Are you wondering how you should be communicating with your customers during a pandemic?

A lot of brands are struggling to figure out how to communicate and conduct marketing during this difficult time. There isn’t an easy off-the shelf template on how to communicate during a global health crisis. Businesses of all sorts are struggling with this right now. Sadly, a lot of them are getting it VERY WRONG.

We are living through a difficult time.

It doesn’t matter if your are in the United States, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand or someplace else. We are all facing the similar challenges.

In my local community, over the last few weeks it has seemed that the news was getter more and more dire. Throughout this pandemic, we have been getting really mixed messages from our elected leaders.

Some of following the lead of health professionals, while others are letting their ideology cloud common sense. Some people are fully committed to social distancing, while others don’t see the need and are going about their lives in the ways they always have.

While all this is happening, too many brands are getting it wrong with their communication. I'm here to tell you that tone def communication now could have a negative impact on your future as a business.

Context is so important with brand communication & marketing.

During a time of crisis – like the coronavirus pandemic – it crucial that brands address the issue thoughtfully and with empathy.

It is important to realize that all communication is about your audience…not you. Yep, your audience. Think about your audience. Where are your customers emotionally? What is their headspace?

Think about the purpose of your communication. Why do you want to communicate? What are trying to achieve through your communication? Look inside your head and, insider your heart.

Is your communication about people or is about profits?

If your business communication is about making money right now, you are in the wrong headspace.

I will tell you that right now. Marketing now is a huge challenge. What you planned two months ago for today doesn’t work. You risk doing more harm than good to your business.

When I hope my email or go to my mailbox on my front porch, I see too many brands getting it way wrong. Both with the content of their communication and their mode of communication. I just got a piece of mail about new windows - a special April sale. What are the people with Anderson Windows thinking? Their oversized postcard was undoubtedly planned pre-pandemic. When I opened my mail, I thought to myself, they could care less about us. They just want our money. If I do decide to buy windows in the future, it won't be Anderson.

Also, my email has been blowing up for weeks with super TEXT HEAVY emails. A load of them are traditional sales emails.

I’m now at the point where I’m not just deleting emails…I’m unsubscribing from a lot of brands. I mean a lot. It is frustrating to me that they don’t get it. They don’t care about me, they just want my money.

Many people are afraid for their lives and their livelihoods. Spending money on a new wardrobe or new shoes isn't high on my priority list now. I'm not sure about you, but there are days I don't take off my slippers.

We are living through an extraordinary period of time of great uncertainty. It is scary and people are emotional. We don’t know what is going to happen or when things will get back to "normal" and what that new "normal" looks like.

If you already had marketing campaigns planned for now, you may want to pause, pivot or reprioritize. Before anything goes out you should be looking at it under a microscope thinking about how your customers will perceive it.

Common sense will take you a long way.

If you don’t have a lot of emotional intelligence, bring in someone who does to review the material. At a minimum, you should avoid visuals of crowds or lots of people touching. I can't tell you how much marketing I've seen that hasn't been sensitive to this.

You should also reframe marketing that describes close interaction with others. We are in the era of social distancing. Our government has advised people to wear masks in public.

How does that change your communication? I’m not sure if it does, but you should be asking yourself these questions.

Don’t try to capitalize on the crisis. Not only is it immoral, it might be illegal and it certainly could backfire. Don’t spread panic or become an alarmist.

My advice is simple.

Be human.

Be yourself.

Be vulnerable.

Be honest.

More than anything, be clear about the purpose of your communication. Why the heck are you communicating? What do you want to accomplish?

You shouldn’t communicate at all if you are not clear about your purpose. This is true all the time. It is business critical in times like these.

Too many businesses are losing my business because of their communication. I’m hitting unsubscribe to emails every day now because their tone def communication is just clutter in my in basket. I’m hitting unsubscribe because it is clear that they care more about money than me.

If your priority is profits not people, then don’t communicate now. You may lose some of your customers. Possibly forever. We are living through a time where people are honestly afraid. They are afraid for themselves and their families. They are emotional.

If you do want to communicate. I strongly urge you to use video.

Share your values. Let your customers know how you feel right now. Show your human side. If you are afraid of losing business or going bankrupt, please say that. Be honest.

If you are afraid for your health or that of your staff, please say that.

Be honest. Be vulnerable. Be human.

Let your audience know you care about them and the people that make up your brand. Showing people you care isn’t just the right thing to do, it is what they need now. We all need that sense of we are all in this together and we will get through it together.

In summary:

• Be human.
• Connect with your audience at an emotional level.
• Forget about profits for a minute and think about your customers as people. Your neighbors, your family, your friends.Picture them in your mind’s eye.
  • What would you want them to know?
  • What would you want them to hear from you?
• Calibrate your communication to fit your audience…know where their heads and hearts are.
• Don’t send a bunch of text heavy emails to convey your message.
  • People won’t read it.
  • There is so much clutter out there.
• Rise above the clutter by shooting a quick, heartfelt video using your cell phone that you share via email & social.