Comfort Food Marketing
These days we’re all concerned with two things; the state of our health and finances. Well, maybe three things, when are the kids going back to school? All jokes aside its a challenging time to market. Budgets are frozen, supply chains disrupted and consumer consumption patterns are shifting. Essential items are relegating luxury items to wish lists as we continue to hoard toilet paper. A baffling practice born of fear.
But fear not, we can still market, and now is the time to sow the seeds for long term relationships. After all, are we all not craving a little assurance that everything will be all right and we’ll get through this together? Relationship marketing has never had a better stage to work from than the COVID-19 pandemic. So here a few ideas to keep you in front of your audience.
Write once, share often: Marketing teams that relied on quarterly webinars to inform and learn from target buyers are finding attendance numbers down. It’s no surprise when folks who are juggling work, schooling kids, and managing the home will find it hard to fit you into a defined date and time to attend. But they have time to read. So send them articles and stories about your shared market and industry. Lay off the hard sell and focus on entertaining and educating them. Create stories they want to read rather than something they feel have to read. You want them to look forward to your next email and content. For example, brands such as Sports Basement share customer’s stories of joy and inspiration via email to members. The stories are not price and product-focused, they’re aspirational.
Engage rather than sell: Silca, a high-end road bike equipment manufacturer is leveraging gamification via social media and email to engage with consumers. The more often your audience engages with you the longer the relationship will last. Silca has run and re-run this promotion because it is working. That’s right, bingo works.
Be empathetic: Find ways to communicate with your audience that lets them know you understand what they are going through. I have a small group of friends that I call every day or so at the same time. It’s not a scheduled activity on a calendar, no Zoom required, and not every day do we talk. But there is comfort in knowing that in the late afternoon some or all of us will begin to touch base with each other. This loosely structured gab-fest is an opportunity to listen to others, share feelings, and find some comfort from the constraints of our daily lives. But it also sends a strong message, you matter and I called to see how you are. Is this not the essence of any long term relationship?
Eventually, and despite our elected leader’s worst efforts, the economy will come back, businesses will re-open. Life will be different and somehow the same. Marketing will still be a challenge, but it will be easier to re-enter this brave new world with strong relationships in place.
