Context matters in everything we do as brands. Brands can either help or hinder our collective experience, in addition to the fundamental actions taken to protect employees and companies during a crisis. So, when a cultural moment shifts as dramatically as it has in the face of COVID-19, with tact, empathy, and mindful marketing, brands must address the problem.
That said during a crisis, marketing teams face unique challenges when it comes to current and planned campaigns. While it’s still early in the quarantine, we’ve already been asked to help our customers adapt their approaches to communication. Thus, during these difficult times, we thought it might be useful to share some of our general marketing protocol guidelines.
On the day of a crisis, how to do an empathic marketing
Here, during a crisis, we have assembled our top tips for addressing your marketing approach.
While every brand is different, we see this as a fundamental action plan that can help make the right choices for brands of all sizes and prevent serious errors.
Of course, we are always open to more thoughts on how to deal thoughtfully with sensitive times. Please share them in the comments if you have further tips or thoughts. If not, we hope you find these tips helpful.
1) Reconfigure Timelines For Marketing Campaigns and Scheduled Content
Some brands can produce quick-turn campaigns created for a specific moment. These are always impressive (and enviable to a marketer), but there are prohibitive risks involved that make this type of action in the war-room unrealistic for most.
Therefore, auditing what you have currently running or in your pipeline should be your first step, especially any pre-scheduled content where the launch is imminent.
- Deciding what should be paused immediately. If you’re not sure if the content is appropriate, push timelines back on major campaigns that are likely to be eclipsed, or pause completely. Just because a campaign has some elements that are not suitable right now doesn’t mean it needs to be completely scrapped; many things are likely to be okay once the outbreak subsides.
- Assess what to prioritise or pivot to. In the meantime, you may want to move some stuff up, or look for ways to pivot some messaging effectively. “For instance, a campaign focused on the theme of “Get closer to your customers” can focus on “Support your customers” or “Important customer relationships.”
The good news is that once things resume, as usual, this break in the content may give you an advantage. For now, you can start preparing for the next” (post-quarantine) cultural moment and determine what content will then be most relevant and impactful.
As every region is on a different timeline, you should also keep an eye on the quarantine advice in your geographic business areas, so you can be proactive in your communication once things get back to normal.
2) Assess Your Personification and Language
Like the words we utilise, visual communication is influential, so it’s vital to consider the messages your brand is sending.
- Reframe marketing language describing close communication. Reconsider figurative language such as “get in touch,” “work hand in hand,” or get closer to your clients.” It is possible to deeply scrutinise messages promoting immediate interaction.
- Swapping out visuals. Review the imagery now or push the timeline to later in the year if you have current or upcoming campaign visuals that may be tricky.
As it is expected that this quarantine period will be temporary, visitors will probably have some forgiveness for pre-existing content. If you actively promote a large social event on your homepage, or your hero image depicts large crowds or people touching, more permanent brand elements can stay intact.
3) On The Crisis, Don’t Capitalise It
This applies to any tragedy or crisis, but it’s particularly important to remember in this climate of worry and fear.
- Ensure people are well-informed. In response to the crisis, brands do need to communicate as it relates to their company. For instance, you should talk about the appropriate measures you are taking, store closures, or COVID-19 policy updates. Even though these messages may be memorised on social media, because they are insightful, they add value to customer relationships.
- Steer clear of bragging. Remember that during this time, many individuals are not working and are seriously concerned. A spirit of civility and empathy should by default, be a philtre for whatever your brand suggests shortly.
Remember: The more you show your human side, the more we can all feel connected—even if we’re stuck inside. It might sound cliché, but it’s true: We’re all in this together.
4) Point Up How Your Brand Can Assist
Brands exist to provide value, and the products/services that help during this stressful time deserve the attention of those who can benefit from them. If what you do supports or enhances people’s lives while quarantined, tell that brand story.
- Convey your advantages. Does your product give people things to do at home? Does it help people do their jobs without face-to-face interaction? Clarify your brand’s potential unique value in this cultural moment, and share it.
- Generate supportive content. Even if your product doesn’t directly help folks deal with the quarantine, your brand can still provide value to people. How can you educate, entertain, or inspire people stuck at home all day? For example, our team has been working remotely for a long time, so we shared our team’s best tips to work from home.
As long as you keep the focus on helping people (and not patting yourself on the back), your marketing doesn’t have to stop.
Keep In Mind: The Quarantine Will Never Last Forever
We’re not going to speculate too much about when the “end” of this period will come, but we expect to emerge from quarantine sometime this year with all guidance. We encourage you to proactively prepare for that transition.
We’re reminded during times like these that the stakes of marketing are not life or death. But we are also reminded that it is very important to feel productive and feel like we are adding value to the world. We know that a lot of people who rely on this feeling may have suddenly lost it, or may feel unmoored by what’s going on and our hearts are with them.
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