The pandemic has triggered many new ways of doing things, and communication is one of them. Here you can find 5 Dos and 5 Don'ts regarding communications in the COVID era.
Do Educate. Share unique insights into your industry and add value to those in your network.
Do Authenticity. Share your successes and your failures honestly and openly, as well as your learnings.
Do Kindness. Offer to help those in your network in need. If your business can authentically contribute to the frontline, do that too.
Do Personalisation. Take your time to get to know your loyal customers, and take calls with people in your network to get to know the people behind their online persona.
Do Collaboration. Working with multiple clients? Join forces and curate a digital event together, film it and share the content on your website, social media channels, and more.
Do Not Piggyback. People are becoming wise to brands who are utilising brands like the NHS in posts for selfish reasons. Unless you are genuinely contributing value, it is best to steer clear else it might do your brand more damage than good.
Do Not Do Nothing. While you are in incognito mode, another brand is acquiring your customer base. In the 2018 recession, brands that remained in communication with their customer base performed 240% better than those that did not.
Do Not Fear Innovation. Now is not the time to say, "I just don't like technology." There are plenty of digital partners ready to volunteer to help if you get stuck. Give it a go, what have you got to lose?
Do Not Spam. Now it is even more important not to oversell. During this time, people are more likely to hit the unsubscribe button in marketing emails, especially if they offer no value.
Do Not Forget Your Brand. During a panel, event or interview remember that you can bring your brand into the conversation. It is expected. Prepare yourself before an interview or panel with 3 key-value offerings to discuss. Remember to highlight who your value offerings are targeting, so that those listers can tune in.
Communication is a huge topic that can hardly be summarized in 10 lines. However, when we do take action on what is necessary at this special moment, we will see long-term benefits that actually make a difference.
By Jenny Stanley, Founder and Managing Director of Appetite Creative