Contribution and Conversion: Empathetic Marketing For COVID 19
It has been more than a month since implementing measures to contain the spread of the virus were imposed worldwide. The economy has gone into a halt and non-essential businesses have been closed. As a result, many people lost their jobs, and consumer confidence is at its all-time low since 2008. Find out what it means for your marketing activity, check the article.
In the world of e-commerce, conversions dipped across many industries, with a few exceptions for those in the food, health, and finance industries – the essential businesses open at this time.
In a rapidly changing environment surrounding this pandemic, the only way to keep your business alive is to adapt.
So the question is, what can marketers do to keep their customers engaged and potentially keep conversions coming, where possible, during this time? How should businesses position their products or services to their audience while staying sensitive in their content?
As events continue to unfold, there are no clear answers for now. But, in this article, we’ll show you how empathetic marketing has helped other businesses connect with more customers, and how your marketing strategy can adapt during these unprecedented times.
We will talk about:
- Trending Google searches that may help you
- Empathetic marketing for lead generation
- Taking advantage of cheap ads
- Copywriting dos and don’ts
Trending Searches: self-help, fitness, and learning
With entire countries on lockdown, your market is now online.
In fact, Facebook reports that they’ve observed a surge of users over the last few weeks. There’s a 70% or more increase in time spent across their apps, and Instagram and Facebook Live views have doubled in a week. Messaging increased over 50% and group calling increased by over 1000%.
Since all transactions have moved online out of necessity, more people now choose to interact with companies through digital channels.
In relation to this, Google also said that search behavior has been affected by the pandemic. There had been a notable increase in searches for “do it yourself” topics, home exercise videos, and “with me” themed videos such as “cook with me” or “study with me”.
So, what do these developments mean for your business?
It means that you need to reassess your content pipeline – create content that helps people learn something new, connect with them in a more personal way, and contribute something for their overall well-being.
If you don’t belong in the food, health, or finance industry, the best way to stay relevant and build connections is empathy – aligning your content towards education and contribution more than merely promoting your products and services.
Empathetic Marketing for Lead Generation
One of the first brands that has stepped up is Nike. Inspired by the athletes’ determination to train, even in the midst of this pandemic, the sportswear giant has offered its online fitness training platform called the Nike Training Club FREE. This subscription-based service’s premium version is now available for everyone.
And, just as people are reading books or listening to audiobooks to relax, Scribd has done the same, making their services FREE for 30 days.
Expert marketer Neil Patel who runs Ubersuggest announced on a blog post that he’s making the app free for marketers. Since agencies are cutting back, he decided to give away more data through the free version of the app. As a result, he gained over 6,000 new customers who are now using the service.
Can you lower your rates or offer something for free, making your valuable services available for more people, to help them save money? These steps may not result in fresh conversions right away, but it could pay off in the long term as you engage with new customers.
So ask yourself, is there something right now that you can teach your audience, or give value for their time?
Taking Advantage of Cheap Ads
More businesses are cutting back on their spending, so there’s less competition in the PPC bidding for certain industries. And with less competition, it means lower ad cost.
Moreover, people are now forced to search online for services, so it means you have a bigger market – now more than ever. If you haven’t tried Google Ads yet, you could definitely consider it at the moment.
And as more people around the world are online, you might want to consider opening doors to potential customers in other countries. You can start doing international SEO in English-speaking countries first, or with any languages and audiences, you’re willing to try.
Copywriting Do’s and Don’ts
This pandemic has affected people on a very personal level, that’s why your messaging matters. Here are a few points worth remembering during this time.
Be sensitive. During this pandemic, it’s easy for companies to come off as insensitive, or exploiting the current situation to sell a product. It’s important to review any messaging and be more careful of the words you use in your content.
Avoid using humor. It’s better to have a serious, positive, and encouraging tone than to try and make humor out of the situation since humor can be interpreted differently by people. The intention may be good, but the outcome may not.
Scan your wording. Be careful not to use sensitive words that are related to the pandemic. Don’t use a play of words like “killer deals”, ”viral”, or anything that can be taken negatively. Instead, be more direct and succinct with your messaging.
Use credible sources. Prevent the spread of false news and misinformation by fact-checking before you share. Only gain information for your advertising or posts from credible sources.
Change your offers. Updates are constantly changing each day so it’s important to make your offers up to date. You might also want to change your call to action phrases into something more neutral and relevant to current events. Ease up on urgency words and use words like virtual, remote, online, and the like.
Stay Home, Stay Safe
The effect of this pandemic is being felt worldwide and we have yet to see how it’s going to ultimately impact the global economy.
From the entire Delante team, we sincerely wish the best for all our customers, clients and the international community affected by the pandemic. We also give huge thanks to all the doctors, nurses and emergency response teams working tirelessly all over the world during this time. Let’s stay home, stay safe and we will get through this together.
Do you have any ways to use this “stay home time”? Let us know in the comments!
