How many new emails came into your inbox within the last hour? Are they helpful? Useful? Selling based on fear? Are you a light in the dark?
As the COVD-19 pandemic continues its escalation, the business landscape is quickly changing and business owners are scrambling to adjust their marketing in the midst of crisis. Consumers are now finding their inboxes bombarded with new offers and blogs, increasing the depth of the noise surrounding us during this situation.
That’s the problem. So many of these new messages are noise. For the people we are trying to communicate with, our customers and clients, it becomes very difficult to distinguish useful information from fluff.
So what do you do? How can you be a light in the dark? There aren’t any easy answers, but these ideas might help you start down this new path in this new business environment.
Engage With Your Customers
The world is changing for everyone. The concerns and worries you face every day are the same ones your clients and customers are dealing with. We all want to find ways to create value for the people we serve, and when the world is changing this quickly, we begin to wonder how we can really provide that value. The best solution is always to engage. Reach out to your customers, find out what their problems are, and think about how you can help solve them within your business. Produce content that helps address those concerns and keep that conversation ongoing so you can adapt to the changing world.
Focus on Serving
Listening to your customers and delivering on their needs is part of a larger picture. During times like these, you need to focus on serving. Service is about helping and creating value. It’s not exploitative, not capitalizing on the fear people are feeling. Serving your customers is about being in this together.
How do you serve? However, you can? The reality is that all businesses are dealing with the same challenges. We have people depending on us for their income and we have clients who are experiencing a drop in revenue. Take the time to find out what you can do. Maybe there are some things you can do for free, or at a reduced cost. Think about how you can support employees and your community. We’re all in this together, so focus on service.
Be a Knight
The great lesson of the classic novel Don Quixote is that you choose who you want to be and how you want to live. For the titular character of that work, he wants to be a chivalrous knight in an age of reason, where noble values have been abandoned for harsh realities.
It’s the same with this pandemic or any crisis. You choose who you want to be, how your business will respond, and the values you will hold to during this time.
This is true for every aspect of your business, from the back-of-the-house operations to customer service and messaging. Is this a scary time for business owners? Absolutely, but you can decide how you will respond to the crisis facing you. The KLH Group is a phenomenal event production company in Charleston. Their industry is going to be hit very hard by this crisis, but they have embraced who they want to be and how they will handle this changing world.
Their latest blog post is a phenomenal example of being a light in the dark for business owners. Take a look at it here.
We’re Here for You
The Stingray Branding Team knows this is a challenging time for all of us. The world is changing incredibly quickly and many of us aren’t sure what to do or where to go. For years our mission has been to empower small business owners through top-notch digital marketing and branding. We’ve always been passionate about that, and we still are. In the coming weeks, we will be rolling out new programs and content to help you and your business during the pandemic.
Please contact us here for more information or to tell us how we can better serve you.
Stay strong and be well.
