Your business is no doubt experiencing some uncertain and even fearful times that have left many scrambling to adjust to a new normal that can change by the day or even hour. Sadly, there’s no playbook for any of this.
All of the disruptions will need to be met with some changes, regardless of how your business has been impacted by the current events. Your customers are no doubt grappling with what’s happening, so our role in their lives will need to adjust. Here are some ideas on how to make the most of where we are in this moment:
Advice for all brands
Be agile in the short term, while keeping the longer-term strategy alive. You may have to modify messaging and offers, but because we don’t know how long this situation will last, we need to be ready to pivot right back to our long-term strategy. As quickly as this came on, it could go back to something closer to normal in just a few months. Be ready for the switch to flip back to what you had originally planned, and don’t lose the brand impetus you’ve spent years building.
Socialize internally what you are doing at a regular cadence. Because a lot of your marketing is changing, be sure to share what the new plans are and how your marketing is performing. Marketing will especially be scrutinised in the coming weeks, so be transparent and share what you are doing to rise to the occasion. Remember, rising rarely means doing nothing. You’ll need to act to get the most for your business.
Check on your messaging and communication streams. Ensure your current communication streams and messaging are still relevant and meet the current context. Messaging may need to temporarily change for a period of time, so it doesn’t appear to be out of context and presents accurate information.
If you would like some help with your marketing planning, we're here to help. You can contact us at enquiries@levenmediagroup.co.uk
Advice for brands that have slowed
If you’ve lost a considerable amount of business due to the current climate, we firstly want to tell you that we empathise with you during these challenging times. This is not easy. If your company has the cash flow to continue keeping the business going and staff intact, there are several things you can do to make the most of this time:
Focus on projects. Just as you may use downtime in your personal life to work on a home project, you can do the same with the extra time you may have at work. Maybe it’s time for a website redesign or a creative refresh. You may even need some tech updates to ensure you can optimise once all cylinders are firing again. Does the team need to up-level some new skills? Marketing will need to work even harder once activities resume, so use this time wisely to get everything in order.
Stay connected with your customers, but don’t over-communicate. If your core product or service isn’t as valuable in the current situation, slow the cadence of communications considerably. If you have editorial-like content, perhaps now is the time to let that shine, understanding that a lot of people want to dream of a day that this will all be over.
A large part of what we do at Leven Media Group is to help businesses define their message and deliver through appropriate channels. If you want to discuss updating your messages or channels, we're here to help. You can contact us at enquiries@levenmediagroup.co.uk
Advice for brands that are busier than ever
If you’re a company that has a high amount of demand right now, I am sure you have very little time to devote to anything outside of staying above water. Our recommendations are very short for you:
Set expectations for your customers. Use marketing and communications to set expectations on changes to services such as delayed shipping, limited products, limited contact hours, store hours, etc.
Help HR with hiring. Because marketers have special skills that can be used in recruitment efforts, help hiring managers optimize their flows for getting people hired and on-boarded. This may not seem like an important activity for marketing, but getting critical roles filled to ensure customer experience disruptions are minimal will help build brand loyalty and long-term advocates.
We wish you the best during this difficult time. No matter what your situation is, it’s tough. Stay healthy and know that we will see the other side of this.
For any more information on what we do and how we can help, we're always happy to have a conversation, and to find a way to help.