How to stand out during a pandemic...
With social distancing still in place, there has been a significant change in behavioral trends. Customers go to media sources, television, and podcasts to gain information that they can trust. Now more than ever customers are using social media and technology to escape from the reality we are all facing. People are buying gaming systems, downloading apps, spending more time watching movies, and creating at-home businesses. The need for physical goods has gone up in such a way that e-commerce stores have had to adjust their marketing. Now you can almost pay for everything through a touchless pay system. Furthermore, it is important to consider your customers' feelings, as people are feeling extremely vulnerable during this time. Empathy is critical. When a certain brand shows compassion and understanding, they often seem to get more support from their customers.
It would benefit marketers to build fast-acting response operating systems to stay in touch internally, with other agencies and with their customers. Brands have quickly moved their efforts into support for the social distancing movement. Brands such as Brew Dog, Nike, and Chic-fil-a have been big advocates for this movement and this is all being done with the hope of creating awareness and impacting customers. It is important to keep an eye out for universal events, for commenting on them or showing that you care will gain the company recognition. As the situation worsens, having access to remote output and innovative resources will become much more relevant.
Marketers may continue to increase their use of ad-supported premium video streaming and smartphone games, for example, as demand for digital content rises. Feel-good content that reduces anxiety and encourages constructive messaging can help to improve the brand's image. Marketers can achieve greater real-time perspectives by monitoring individual behavioral patterns regularly as well as opinion and usage patterns daily to help tailor marketing. They will also want to keep a close eye on the dialogue through social media channels, community forums, and e-commerce product pages to watch for openings and predict impending crises. Companies should start creating dashboards from this data to help make the best choices possible. Depending on how long the crisis lasts, the marketing team can collaborate closely with finance and operations to predict various scenarios and outcomes.
Collaboration technology can provide chat, file sharing, meeting, and call functionality seamlessly, allowing teams to stay linked and efficient. Digital happy hours are now becoming the new standard for boosting team morale.
