Preparing your business for life after lockdown? Chances are you’ve already pivoted your marketing message during the crisis, but now it’s time for another shift as businesses and consumers come out of quarantine and head into yet another new normal.
How can you make sure you’re sensitive to the new challenges your customers face, while getting your business into the best possible position to take advantage of the upturn when it comes?
You need a plan. Here‘s how to hit the ground running.
Optimise Your Content Marketing Strategy to Ensure Prospects Find You
However much you want to capitalise on quarantine ending – and everyone acknowledges the fact that businesses need to make money for the sake of their survival as well as the economy as a whole – consumers are likely to be put off by hard–sell tactics. You need to find a different way for your prospects to find you.
Creating quality, SEO-optimised content for your website is a great way to attract customers, provide value that builds trust in your brand and answer questions so when they’re ready to buy, they come to you first. People buy from businesses they trust, and they trust businesses they have a relationship with. Great content that provides them with value for free is a key way to develop your relationship with them.
See related: What is Content Marketing?
Show Empathy for Your Customers’ Challenges
When the crisis was at its peak, the businesses that had the most successful marketing strategies were the ones who were sensitive to the challenges their customers were facing. And the situation will be no different once the quarantine comes to an end.
Many of your customers will have had a very difficult time over the last few months. They may have lost loved ones or been sick themselves. They may have been furloughed or lost their job or seen their business struggle. Some will be nervous about what life will be like once quarantine is over and might be facing a new reality with less money to spend.
Create social media and blog content that acknowledges the experience that your customers have been through and continue to face as quarantine ends. Remember how to use social media strategically and make sure your priority is serving them.
Pivot Your Messaging … Again
When the crisis hit, we advised our clients to pivot their messaging to speak to the circumstances their customers were living through. For some people, for example, this meant finding ways to help their customers save money, or to give them something to do while they were stuck at home, or help them keep in touch with friends and family and so on.
It’s likely the economy isn’t going to recover overnight, so now is the time to rewrite your messaging to meet the new problems your customers face. How can you help your customers survive a potential recession? Is there a way you can help them save and make money? Can you offer a payment plan to make it easier for them to do business with you?
Create a Post-Lockdown Content Strategy
To make sure your business is prepared for life after lockdown you need a content strategy that enables you to strike the right balance between serving your customers and selling to them; empathising with their problems and giving them the tools to bounce back.
If you don’t plan strategically it’s difficult to get your messaging right and keep it consistent. And people are at their most sensitive right now. They are likely to be put off by hard–sell tactics. Businesses that provide value first will be the ones they turn to.
If you need help developing a strategic content plan for your business, contact us. We’d love to help.