We’re All Online. Where Are You?
In just a few short months, the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we socialize, shop, exercise, study, and work, pushing more and more in-person services and activities into a digital space. But beyond working and studying remotely, we’re also spending more time scrolling through social media, scanning news stories, looking up recipes for how to cook with all those dusty pantry staples hanging out in our cupboards and self-soothing with a little online retail therapy. In these decidedly uncertain times, one thing is certain––media consumption is higher than ever before. If your customers weren’t online before this pandemic, you can guarantee they are now. For businesses, this means the time to pivot your marketing strategy and set up your ecommerce presence is now. It also means that the way we market to and connect with our customers is changing rapidly. Now more than ever, establishing authentic relationships with customers and offering relevant products, content and resources during these uncertain times is crucial to the survival of your business and the longevity of your brand. But during such a tense time, how do you know if you’re saying the right things, speaking up too much (or not enough), and offering content your customers actually want? Let us break it down.
What Do You Bring To The Table?
Right now, just scrolling through Instagram, it feels like every shop, restaurant and business both small and large is posting missives with new info on business closures, special hours, product shortages, delayed shipment times, local delivery options available or simply reminders that they’re open for business. Now is the time to be highlighting timely and relevant services. If your brand offers online shopping and delivery, let your customers know! If your services or products have a timely benefit, people want to know about it. Your goal should always be to provide value at every interaction, and that value needs to be relevant to the current and ever-evolving challenges our communities are facing. If your business can provide solutions for people, like roadside pickup or no-contact local delivery, even better. That is the ultimate value.
Don’t Put Your Foot In Your Mouth
In the rush to get content out the door, it can be easy to hit send without taking an extra minute to read your social media post or ad copy over. This is never best practice––please, please always copy edit!––but especially during a fraught and emotionally intense time, when tensions are already running high. Editing your messaging clearly and carefully is the best way to avoid tone-deaf snafus. We’ve all cringed at something that was clearly scheduled months in advance and not touched since, like online fashion giant ASOS peddling chainmail face masks for festival season or KFC running an ad with a barrage of customers licking sauce off their fingers during a time when we’re supposed to be keeping our hands very much away from our mouths. Yikes!
SEO Still Matters
Apocalypse or no apocalypse, two perennial questions remain: Is your content relevant? And how does it rank compared to your competitors? One piece of good news is that many of our old metrics still stand. Search engine algorithms are not impacted by global pandemics, meaning that Google is still actively assessing the best resources for search results and prioritizing SEO optimized content. Answer the SOS call of the day—such as “How to Make Sourdough”—and you shall be rewarded.
Community Matters More
The word “community” might feel a little different now than it has in the face of other natural disasters––we’re not able to rally at food drives or congregate at community centers and churches, or show up at friends’ houses with casseroles. Instead, community building and support is happening online. As isolating as social distancing and self-quarantining can feel, none of us is truly alone in this experience. Now is the best time to invest in building and nurturing a strong, engaged online community where your customers, followers and fans can share resources, connect and support each other. Beyond that, if your business is able to donate resources (like these amazing breweries and distilleries donating hand sanitizer or these restaurants offering free meals to K-12 kids), make sure this community activism is advertised so that people can take advantage of your generosity and so that your business receives recognition for the good work you’re doing. Everyone could use a heartwarming story about a good deed right now, so don’t be afraid to share yours!
Top Takeaways: To Sum Things Up …
- Stay Relevant. We don’t know how many other ways to say it, but the name of the game is relevancy. Pay attention to what is trending right now, not last week or last month or this time last year. We’re in the middle of a completely unprecedented global situation, and it’s appropriate for your copy to reflect this!
- Stay Relatable. This is crucial to keeping customers and followers happy, engaged, and trusting in your brand. Be transparent about your company and culture, and don’t be afraid to celebrate small wins along with acknowledging that the struggle is real. Jump in with content about “Day 10 of WFH” or “5 Meals Made With Shelf-Stable Foods.” Your customers and followers will know you’re listening, and will respond accordingly.
- Stay Up To Date. Take the time to update older content with new messaging appropriate to the times we’re in now, and be sure to update SEO keywords so that the right audiences can find and engage with your content.
- Very lastly, our unofficial number four––remember, we’re all in this together, and we’re here if you need a little help, some drool-worthy recipe inspo for your next quarantine meal in, or if you just need a laugh.
