Content Marketing & Coronavirus: How to get it right?
Today is a frustrating time. With offices closed and public movements restricted, businesses have taken a hit. Nobody wished for this.
Let’s face it; there’s not much you & I can do about it [except of course adhering to the Government guidelines & practice social distancing].
But as the former Russian President, Boris Yeltsin said,
“I understand that it’s hard for everyone, but one cannot give in to emotions… we’ll have to draw lessons from the current crisis, and now we’ll have to work on overcoming it.”
It’s true. The business is not as usual. But treat it as an opportunity; refocus and do things that usually take a back seat because of other priorities. Here’s a chance to push your thinking beyond the norm, because the old normal won’t work.
One of the great things to get started with right now is to establish yourself & your organisation as a thought leader. Someone who has not only a product/service/solution to sell but also expertise and opinion that can help people. And what better way to do it than use content marketing.
Here’s how you can get it right:
1. Find the relevant spot
The most important thing for any marketer right now is to draft a communication that is the most appropriate in today’s climate. Brush the usual pushy approach under the carpet. Try to highlight your products/services as a solution to people who are accessing their work remotely, are not going out to any public spaces or maybe in a tight spot financially. Focus on problem-solving – an evergreen marketing rule.
2. Identify & mobilise resources:
With most offices working remotely, you would want to churn out content that your team can swiftly produce and deploy quickly. Push the blanket and go beyond your usual social media updates & blogs. Surely you’ll have some people in your team who are comfortable facing the audiences. They can do podcasts, webinars, AMAs, etc. and establish themselves and your organisation as proficient in your areas of expertise. Also, reach out to your audience where they are, not where you want them to be.
3. Plan – for now & the future
One thing we know is that the current situation will come to a pass. What we don’t know is when? As a content marketer, have enough contingencies planned to create a content pipeline that lasts for as long as the situation does. Also, ensure there is enough flexibility to account for any unprecedented changes that might come.
But once when the situation does change, and we all crawl back to the old normal, the challenge will be to sustain your ongoing content efforts. If you don’t already have one, lay down a strong content foundation; plug-in any gaps that you may have had in your strategy so far. There will never be a better time than today to plan for the future. Because once things go back to their older usual routine, there will be other urgent things to occupy your time & resources.
Putting together such a strategy & implementation is not going to be a quick & easy fix. Sure, it would take some time to align all parts of your machine together. But by doing this, you build a content marketing infrastructure and open an opportunity to create a loyal audience which can evolve later into multiple customer journeys.
New to content marketing? Have a question? Feel free to reach out to us at info@jacobsonsdirect.com