April 16, 2020
Navigating through today’s societal challenges as a marketer is no easy task. Driving business objectives while also remaining respectful and providing support to audiences is a delicate balance that can easily be threatened with one wrong move.
In recent podcast “Marketing in the time of Coronavirus” with Mark Ritson, he highlights some examples of campaigns that missed the mark.
He argues that these campaigns were likely well-intentioned and that in normal circumstances, would be positively received – however, they come off as tasteless in the current climate due to their playful and somewhat opportunistic feel.
So, how do brands connect with their audiences without disrespecting our societal challenges?
The answer is simple: we need to listen.
Tuning into what’s going on around you, within your sector and within social conversations will help you to provide value to your customers and, in turn, your brand. Now is not the time to up-sell your audiences, but rather, it is to service them as they navigate through these unprecedented times.
Once you’ve done the listening, be tactical about what you share and always add value. As our Managing Director explained in our recent Serious Social podcast, it’s more important than ever for organisations to provide free, value-add content to their customers and audiences: “You need to think about how your brand can help people at the moment. Q&A’s, white papers and thought leadership pieces that you may have previously put behind the gate. How can you surface some of that content to help people right now and how can you be giving away some of that insight for free?”
Providing value to your organisation and your audience is the only way forward in this landscape – listen to the full podcast to understand why.