Shifting Your Brand’s Content Strategy During COVID-19
Here are a few tips for marketing during this unprecedented, anxiety-inducing, and just plain wacky times.
Here are a few tips for marketing during these unprecedented, anxiety-inducing, and just plain wacky times.
1. Avoid Exploiting the Situation
This should go without saying, but conversion-focused content and aggressive sales tactics are not the way to go right now. People are worried about their health, the economy, and the state of the world—pushing your products without empathy risks alienating your audience. Instead, focus on being supportive and relevant.
2. Focus on Community
With social distancing and self-quarantining, people feel more disconnected than ever. Use this time to strengthen and foster your community online. Since nearly all in-person events have been canceled, explore virtual alternatives like live Q&As, webinars, or online networking events.
If you’re unsure what your audience needs, ask them directly. Now more than ever, your followers will appreciate having their voices heard.
3. Reassess Your Pre-Planned Content
Everything you had planned to post should be reviewed. Does the messaging still make sense? For example, a lighthearted post about “getting together for Easter brunch” may feel out of place when social gatherings aren’t possible. Edit or remove anything that could seem tone-deaf in the current climate. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.
Depending on your industry, get extra creative with your content ideas.
If your company has brick-and-mortar stores or relies on in-person services or activations in any way, you may be confused about how to market right now. After all, how can you tell people to “head in-store” when all of your stores are closed? This goes back to the first tip—do not sell right now. Think about content that is related to your company’s expertise that would be useful for your community in these times. A few examples:
If you’re an electronics company, create content around fixing common household appliances.
If you’re a toy company, give ideas for games that families can play together.
If you’re a health or fitness brand, share exercises that can be done at home.
If you’re EGO, create a custom “Work From Home” bingo board.
This is actually an amazing time to experiment with new marketing tactics or platforms that you haven’t tried before. Maybe try your hand at live streaming, create something using augmented reality, or even post a TikTok challenge. The stakes are low, and everyone’s in uncharted waters—so there’s never been a better time to experiment! You never know what your customer base might really respond to.
You may also need to be creative with the resources your marketing department is using right now. Because offices and studios are shut down, photography-focused content may not be a viable option. But graphic design and motion graphics are, so lean into that—or go through past photoshoots and figure out how you can repurpose some of those images into new posts.
Like all things, this too shall pass. I’m optimistic that soon enough, we will all be able to get together with friends, eat at restaurants, shop, and once again do all of the things we took for granted. But until then, when it comes to your social media content, you’ll just have to make like Ross Geller and pivot.
And of course, if EGO can help in any way—whether it’s community management, creative, or anything in between—don’t hesitate to give us a ring.
