How are you, as business owners and leaders, managing to keep a clear line of sight on what to say and do when it’s no longer business as usual? 

I don’t know about you, but as the days of #stayathome continue, life in Coronavirus isolation seems to ebb and flow with a fluctuating mix of hope and loss. And I know the same applies to many people’s feelings about their businesses too, whether they own them or run them. 

Depending on how much news has been consumed, which papers have been read, how long they’ve lingered on Twitter, how many school lessons they’ve attempted to lead, how much blue sky can be seen, depends on one’s perspective in that moment. 

Add in a business to communicate for and it can all become a tad hazy. 

Think long

Now’s the time to think long term…

• Where do you want to be ‘on the other side’?

• How would you like to be perceived by people (existing and possible new customers)?

• Who amongst your stakeholders will benefit from or appreciate your support most?

• When are you most relevant or valuable to your audience?

• What can you do now that will set you in good stead for 6-12 months time?

• Why shouldn’t you stay in touch now and throughout lockdown?

I’ve drawn up eight ideas of what to say and do when it’s no longer business as usual. 

1. Keep in touch
   
   You’ll have customers or clients, maybe both, suppliers, partners and possibly affiliates and brand partners too as well as staff. While the story you have to tell them may well have changed, that’s even more reason to keep the flow of communication going. Whether you’re using your website, email marketing or social media platforms (or a combination) to keep the communication flow open between you and them, stay present, keep on keeping on.
   
   For those with whom you have transactional relationships, email will probably work best and feel most personal unless they’re used to seeing you or your team face to face. In the case of the latter, how’s it going hosting virtual meetings on platforms like Zoom or MS Teams? A light touch content plan to organise who you’re going to communicate with, when and via which channel will help you focus on what to say when the next interaction is due.
   

2. Audit your own comms
   
   Audits are one of those things that consultants like me recommend you do regularly or at the very least at the start of a project we’re conducting for you. Communications audits are also very worthwhile in times of crisis. This is about having all your outward facing ducks in a row - consensus across the board, everyone on the same page.
   
   Look internally too - in fact, start here. If your team understands the challenge, how you’re handling it and their role in getting to the other side, leading them to achieve that will be that bit swifter.
   

3. Review your channel activity
   
   It’s a natural follow on from the audit if it doesn’t fall into the original effort. Casting even the briefest eye across your channel marketing plan will enable you to make hard and fast decisions on…
   * PPC spend
   * Other advertising and remarketing spend
   * Social media post frequency/themes
   * Integrated marketing campaigns
   * Direct marketing emails
   * Public relations focus
   * SEO strategy and content plan
   
   Strategically review where the spend is allocated based on the refreshed purpose of your marketing during lockdown. No-one’s saying stop marketing. Really, don’t. Whether you get the reference to Ross and the sofa scene from Friends or not, now is the time to pivot smartly.
   
   Take a lead from the supermarkets who are continuing their radio ad spend but flicking their message to promote keyworker shopping times and reinforce respectful social distancing.
   
   The takeaway here: audience still relevant, brand still relevant, new & relevant news to impart.
   

4. Continue to create valuable content
   
   I say continue because hopefully you were already creating valuable content for your audience… Now’s the time to shift the topic, recognise people’s attention has shifted and that the information or help they need now, from you, needs adapting.
   
   People are more likely to be at home and more like to be online more often during lockdown. If that means you need to or could find an opportunity to shift how you deliver that content, think about that too.
   
   Beam yourself into people’s home offices. Get to grips with live streaming via your most engaged social media channel. Upgrade that Zoom registration to premium to host a virtual company town hall or pub quiz.
   

5. Make email work for you
   
   Remember that comms audit higher up this list? While you were reviewing what your website says about you and does for your customers at the moment, you tested the email data capture pop-up, its message, or simply whether or not it worked (or is even there…). Didn’t you?
   
   It might seem odd, that in a time when people can barely travel beyond their front door that they would want to still hear from travel companies. Or that travel companies would find any benefit in keeping in touch. Yet in the last fortnight I’ve seen and heard two fabulous counters to this thinking.
   
   1, I worked with a client to draft, build and send an email that would ordinarily be promoting holidays, but instead explained why they wanted to stay in touch and how they were going to go about it.
   The results? Slightly lower than average open rates for them (I took that to be understandable given the timing). But a juicily level 3% click through rate across all their lists. Plus, a lovely drop of direct responses thanking them for their considered approach.
   
   2, Another travel example, the editor of Wanderlust magazine has been thinking on her feet recently and while she and the team have taken the decision to delay the next edition of the print magazine, they are planning to increase the frequency of their email newsletters in order to keep in touch with their loyal fan base in the fluid way that digital content enables more so than print.
   

6. Repurpose existing content
   
   I’ve written about the benefits of repurposing content previously and actually Wanderlust’s Lyn Hughes touched on it last week too. Typically, in content terms, the most useful content a business creates is content that barely ages. Hence we call it evergreen content. It also tends to be the best performing or best converting content over time too.
   
   While you’re doing that comms audit and reviewing your marketing plan, take some time to identify those pieces of content, consider their value now, how the headlines could be tweaked to be more relevant now to search and audience interest, and adjust the body copy and meta data as necessary.
   
   Wondering what to use in your social media content plan or emails? It’s right there, under your auditing nose.
   

7. Time to optimise
   
   In marcomms terms, that audit might teach you a thing or two, either about your business and audience, or about how you could be doing some things better for greater conversion.
   
   Now’s the time to recognise the gaps in your knowledge and in your marketing toolkit, and fill them.
   
   That might entail jumping on a now virtually delivered training course or workshop. Or it might be hiring someone to help you fill the gaps while trade is quiet. Why would you do that? So that you’re firmly on the front foot when we get to the other side.
   
   Depending on your business, that front foot might be a freshly optimised website (on page and technical SEO), a whole new communications strategy, a suite of fresh and evergreen content to support the website optimisation, a brimful email list waiting for ‘buy now’ to appear once again in your e-shots, or a loyally engaged fan base on social media.

8. Care in the community
   
   It would have been easy to put this point first, because right now most people are trying to find a way to help their community through the Covid-19 crisis. Whether that’s a residential neighbourhood or a community of professionals who’ve got each other’s backs, the generosity on display out there is heartwarming.
   
   How can you add to that using your own expertise, product or offering? Do you know what? It really doesn’t have to be that groundbreaking and it’s ok if it’s profitable as long as you’re not attempting to profiteer from your efforts. Think about it…
   
   * Restaurants flipping to offer takeaway instead of eat-in keeps them relevant, contributing towards their bottom line but giving their communities a break from battling in the supermarket aisles or dealing with kids whinging about fish fingers again for dinner tonight.
   
   * Hotels that aren’t allowed to welcome commercial guests can keep their staff busy and keyworkers safe and away from isolating families by putting them up, all while generating enormous brand glow for the effort.
   
   * Authors, illustrators, cookery teachers, personal trainers, (the list goes on...) delivering free online classes and show-and-tell to keep kids entertained (and parents sane) while schools are closed. 

The positive associations generated for their brands, book and class sales in the long term will pay off. Thinking long is, unfortunately, about soaking up some short term pain or expense while aiming for a targeted future. 

What will you say and do?

Whether you’re just trying to get through Covid-19 or come out the other side steaming ahead, I hope ths list is helpful, either in spurring ideas, reminding you of things that have slipped down the list, or simply in inspiring you to keep on keeping on.

If you’re stuck for where to start, please contact me for a free 30 minute consultation. 

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