This is a time when we are all asking “What can I do?” What can I do to stay healthy and make sure others are safe? What can I do help my children get their school lessons while I still do my job, all in the same house? What can I do to help my neighbors? What can I do to stay sane? To see how we at Clairemont are attempting to answer these particular questions (coupled with views into our personal lives), check out Clairemont’s Instagram stories.
Like a lot of you, we are also finding ourselves asking what can I do as it pertains to work right now. There’s no denying it: this is not business as usual, nor will “normal” return anytime soon. We have cancelled client events, postponed openings and had difficult conversations with clients who have been forced to temporarily close. These conversations have included the questions what can we be doing and what should we be doing?
PR and marketing during the coronavirus is no doubt challenging. Without events and live activations, we have to rely on other elements in the marketing mix. First and foremost, Clairemont advises to have a heart. Do nothing that is opportunistic or that can be perceived that way. Operating from a place of care and concern for your workforce, your customers, your community and our country is never wrong. With this in mind, here are some actions to consider:
Take care of your people first.
Internal communications has never been more vital. Today, more is more — as long as it is meaningful. In addition to equipping your employee base with health and wellness facts they need to avoid contracting and spreading COVID-19, consider what resources they need if they are new to working remotely. Also consider the mental health of your teams, and embrace the spirit of we are all in this together. Ask yourself how your employee communications can comfort, inspire and keep people feeling connected.
Meet your customers where they are.
We get it — it feels hard to connect when you’ve been forced to cancel your customer appreciation event, postpone your grand opening or close the doors to a place people love to gather. Resist the urge to “shut down” communications, too. Think about where your customers and key audiences can be reached today. Whether that is LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or any number of online collaboration tools, go THERE. Be THERE. Provide support, give relevant updates and most importantly, stay connected.
Stockpile content.
Think about all of the things way down at the bottom of your content creation list that you’ve been telling yourself you will get to when you have time. You know that executive who is always traveling and too busy for you to interview for a Q&A? Chances are, she isn’t on the road now. For that matter, are all of your executive bios updated? How about your website copy? Perhaps now is the time to shoot some iPhone videos or beef up your LinkedIn presence. Consider starting a blog or writing posts for your existing blog that can be rolled out in the coming months and highlight your organization’s greatest attributes.
Don’t know where to start? I’m back to that question of “What can I do?” And the answer is that I can help you. I would LOVE to help you during this incredibly uncertain time. Let’s jump on the phone or video chat and talk through some ideas. Shoot me an email to schedule a complimentary consultation.
In the meantime, hang in there. Remember that you are not alone.