Just because the economy is in a standstill, doesn’t mean you should be, too. Now is not the time to just stand there. The lockdown has paralyzed a huge portion of the economy. And we’re only starting to devise ways to rise above it.
There’s been a divide on theories regarding the end of this pandemic. However, one thing is for sure, operations will eventually resume. This makes brand building an ever-important step for your business.
Now, being willy-nilly with the way you speak to your audience in trying times is not a joke.
It is crucial for brands to adjust the tone and overall strategy to be more sensitive. Allowing your audiences to perceive your brand as tone-deaf isn’t good for business. Not unless you want a mob of angry Twitter users to start calling your brand #Cancelled.
For starters, you can take on relevant content by learning about the following:
Being closer to your audience is attainable, even if we have to stand a minimum of 6 feet away from each other.
Managing The Crisis
Many brick-and-mortar businesses are expected to eye permanent closures due to the lockdown. With restrictions from the government, the only ones left are the essential businesses and things aren’t looking good for them in other aspects as well.
Solidifying your business plan is all about managing risks. Now that you have a first-hand experience of what it’s like. However, it goes without saying that your employee’s safety must be your top priority.
The bottom line is that everyone is struggling and good leadership can undo this damage.
Read the room
“I’m not the World Health Organization, why should I get involved?” you ask. We’re here to tell you that this pandemic is a pain felt by everyone and every business operation to varying degrees. Talking to your audience about this is common sense and it makes you more personable.
Remember you are a brand, not a service and goods providing machine.
The first thing on the list is evaluating your audience and figuring out what they need from you. No ifs or buts. For example, companies should be transparent about possible delays and what you plan to do in the event of force majeure.
It’s important to stay connected as often as you can. Fast response to inquiries and content strategizing take your business out of the lockdown rut.
Make sure you leave no room for vague phrasing and save space to accommodate customer inquiries.
Take Notes
Observe the way you are handling the crisis. Were you able to keep in touch with your audience properly? If the answer is no, think of the ways you can do better next time. Start thinking about your plan of action, whether it is through posting an advisory or being more conversational when engaging with your audience.
No one is having fun and that’s exactly why you need to examine the situation properly. It can become a learning experience for you. Making your business recession-proof will come naturally once you’ve identified pain points.
The heart of proper crisis management is planning what your brand can do today and to prevent history from repeating itself.
What You Can Do
Once you have identified your pain points and became more mindful of this pandemic’s effect. It’s time to think about what you should start producing.
So what type of digital content can you produce? Certainly not leave-behind assets. The flyers may carry the virus when in close contact. Close physical distance and cross-contamination is a big no-no. They are amazing for other campaigns, but the best one for this.
Digital marketing collaterals are your strongest bet. Send your message in the form of blogs, video tutorials, e-coupons, podcasts, and more. In the meantime, let’s
We’re not going to list every single one because it’s going to be an impossibly long list. Instead, you can read more about them here.
Your strategy shouldn’t stop at picking an appropriate asset to use. To ensure its timeliness for the lockdown, evaluate it by looking at the common pain points of crisis content.
Insensitivity
The last thing you want to appear doing is capitalizing on the pain of others.
If you must, make sure you provide value and genuine solutions for the problem you are trying to address. Business survival is important but always look out after your brand perception. Simple tweaks in your tone and phrasing can go a long way.
Lack of promptness and transparency
Taking action as fast as you can when addressing concerns and alerts can make your message more genuine. Don’t start doing initiatives only when a competitor begins to do it.
Timely response and transparency will lessen the likelihood of panic among your clients. Consumers love brands they can trust especially in moments of disarray. This cultivates brand loyalty, which will positively impact your business greatly in the long run.
Auditing Content
Lastly, pair your well-meaning content with carefully curated visual elements.
Make sure to get your team together and deconstruct your design. Look for components containing negative connotations, prejudice, insensitivity, and appropriations that may have slipped your mind.
Examples of Good Brand Response
You can learn a lot by observing the market. It’s practically a free resource.
Let’s take a moment to see which brands are excelling at pivoting their content. These lockdown content marketing examples are witty and charming, to say the least. Their adaptive take on the situation is worth taking note of.
Anytime Fitness
AnyTime Fitness logo
The gym club giant is not giving up on physical wellness. They are reaching out to their members from 50 different countries through video content.
Although the company relies on members accessing their physical fitness equipment and facilities, they still encourage people to stay at home. Anytime Fitness posts online workout classes through Instagram and Facebook.
This is a good example of a highly-functional pivot. Exercise produces serotonin or happy hormones that can improve the mood of everyone during less than ideal times. Additionally, the brand closed its branches, froze accounts, and credited members accordingly.
NPR Tiny Desk
NPR Music Tiny Desk logo
The music wing of NPR is best known for its office-setting concerts. People love the acoustic and intimate performances born from this setting.
Usually, artists come to the actual desk of NPR Music Editor Bob Boilen. These artists perform surrounded by fans and staff located in Washington, D.C.
Since the nature of these concerts makes it impossible to practice social distancing, the brand has adapted its set-up to home concerts instead. They debuted this project with Soccer Mommy who recorded her set from Nashville. The location has changed, but they still managed to find a workaround that is equally stripped-down and gripping.
Uber Eats
Uber Eats logo
Food delivery services are seeing an increase in transactions as more people refuse to leave their homes. They have long been a staple for people with disabilities, but now they have become the lifeline of more consumers.
Uber Eats brings relief to struggling businesses by removing activation fees when registering their establishments through the app. They are connecting these restaurant businesses to their 91 million user base at a time when business demand is at an all-time high.
The app also improved their grocery delivery feature to more establishments such as pharmacies, pet shops, and other essential supply stores.
How You Can Do This
Half of the small business leaders that participated in the Goldman Sachs survey believe that they would have to close up shop if the curve doesn’t flatten in three months. Losses are happening from left to right.
Depleted human and material resources make content marketing even more of a challenge.
Businesses now have reduced capacity to accomplish tasks like before. There are so many activities that require attention, not every team can give.
More companies are rising up to help each other.
One of these companies is Hootsuite. This is a platform that helps businesses centralize their social media marketing campaigns. The management website integrates Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. As of now, they are waiving fees for small businesses until July 2020.
Microsoft is giving away a six month period trial of Office 365. Products like OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more will be up for your team’s perusal. These tools will help you organize and collaborate with your team seamlessly.
You can find many more discounts and free services to tide you over the lockdown in this article. Brands are aiding smaller companies to make relevant, high-quality content by making their tools more accessible.
Lastly, it is important to give your well-optimized content a good face. Effective graphic design is a sure-fire way to maintain brand authority and credibility.
DesignCrowd is offering a full spread of coupons to cover various graphic design services you may need. The coupons allow you to get affordable deals for different design projects. Easily connect with their designer community to crowdsource powerful output. Start acting on your content strategy by checking out our discount page.
In addition, BrandCrowd is extending services to businesses that will find utility in discounted branding materials like logos. The logo gallery is refreshed daily with new designs that fit any niche.
Upon checkout, you will also get an offer to subscribe to the BrandCrowd social media maker at a low cost. The tool lets you create graphics that are optimized to your preferred channels. You can steal the deal by clicking here.
We have more titles for you:
Written by DesignCrowd on Thursday, April 9, 2020
DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.