Anti-Viral Marketing Essentials
Well, we never thought that our first blog entry would come at a time like this, but when life gives us lemons - we at NoLie like to make a nice tall glass of digital-growth focused lemonade. NoLie has been helping build brands for a couple of years, but during this time of uncertainty, we think it’s even more important to lend a helping hand and assure brands that they can come out on the other side of this challenge a little bit stronger - and better connected to their audience.
So we’ve decided to have our first blog post focused on the things brands can do to keep business going, and if possible even prosper, during the time of Covid-19.
What We’re Covering
Don’t Panic
There’s a 20% increase in web traffic so digital outreach is the way to go.
Be Genuine & Hopeful
Offer support and encouragement to your consumers, don’t spread fear.
Find A Relevant Message
Do what you do best and find a way to apply it to the current situation.
Offer An Incentive & Assurance
Now more than ever is the time to give, so give what you can.
Keep Your Digital Activity Going
Don’t stop the hustle. Keep making content. Keep engaging.
Ramp Up Your Customer Service
Install a chat bot and set up automated responses.
Upgrade Your CRM
Make your life easier and build on automation and personalization flows.
Up Your Social Media Game
People are on social media in massive numbers, you should be too.
Don’t Stop Media Buying
It may be time to switch the goal from conversions to engagement.
Create A WFH Action Plan
Tips & essential tools for peak WFH productivity.
Don’t Panic
First things first. Stay calm and carry on. It may seem like obvious advice, but in times of social crisis, people, and businesses, tend to panic and ruminate over what can go wrong.
Times may be a bit hectic, but even though brick and mortar stores may be closing up shop for the next few weeks, this is an opportunity to grow your brand’s digital presence and connect with consumers who are stuck at home - and probably using the internet much more frequently. In fact, Verizon recently reported that they are seeing a 20% uptick in web traffic.
So, stay positive and don’t think too heavily on your limitations, but find opportunities - there are plenty out there.
Be Genuine & Hopeful
It’s important for businesses and brands to address the current situation. But try to not state the obvious or be overly sympathetic - you run the risk of coming across as disingenuous. You want to be as authentic as possible.
In a time where people are feeling physically isolated, they are yearning for interaction. Right now, there is a lot of misinformation and fear-mongering being spread. So, don’t contribute to the alarmism by harping on the negative, or reminding people that we are in the midst of a crisis. Now is the time to foster hope, and you can position your brand to be a beacon of encouragement.
Find A Message That Is Relevant To Your Consumers
As a brand, you know your virtues, your voice, and what you have to offer your consumers. So when reaching out to your audience at this time, it’s important to play up to your strengths and send a message that resonates with your consumers. For example, it would not make sense for an electrical company or real estate agency to send a message about the best practices for washing your hands. Instead, a newsletter regarding how to keep your electricity in check while at home, or a message about how Covid-19 will affect your mortgage payments, would be more appropriate, respectively.
Many brands are already using this situation to communicate to their customers with their brand position in mind. For example, the project management app Asana sent out a newsletter to their users about the best practices for working from home. Another example is from an LA-based spirits brand, AMASS. They have turned surplus gin into their own line of “botanical hand sanitizers.” So keep in mind what you do best - and how you can apply your resources to the current situation.
Offer An Incentive & Assurance
People might be worried that they’re strapped for cash. Many brands have waived certain fees associated with their products/services. Seamless has currently dropped their delivery fees. Internet providers are dropping late fees and offering leniency on late payments. Fashion retailers are offering site-wide discounts and assuring them on time delivery and assuring customers that packages coming from China are safe.
For example, the outdoor retailer Eddie Bauer is offering a 50% discount on homeware, with an email offer with the subject, “Working From Home? 50% Off These Comfy Must-Haves.” Consumers want to know that you aren’t just trying to milk them for their money in these times, but want to know you recognize people are concerned with finances. So, if you’re in a position to do so, giving may be a better tactic than taking. And more importantly, consumers will remember your generosity and this will help build brand loyalty in the long run.
Keep your Digital Activity Going
People are social distancing, but now more than ever people are hungry for interconnection through a digital outlet. People are sharing happy hours with a group facetime, social media usage is on the rise, streaming services are seeing an increase, fitness studios are moving their group classes to Instagram live. People are trying to keep their relationships and passions alive through a digital platform - and now is a good time to build a relationship with your audience.
When people are experiencing similar struggles they rally together and build communities of support. Now, more than ever you know exactly where to find your consumer - they are home, they are online. Help foster building those communities digitally.
Ramp Up Your Customer Service
Recently, I found myself needing to return a dress I purchased at Zara. With the New York City shutdowns, I was concerned that I’d not be able to return it in the 30 day period and contacted customer service through a chat boy installed on the site, and was quickly assured that all returns were given a 60-day extension after the stores opened again. One less thing to worry about.
It is likely that consumers will be checking in with your customer service team more frequently. They may be concerned with package delivery times, the handling safety of packages coming from abroad, etc. Your customers have more time on their hands, and the situation may cause them to be concerned about things they normally wouldn’t.
If you haven’t already, it is a good time to set up a customer support app. Gorgias is a great customer service app that allows you to respond to customer service requests in real time. They also allow you to set up automatic responses to frequently asked questions. 60% of requests are commonly asked questions, so installing an automation tool will assist you greatly in dealing with the higher demand.
It May Be Time To Upgrade Your CRM
Ok, so maybe you’ve sent out your newsletter to your audience addressing Covid-19. Now what? It’s a perfect time to put more energy into your email campaigning. Your follow up messages do not have to be crises related. It’s important to stay positive and to offer your consumers a distraction from the stream of disturbing news they’re consuming more regularly.
You know exactly where your consumers are spending their time, so it’s a great time to reach out to them. You may have to tweak your marketing content and calendar to remain relevant to the times. Your April product launch announcement may have to have been put off amid global events. But the world keeps turning. Make a beautiful spring promotion campaign, think of how you can best position yourself for Mother’s Day.
Also, if you have more time on your hands, think about how you can build on automation and personalization flows. Our partners, Klaviyo, have a very easy-to-follow guide on how to build automated flows, which you can look at here.
Trust us, automation will pay off greatly in the long run, and make your job much, much easier.
Up Your Social Media Game
A recent study found that there is a 76% spike in likes on Instagram ad posts over the past two weeks. While over-consumption of social media may not always be the best idea, the fact of the matter is that your consumers are on social media in unprecedented numbers. You as a brand should be on social media too, remaining active and relevant. You want to keep those conversations up.
For example, the wildly popular New York City gym frequented by supermodels and celebrities, Dogpound, have been filling their Instagram feed daily with at-home workout routines. Beauty brands like Glossier, are offering makeup tutorials with captions like “All made up and nowhere to go,” and also sharing screenshots of their virtual morning meetings, letting consumers know it’s just business as usual.
Don’t Stop Media Buying
It’s important to not lose momentum in a time like this. It’s just as crucial to monitor your results and test your campaign strategies. In some cases, depending on your product or service, you are still going to be growing considering the massive uptick in online traffic. In other cases, you may want to shift your campaign objective from conversions and purchases to audience engagement. Like mentioned in the tips above, it is a great time to interact with your audience and to gain even more consumers interest in your brand.
Communicate & Put Together A WFH Action Plan
While in most cases, our job can be done from anywhere, marketers are showing concern about the shift from working in the office to working from home. In fact, in a recent poll, 59% of marketers believe that working from home will compromise their business. But this 100% does not have to be the case.
We could fill an entirely separate listicle with just tips about working from home. But, we’ll summarize some of the best practices here.
First thing is first, communication is key. Hold a morning meeting with your team to discuss priorities for the day. You can quickly and easily schedule meetings through Google Hangouts, or even the work communication app, Slack. A morning meeting to review daily objectives and an EOD meeting to review if those objectives have been met are crucial.
In terms of project and time management, there are so many tools available to us work-from-homers to make sure that we are staying on top of our tasks. Toggl lets you track your time and see exactly how much time is being delegated to different projects. Asana lets you and everyone on your team to manage tasks by priority and due date, and show real-time updates to tasks and projects. Everyone aware of what the other team member is doing creates greater accountability. Plus, we love the extra treat of a unicorn flying across the screen when we click “mark complete.”
