Since the beginning of March, the world’s focus has shifted to one topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19). It started as a faraway virus that soon took over our daily lives and led to a massive stay-at-home-order. With this focus change comes a shift for brands and how they navigate marketing themselves during times of uncertainty. Social distancing measures have impacted how society has behaved with upward trends of social media use like Instagram Live workouts and TikTok dances, turning media sources into reliable lifestyle information, and fully utilizing a home’s bandwidth.
With the nature of COVID-19 changing how our society behaves, advertising, branding, messaging, and other digital aspects need to adapt to a different strategy for future marketing campaign success.
Here are some tips and tricks to changing your strategy:
- Readjust your content plan and be transparent. Pausing all content that does not reflect the direct (or indirect) impact of the situation ensures that the brand is aware of the current situation and how it’s affected their audience. This is a time for brands to show their transparency. The shift of messaging ensures their audience feels supported by their company.
- Utilize the 7A framework, be agile, and listen! Countless brands have utilized Instagram and Facebook platforms to create a community. This is true for the past, present, and future, and has become a wonderful way to keep the “family” feeling while social distancing. This crisis has forced everyone to adapt to a new style of living, and has changed how brands contact their audience. Many are taking the “stay-at-home” messaging and twisting it to be positive. How? By adding humor, using new platforms, taking things digital, and making delivery options and ordering options easier for the customer. The “we miss you too” messaging has also become a staple, offering an emotional aspect to how social distancing has caused less human interaction. It’s nice to feel missed by your favorite restaurant or retailer—the feeling is mutual.
- Do good, surprise, make your followers feel supported. The global crises is an ever-changing, evolving situation that marketers and brands need to stay up-to-date on and adapt. Ensuring your content stays relevant, sensitive, and is the best pathway forward is imperative during these times. Offering nice surprises to your audience, no matter how small, is a great way to keep spirits up and stay “in the know.” Using your resources to help the community, such as creating masks with your company logo, hand sanitizer, etc. is always something you should highly consider. At the end of the day, how did you help your community? How did you help your customers feel safe? What will your brand be able to say they did once all of this is over? It’s time to strategize and do what you can. It’s important to brand yourself as doing good, staying safe, and keeping your audience’s safety in mind.
As a brand manager, you’re in charge of the overall movement of a client or brand. While things are changing at lightning speed, it doesn’t mean you can coast or stop everything because you “don’t know what’s going to happen next.” The digital marketing realm is ever changing. It’s more vital now than ever before to stay up with trends, help the community, and switch your messaging. At the end of the day, customers will recall what you did as a brand and how they interacted with you.
SB is always on top of their game. With quick changes and messaging, you can rely on our digital marketing experts to stay on top of trends and create strategies for your brand to grow and thrive. Contact us today for more information on how we can help your company’s digital presence during these unprecedented times.
