At this moment, the entire world is going through a tough time, trying to restrict the spread of COVID-19. This has cast a huge impact on all people, irrespective of their social, political, or economical background. This is the kind of time when people look up to their community to find out the response. And, the word ‘community’ isn’t only limited to social or religious boundaries; a community can be built up anywhere, one such example is the community that builds up around a company. Consisting of the employees and the consumers, these communities lie beyond religious, economical, and geographical limitations.
For such companies, it is very important to address this situation with the utmost responsibility and the best way of doing it is by starting a conversation. As a team, as a family, the community around a company must discuss the gravity of the pandemic and how it is affecting those closest to the employees and the consumers. Some thoughts are mentioned below that can help companies build stronger working communities during the outbreak of COVID-19.
Don’t Take it as an Opportunity
The most important thing that the companies especially the marketing teams need to keep in mind that this isn’t a marketing opportunity and thus they should not think of capitalizing on this situation. Therefore, whenever something is posted on the social media pages of the brands, the team must make sure that it is designed with a touch of empathy and awareness about the on-going crisis. It is true that companies cannot sell their services or products without advertising, but it should also be made very clear that the company shouldn’t use the situation as the base of self-promotion.
Communicate and Contribute
Communication is the building block of any community and here too, the companies need to regularly communicate with their consumers, followers, stakeholders, and employees. The companies need to remember that nothing is more harmful to the reputation of a company than the community taking your silence as irresponsibility towards society. Therefore communicate, spread awareness, make people follow the instructions, contribute to the betterment of the situation, no matter how big or small the contribution is.
Reconsider Social Media Tactics
There might be some content that some companies had planned to post on social media platforms, but the situation has drastically changed over the last two months and therefore the companies need to highly reconsider their social media tactics; maybe keep the content saved for later. This isn’t also a good time for social media marketing of any upcoming product or event. Therefore, use this opportunity less on marketing and more on focusing on the situation as well as preparing for the time after the end of the crisis.
Stay home, stay safe.
