Tips for Marketers During COVID-19

Building brand trust has never been more important, and brands should use this time as an opportunity to re-establish trust through customer-centric actions.

Listen.
Now more than ever, it’s important to know what customers feel and why. Increase voice of the customer (VoC) programs and social listening efforts to better understand customer concerns and needs relevant to your brand. Ask sales and account management teams what they hear from the front lines and monitor customer service emails, calls, and chats for changes in concerns or sentiment.

Adapt.
The next few months will no doubt bring many challenges; brands must anticipate these challenges and take alternative actions. For example:

• Create compelling content. With more people spending more time at home, brands should look to provide informative, educational, and encouraging content.
• Develop alternative marketing ideas now for physical events planned for late spring and summer, don’t wait until they are canceled.
• Secure future media now. Competition for ad space will be fierce as things return to normal, and both brand and political campaigns start ramping up their ad spendings. Brands should work with their media planners to secure placements now before they get crowded out.

Help.
Support customers and protect customer relationships while staying honest about what your brand can and cannot deliver at this time. Focus on keeping the bonds of trust strong, and avoid actions that provide short-term gains at the expense of customer trust.