The How, Who and What of marketing in a crisis

We are now in Week Six of lockdown and for many of us - both here at Antelope and in parallel lives across the world, we are all trying to get used to this new norm that has been thrust upon us. From working from home to home schooling, from virtual meetings to virtual bingo nights and from appreciating our one daily exercise to our one shop for food essentials.

For many in the business world, there is the fine line between balancing the welfare of their team - both healthwise and financially - with that of their organisation. The financial administration of dealing with furloughing staff and investigating other government support packages during this time can be a full time job in itself, let alone thinking about the sales pipeline and how you are going to generate new business for the future.

One of the most frequent discussions we have been having with our clients is how to market and when to start marketing again in these times? Having never experienced life as we are now, no-one has written the rulebook. Although different clients feel comfortable marketing to their customers at different times, one thing we are advising is that it is more important than ever for companies to communicate with their audiences. However, what to communicate, who communicates it and how we communicate is key.

The What?

What to communicate and whether to incorporate sales messages has been the biggest dilemma. Many feel it isn’t the time to sell directly when customers have so many other things on their minds. However, others feel that customers understand the need to keep the sales wheel moving and momentum in the market and the economy. We believe that now is the time to show how your services and products solve a problem or a challenge that these strange times have created. This could mean having to adapt your product or service to become a solution – so for restaurants this means home deliveries or providing the ingredients for those to cook from home; for hair salons selling products and YouTube videos on how to home dye your hair. For others in the B2B service industry it is about how your expertise and knowledge can support clients during these challenging times. The key is being flexible and thinking about your clients – what are they experiencing, what will be different and how can you help?

The Who?

The who also becomes more important when crises hit. For some messages that might outline your corporate stance – whether that be what you are doing to help key workers or how you are closing your stores but providing more of an online offering – it might be more appropriate for your CEO or MD to be talking to your audience. For other messages – an invite to a virtual coffee – your account handler. However, it is also worth thinking about those who might have been talking to your customers who might not be now – those who are furloughed or out of the business. Are you picking up their clients and explaining why their normal contact isn’t in contact with them. Likewise, having an internal voice with an appropriate spokesperson to ensure all your team knows who is responsible for different elements of the business at this time is essential for the smooth running of any organisation.

The How?

The how is probably the most important part of the puzzle when it comes to your communications strategy. Firstly, ensuring you have the timing right – so that team members hear first from a senior manager rather than on the grapevine, and that customers are communicated with in a timely way before hearsay hits. Customer communication and internal communication need to be aligned with strategic messages agreed across the board and then tailored for the appropriate audiences. Then think about how you reach out to these audiences and disseminate the information – use familiar channels such as socials, websites, emails, and of course, call clients, but remember that times are different and response rates might be lower, timing slower and factor this into communications. It is also worth thinking about engagement. With the situation changing day-on-day in certain industries, communication can be extensive. Ensuring your email isn’t the one that gets automatically deleted before it is even opened means communicating with variety – so maybe video one week with a thought leadership piece on socials, an email the next with a web story.

How companies react during this time and how honest and transparent they have been will form long term opinion of their organisation. You only need to look at the criticism around the government’s communication regarding the pandemic – about how their communication hasn’t been clear and honest – to illustrate how important communication needs to be during this time. Those senior management teams who understand this, and have a robust communications strategy tailored to their audiences will be the ones that clients and teams remember on the other side.