Seven ways to evolve your marketing in the wake of COVID-19

I’ve been thinking a lot about our clients and community in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a small business owner myself, I care deeply about our fellow community members. In a time of incredible uncertainty, it’s important we stick together. Things are evolving incredibly rapidly during this crisis, and it’s so vital that we evolve our business models, too. For almost 10 days now, our team has been working remotely and taking client meetings virtually. Thankfully, it was a relatively easy adjustment. FACTEUR PR started this way – since our early days, we’ve employed staff and work with clients all over the country beginning from when I started the company from my home office. It’s the beauty of technology, bringing people together. And it’s that same technology that’s really going to make all the difference for business right now.

Like you, we hope COVID-19 is short-lived, but until then, most of us will need to make some adjustments in our life and work. If you’ve been curious about how to evolve your marketing and communications during a crisis like this, read on for our take.

1. Evolve your messaging

It’s easily understandable – in the midst of a public health crisis, promoting a lifestyle brand can feel secondary to the essentials we need (except toilet paper, which needs no marketing right now). Nevertheless, unless your brand or product is threatening or suddenly offensive given the circumstance, you shouldn’t expect to stop marketing it if you can help it. It’s important, however, to make sure your messaging doesn’t appear tone-deaf. Ideally, acknowledge what’s going on in the world and address how you or your brand helps people – whether it’s encouraging people take care of themselves emotionally or physically, assisting with productivity while working at home, making it easier to communicate with loved ones, whatever it might be. Community is also more important than ever – we are all in this together. Support your community and other business owners, and ask for their support, too. Listening right now is just as important as anything you say.

2. Strengthen your social media presence

According to Mashable, screen time has increased dramatically over the past couple weeks due to social distancing. Folks are checking in with their family and friends remotely, which is a good thing right now. Social media, too, has always been a way people have kept in touch with each other, even passively so. That said, take the time to evaluate your social media strategy. Right now, people are looking for stories of hope, inspiration, and positivity. Bring a little of that spirit to the forefront via your social media channels and reevaluate some of your scheduled posts to make sure you’re offering your audiences something inspirational or useful during this time period.

3. Harness the upcoming holidays

Birthdays will continue. Mother’s Day will go on. Easter and Passover will be here soon. Because folks may not be traveling or gathering as much in the weeks to come doesn’t mean that special days won’t be celebrated. If this pandemic is teaching us anything it’s that every moment counts. Continue promoting your brand around the holidays that have been typically been good selling times for your business, and make sure you’re prepared for sales to almost exclusively happen online, which leads us to our next point…

4. Optimize your website

With a large chunk of the population now working from home and asked to self-isolate, it’s no surprise that online ordering has already been shown to be increasing in popularity even more. Amazon alone is slated to hire 100,000 new employees to meet the demand. Whether you’re a product or service-based business, take a good look at your website and analyze both its beauty and function – can you use this time to take better photos? How does it function currently and can you improve the user experience? Can you punch up your copywriting to increase conversion rates? Can you be more deliberate with your SEO efforts? How can you further incentivize sales – perhaps free shipping, donating a portion of sales to a non-profit, including a free gift?

5. Prioritize PR

As long as there are journalists working, it’s still a good time to pitch stories to the media, but you might need to get more creative with your story angles. For lifestyle brands specifically, you have a unique opportunity. Folks are going to be looking for ways to have experiences from home. If your product or service can benefit people without having them leave the house, focus on that during your outreach. Remember, reporters write content for their readers, and if your readers can’t buy or support you online, then you’re going to have a tough time getting coverage. (Again, make sure your website is up to par!) Special shoutout to all the hardworking journalists out there!

6. Go virtual

Times are especially challenging right now if you’re a brick-and-mortar service based business. If you don’t currently have a product to sell, consider packaging your service or expertise to sell online. If you’re a boutique fitness studio, offer a coaching course that your customers can take advantage of from home. If you’re a stylist, beam into your clients homes with the help of Instagram video chat from your phone (yes, that’s a thing and it’s not well utilized – yet!). If you produce events, cut costs for both you and your ticket holders by holding the event online, like inviting panelists to present from home or performers to play from home as a couple examples. Crowdcast is a platform we really like for this. Video and photography will be more important than ever as folks spend more time online.

7. Learn something new

How many times have we wished to have just a little more time to be able to learn, plan, or implement new things in our personal or professional lives? If you’re suddenly finding yourself with a little extra time on your hands and more freedom to propel your business forward, spend at least part of your time learning or sharpening a skill. Spending your time wisely is an investment into your business. Need to get your bookkeeping organized? Learn how to use Quickbooks. Want to get your podcast off the ground? Get the right equipment to start yourself on the right path. Need a new website? You might be able to build it yourself or ask us to do it for you! Want to learn how to land your own press? Shameless plug: download our DIY PR Project course at 50% off until April 15.

These are just a handful of strategies I see helping businesses during this time, and I invite you to share your tips with other businesses, too, in the comments! At FACTEUR PR, we are rooting for all of you and hope you’re staying safe and healthy while this passes. We’re here for you if you need any assistance. Contact us.