Gabriella Fryer – Marketing Manager, Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce
The Coronavirus pandemic is like nothing we’ve seen and it’s certainly not something that many marketers would have planned for.
Marketing thrives in the main on messaging that is optimistic, positive and invokes good feelings to encourage sales. It can sometimes sell on fear. But within a global crisis, should you be marketing? And if the answer is yes, then how?
The first thing to come to terms with, is that marketing never stops. Even when a crisis event like Coronavirus seems to be consuming everyone’s attention, you still must get your message out.
Many businesses have naturally shied away from their usual marketing strategies as the UK went into lockdown for fear of impacting brand reputation by being perceived as insensitive. But does it have to be this way? Luckily, the answer is no.
5 rules for marketing through crisis:
- It is essential in times of uncertainly for marketers to communicate facts and do so routinely and liberally. As concerns heighten and/or the pandemic continues, many businesses are issuing daily updates to customers who are seeking facts and perspective amidst a bombardment of news accounts, many of which are often sensationalised. Customers seek guidance and truth from trusted brands. Trust is only grown through distribution of credible, current and factually correct information.
- Brands should refer to and cite leading authorities such as, in the case of Coronavirus GOV.UK, WHO, HSE and local public health authorities to allow customers to make informed decisions based on factual information from a trusted source.
- Marketers and brands must always demonstrate empathy to those who have been affected. Get into the mindset of your customer persona’s and really try to understand their current feelings and challenges. Never minimise the consequences associated with a time of crisis and show the human element and real-feeling nature of your brand.
- Brands must put their own motives, wants and needs secondary. Customer safety and needs must come first. This ensures brand reputations will be well-protected, earning the trust, respect, and loyalty of customers.
- Don’t exploit fear. So often, we see marketing messages that successfully sell on fear. A fear of missing out, fear of not having something that will prevent crisis, fear of being without. This is a widely acceptable form of marketing. During a global pandemic, this is no longer the case. Don’t do it.
Are there marketing opportunities during the crisis?
During an economic downturn, you’ll find that you will have less competition, which means it is easier and faster to get results, and in some cases, you’ll be able to get deals, such as a potential reduction in pay-per-click advertising. Digital marketing is booming during the pandemic now that everyone is pushed into the digital space and this opens up avenues to access and reach new, perhaps previously unreachable prospects.
For B2C businesses, the sudden increase of people being indoors has led to a change in lifestyle where consumers have shifted to spending more time online than before.
Brands already catering to the ‘sofa-surfers’ have shown to be in the clear and in some cases have even seen an increase in sales. Brands that are traditionally offline have innovated new online products in an effort to adapt to this new way of living with E-commerce specialists reporting a huge spike in enquiries and sales as businesses race to build e-commerce platforms and sell their products and services online.
How have traditional channels been affected?
Marketers seeing a cut in budgets will benefit by moving toward cheaper and more flexible channels such as digital display ads, social media, and online video channels. These are the mediums that most likely will increase in the short-term.
Large scale advertising such as billboards, vehicle and destination advertising will have much lower exposure due to most people staying at home. Event marketing has come to an immediate stop, and we’ll likely see that marketing budget cease or shift towards online ads.
However, marketing budget reductions are not always the solution.
Many B2B brands are increasing digital advertising spend to compensate for the leads they otherwise would have picked up at events. This doesn’t always have to be costly if you know how to effectively target your campaigns.
Should marketers be post-Coronavirus planning?
Marketers are asking themselves, “How permanent are these changes?” It is clear that many industries will have naturally lost customers during the lock-down period where either communication has stopped or the demand disappeared. For industries directly impacted, post-Coronavirus marketing planning and activity will be imperative to attract customers back. You mustn’t assume that because they have left you at this moment, they no longer want or need your service, or they may never need it again.
The tone and timing of these campaigns is paramount. As the virus will have resulted in substantial illness and loss of life, homes, and businesses around the world, marketers must avoid celebrating their own successes or new products prematurely and communicate in a respectful, reflective fashion always communicating empathy.
What to keep in mind during the pandemic
The uncertainty of the future is understandable. Nonetheless, this too shall pass. It is important to stay focused on the long-term and not shy away from new growth opportunities.
Branding works best long-term. Cutting budget spend too much when not necessary could negatively impact the brand when the pandemic is over.
Most importantly, remember to keep your brand integrity, show empathy, and share facts regularly. Trust is built over time, and buying power is not propelled sustainably through hard sales messages, it’s gained through consistent, steady relevant content, putting you in the customers’ mind as a trusted partner.
If anything, you mustn’t be afraid to market during the pandemic, you should only be afraid to stop.
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