Posted: JUNE 9, 2020
COVID-19 has created a ripple effect with both short- and long-term impacts on marketing and sales departments (along with everything else). While whole industries have been impacted, others have tried to use their marketing and sales campaigns to show that they are listening, and aware of the hardships created by the situation. One obvious result of this? Every ad on TV looked and sounded exactly the same during the quarantine.
For digital marketers, competition for screen time is always cut-throat. But with budgets and pipelines thrown out the window, marketers were asked to do a lot with a lot less, while also appearing empathetic to the situation. That’s a tall order and some companies did better than others.
States and countries are beginning to open up. It may not be a return to “normal” but if marketers keep empathy and awareness in mind while creating new digital marketing and sales campaigns in mind, they should be able to stand out from the crowd for all the right reasons. But we can’t just go back to the old marketing and sales playbooks either.
When it comes to coming up with new campaigns during major events (COVID-19, protests, political events, etc.), ask yourself the following questions before you get to work. These questions will keep your marketing efforts focused, honest, and empathetic. Remember, consumers won’t respond well to fake empathy. And not all publicity is good publicity.
Are you looking to engage with a current situation or looking to take advantage of it?
On #BlackoutTuesday, plenty of companies posted a solid black image with the hashtag to show support for the Black community. However, people were quick to point out which companies’ support seemed disingenuous. If you are going to use social media to engage with a situation, don’t do it hoping to gain good PR.
Some brands consistently use their social media platforms to engage with trending topics. However, that doesn’t necessarily need to be your company’s marketing tactic.
Are you using a current situation as an “in” and then resorting to your usual game plan?
At the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine, we noticed that the usual sales emails in our inboxes took an abrupt turn. All of them started with some iteration of “We know things are tough right now.” Not a bad lead to show that as a collective society, we’re going through something together.
But then all of them immediately offered their services or product to help. Not a great move.
Some brands do have something to offer in a crisis. However, the brands with campaigns that really stood out weren’t still trying to sell through the pandemic. Many switched gears entirely, offering educational and informational content or moving services online. Which brings us to the next question:
Do you actually have something to offer to a lead or customer? Or are you connecting to try and sell something?
For the best example of this, look no further than LinkedIn. Does it seem like most of the connection requests you receive lately seem like genuine offers to connect, but then immediately turn into a sales pitch? It’s the LinkedIn/social media version of the emails that we discussed above.
Consumers and leads aren’t falling for the same-old sales pitches anymore. Connections need to be made genuinely and offer potential benefits to both parties. Otherwise, you’ll just find that your offers are ignored, or trashed in someone’s inbox.
Are you following your company’s brand guidelines and core values?
Companies with a strong set of values usually have an easier time with marketing and sales. For example, HubSpot is clear about their goals for helping people with digital marketing and sales. It’s what made it an easy pivot for them to offer companies impacted by COVID-19 savings off their service bundles. Their marketing also shifted to provide insights about deal pipelines week over week and instructional content focused on working from home.
Certified B-corps and companies that have a history of speaking up when it is appropriate may find this easier than other companies. However, if your company doesn’t have that history, that isn’t a reason not to act! Times of great change and disruption can be the exact catalyst your company needs to develop and execute on core values.
These questions will guide you to self-reflect before creating content that doesn’t provide any incentive for a potential customer during situations where that may come across as insensitive. By keeping empathy in mind while creating marketing and sales strategies, you may find that you are more successful overall!
Are you completely lost on what to do about your marketing during turbulent times? Or maybe you don’t have time to think about your marketing at all! Four Tens provides CMO consultations to businesses that are looking to improve their digital marketing, especially as the standard rules no longer apply. But we also have an “easy button” approach: if you want someone else to worry about your marketing for you, we can do that as well. Simply get in touch about your current needs and concerns and we’ll reach back out to you.