Was it just me or did someone turn up the noise? As the pandemic intensified, so did marketing activity, with brands racing to publicize COVID-19 responses, new safety protocols and various measures to support communities and first responders. Brands are communicating and engaging at an unprecedented pace, creating a frenzied and saturated marketing landscape.
That said, now is also not the time to pump the breaks – it could spell doom for the audience and business following you’ve cultivated over the years. A PR Week survey conducted from March 20 – 25 found that more vocal brands are perceived as handling the crisis better than those that are less outspoken, indicating consumers are receptive to the crisis-driven content marketing efforts, so long as they’re not tone deaf, overly promotional or insincere. Plus, more time spent at home means more time online, so consumers are more attentive than ever.
With brands battling for earned media coverage and reporters struggling to keep pace, consider ramping up content across owned channels, including blogs, websites, email newsletters and social media. Owned channels deliver direct-to-target audience communication in a safe, controlled manner and can supplement more expensive and time-consuming marketing and advertising activities. Maintaining steady digital touch points, while pushing out useful information along the way, will keep your audience engaged and coming back for more even after stay-at-home orders are lifted.
How can you make sure you’re hitting the right note? Adapting your content marketing strategy to align with the concerns and issues at hand can help your brand emerge from the crowd and prove its value. Here are three tips for communicating effectively:
- Educate vs. promote: At an unsettling time like this, promotional-based messaging can fall flat, or worse, attract backlash. Think about how your brand can offer assistance, education and insights. Identify new obstacles and challenges your customers are facing during the pandemic and seek to provide solutions. According to HubSpot, consumption of educational content has climbed significantly in the last month, with marketing email engagement 25% higher than pre-COVID averages. Plus, educational content can positively impact your bottom line. By building trust, providing value and empowering customers to be successful, educational content supports relationship- and sales-building for the long-term.
- Inject human touch and get real: Amidst all the uncertainty and social distancing, people are looking for comfort, hope and optimism. To meet this need with your content, develop messaging with the concerns and perspectives of your audience in mind. Acknowledge the crisis and share how it’s impacting your customers, employees and business performance. Lift a curtain on the humanity, personality and values of your company by telling real stories about real people – don’t be afraid to get personal and even incorporate employee-generated content. Exposing the more vulnerable, authentic side of your brand will foster connections and loyalty.
- Think thought leadership: Thought leadership rooted in expertise and credibility is an effective way to maintain brand visibility, stay top of mind and contribute to the conversation in a positive, meaningful way without a heavy sales push. Plus, it can help fill the gaps without the usual, steady flow of product launches and business announcements. Tap leaders and industry and topic experts to offer guidance, clarity and shed light on how we’ll emerge from the crisis together. Lead with transparency and authenticity, while incorporating data and proof points when possible. Consider pinning thought leadership pieces and messages to the top of your social pages or landing pages so they’re more prominent and easily accessible, and share them on LinkedIn as well.
If your company is looking to develop a new content marketing strategy to disseminate brand messages that break through the clutter and reach target audiences, I’d love to help. Reach out to me at lpinkerton@linhartpr.com.
