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3/25/2020

Marketing while Maintaining Social Distance

3/19/2020

Face to face meetings and networking are a major part of many businesses' marketing strategy. With the outbreak of Covid-19, with meetings and events cancelled, it is a good time to step back and reexamine our short and longer-term marketing/communication initiatives.

So what adjustments can be made?

1) Your online presence is more important now than ever

Start by checking your Website and email list:
Is your website up to date? It might be a good time to refresh your content, paying attention to your key messages and keywords.

Can you post an update about how your business is responding to this social emergency on the front page?
You could also include the measures you are taking to ensure employee and customer safety – or consider what types of community service/contributions your company can do to help.

Do you have a database of customer emails?

If you have a newsletter, send out a special edition or incorporate an update in your scheduled issue. If you don’t have a newsletter, consider contacting customers/clients to see how they are faring and reassure them that you’re still able to support their needs.

Social media:

If your situation has changed, update your profile on Yelp and Google My Business – For example, if you have adjusted your operating hours (for example, if you have added special hours for just for seniors or high-risk individuals), accessibility or are providing special services for the community, you can post them on your profile, add a picture or in your Google My Business updates.
Facebook and LinkedIn page – post what your business is doing to support customers, employees, and the community. You may even be able to leverage Facebook messenger to send an update, if it is urgent.

2) Think Beyond Digital

With people staying home and social distancing – they may be more open to talking by phone and/or reading their mail.

Think about calling or texting clients and referral sources to see how they are doing and check if you or your company can do anything additional to help them at this time.
Don’t forget to freshen up your phone message. Does it reflect your current status? For example, a bakery/café may have to close but they still take orders for pick up or can deliver for special occasions.
Other options for you might be to send cards, notes and maybe even a package. This is a bit slower, but we are in this for the long run and a touch of thoughtfulness can go a long way towards increasing loyalty and word of mouth.

3) Bring people together using technology

Is a meeting needed to brainstorm or exchange ideas? There are several tools you can use:

Google Hangouts – good for anyone with a Gmail account
Loom - good for sharing presentations or ideas on a one to one basis.
Skype – good for international meetings or calls
Zoom, FreeConferenceCall , GoToMeeting, or MeetingMaker (local Triangle startup) these platforms are good for larger webinars, group or team meetings, and one on one live meetings with clients. We've use both Zoom and FreeConferenceCall for a while now and they work quite well.

If you are part of a networking or referral group that has regular meetings – and if the other members agree --you can use one of these applications to take it to a virtual space so you can stay connected.

To sum it up -- don’t just hang in there – grab this as a unique opportunity.
The businesses that look at this as a challenge -- to freshen their marketing approach and even capture new business -- can and will prosper.
If you have any questions or would like to talk about your communication strategy, contact us.
Thanks for reading!

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Quote for the day

Marketing while Maintaining Social Distance

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