and left people housebound for an unknown period, and there might be a second spike.
With face masks in shops and table service in otherwise serve-yourself pubs, it’s difficult to know what is and what isn’t allowed. For businesses, this is problematic because you must continue to market to make up for inevitable losses. However, you don’t want to make a mistake as a single error could put you at odds with your customer base.
So, what are the core principles?
Outsource Support
Whether you like it or not, you’re a remote-based business until the world goes back to normal and you’re allowed back in the office. Therefore, you need to operate like a company that doesn’t have borders, and this means making data accessible and communicating regularly with your employees. You can’t do this without stable IT services as solutions and support do two things: they provide experience and expertise, and they maintain your internet connection. Going offline means downtime, and downtime means fewer opportunities to advertise as your workers won’t be able to work as a team and share information.
Take Care Of Your Staff
One of the biggest marketing trends during the Coronavirus crisis is to position the brand as altruistic. By doing this, you can highlight how you’re helping your customers and (hopefully) retain their support in the long-term. Sadly, this tactic doesn’t work if you fail to look after your staff. Businesses that aren’t flexible re: paying workers who are sick or who don’t want to come back into the office only prove that they are bending the truth. Audiences will spot this and see right through your advertising, rendering it useless.
Pull Previously Created Content
There’s no way you can avoid the elephant in the room - it’s too big. As such, it’s essential to ensure that your content is on point and references the hardships of the current situation. Otherwise, it’ll oddly gloss over one of the most significant events of a generation. Also, it’ll come across as insensitive. Spirit Airlines, a US airline, is a prime example. The day after America announced a travel ban, the company released an old marketing campaign that read, “Never A Better Time To Fly.” Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Be Creative
Creativity is a must for any successful marketing content. Yet, it’s pivotal during a crisis since you’ll need to cut costs while maintaining innovative ads that stand out from the crowd. Then, there’s the fact that you can’t appear to profit from a global crisis that has impacted millions of people. The good news is that companies can stay relevant without seeming faceless by pushing the stories that impact the community as a whole. You should do this by funneling resources away from out-of-the-home events and into eCommerce.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all policy. What have you found has worked for you since the beginning of the outbreak?