BRAND LOYALTY
Staying In The Susannah Morgan, Deputy Managing Director at Energy PR, offers her advice on keeping consumers engaged during the COVID-19 crisis. Now is not the time to go silent as a business. You must adapt, not stop, if you want your business and brand to successfully navigate such uncertain and unsettling times. But how? Here are some tips. Start with the human aspect of your brand “Now is not the time to go silent as a business...”
TOTAL BRAND LICENSING
Public Eye
and think about your customer. What are they doing, how are they feeling and what are they worrying about? What might they want or need from you right now? How can you help them? Remember what your original purpose was. For example, if your brand is all about entertainment, how can this fit with the current scenario? If your brand provides education, how can this be made more accessible? Adapt your messaging and activity. To avoid being tone deaf, make sure your messaging reflects some core brand values and purpose so that whatever you say has sincerity. Don’t try and be COVID-relevant if you aren’t. Keep your website up to date and utilize your social channels as much as possible. Content that brings customers together as a community, and shares experiences, is a great way for brands to stay front of mind. People are interested in humorous, light-hearted content as an antidote to coronavirus news, so is this something your brand can do? For example, video shorts showing ‘lockdown stories’ from within the business or from the products or characters of your brand. ‘Behind-the-scenes’ content also works well to help customers feel more connected to your brand. Think of ways to add
value. Can you give games hacks or product tips, or previews of what the R&D teams are working on next? Some popular high street food outlets have been sharing recipes of their best-selling snacks to help customers get their brand fix at home. This is a smart move as it offers an opportunity to keep in touch with customers when the shops are closed and reminds them of what they like most from the brand. Another effective way of making a large organisation human and relatable, whilst building trust at the same time, is direct communication from the CEO, such as a letter to customers and clients explaining what the business is doing and how it is behaving during these disconcerting times. It can bring comfort and reassurance, whilst keeping you on their radar until times change. Asda has been doing this to great effect. Use the media. People are reading, watching and listening to media more than ever before, and there are only so many coronavirus stories they can stomach. Journalists know this and need other content for their audiences. They are looking for heart-warming, good news stories to counter the grim headlines from Downing Street. For example, a story recently from My Nametags discussed the art of naming babies after the birth of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds’ new son, which generated nearly 140 pieces of coverage for the brand, driving traffic to the website and keeping them on their customers’ radar. In short, to stay in the public eye, brands must communicate, and there are many ways of doing it, just make sure you do it.
For more advice about managing your communications during COVID-19, visit www.energypr.co.uk PAGE 7