During these strange and difficult times you may be wondering how you should approach customer outreach or continue with any of your marketing efforts. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, here are some tips for moving forward in a way that is helpful to your audience and your business:

1. Keep Open Communication with Your Customers

Many are home and looking for reassurance that there is light at the end of this tunnel. This is an opportunity for your company to differ from the standard COVID-19 email being sent by seemingly every company in the world.

(I just got one from a coffee shop in Cleveland. I’ve never been to Cleveland, but it’s good to know they are doing the responsible thing.)

Beyond what the lawyers drew up for WHAT you are doing as a company, try giving an update on HOW your team is doing. What is it like to work from home for the first time? What is it like trying to work with the kids at home? How is your team staying sane in such a crazy time? 

I’m sure your customers have their own stories during these strange times and maybe they can relate to yours. 

It’s never been more important to connect with people. These shared experiences can help people feel less alone and more normal during an abnormal time.

2. Reexamine Your Content Strategy

While it’s important to continue running your business as usual, you may want to check in on any automated emails, any scheduled promotions, or content that may not be appropriate during this time. 

If, for example, your company makes and sells kissing booths, now might not be a good time to run an aggressive ad campaign. However, if you turn those kissing booths into isolation booths? You may have something there.

In a much better real world example of this, distilleries around the country have started making hand sanitizer to counteract the shortage.

What’s important is to not go radio silent on your audience. Adjust your messaging to their current situation. What are their needs now? How have things changed for them? Maybe a slight tweak to your content approach can help you connect with them in a way you never have before. 

Find a way, even if it is small, that your company can help.

Here are some blog topics you can write about that your audience may find helpful:

• How to Stay Productive While Working From Home
• Games to Entertain You & Your Kids During Lockdown
• Easy Meals to Cook For The Whole Family
• At Home Exercises to Help Productivity

3. Continue to Invest in Content

Ads are great for selling products, but when sales have stopped, you can use content to keep your customers engaged and your brand at top of mind. As you have done before, you can still use content for telling your story, connecting with your audience, and building trust. 

Try writing a weekly newsletter updating your customers on COVID-19, what it means for them as customers, how it is affecting your industry, and how you plan to respond.

Is there an opportunity for you to help your customers during this crisis or contribute to the community? If so, do it and don’t forget to write a press release to help get the word out.

Content is a long-term investment that can pay off months down the road, so continue to publish your content, keeping in mind the current state of the world and needs of your audience. When things start to normalize your customers will remember that you were there along the way.

Stay safe out there and please reach out to us with any questions. We are happy to walk you through any content strategy changes or help you find experienced writers to help you reach your goals.