That full-fledged campaign which was supposed to launch your new product series suddenly came to a halt, right? Because now, all people care about is saving their jobs and serving their stomachs. Not populating their online cart! So, you begin to discuss strategies that will help you to conduct business as usual during the post-corona phase.
But, what do you do now?
The last thing you would want to do is offer discounts, because no one wants to associate with a brand that is making money out of this worldwide suffering, unless you run a business which provides essential services. If you continue to advertise something which is irrelevant to the current times, you will be labelled ‘greedy’. If you vanish from their feeds altogether, will they remember you? The problem with these thoughts is, you are focusing on you.
What are you doing vs what are they doing?
Shift your focus to them, your audience. Ask them – how are they, what are they doing or what would they like to do. Yes, you know the importance of user-generated content, but now it has become more significant than ever. Because your target audience has sufficient time to consume content and engage on social media. No wonder there has been an increase in ad impressions and user engagement on TikTok and Instagram!
But why do this?
No, you don’t initiate engagement campaigns just because they need some activity to pass their time or you have nothing else to do. When you ask questions, you get answers. Answers to plan your future strategies. Sure, you have a team to research the market and understand your buyer persona. But what better than organic research? Well, this is the time. When you know what your audience is doing now, you understand their behaviour in depth. This keeps you in a better position to craft content for them in the future.
How do you do it?
Be clear about the purpose of every engagement campaign you run. It could be to understand the preferences of your customers or build a positive image of your brand. For a clothing business, a simple question like – what are you dying to wear after this pandemic ends, will encourage your customers to think and be hopeful about the future. As a result, you know exactly what they are waiting for! If you own a restaurant, why not challenge your customers to cook or replicate your immunity-boosting dishes? Know what your audience is capable of and understand how you need to up your game! In these times when people are reconnecting with their family and friends, ask them to share their family moments and post it on your brand profile. This inspires others to do the same and establishes you as someone with goodwill. Before you know it, people will tag their friends and boost your brand visibility!
Sometimes, you need to take a backseat. And ask questions to those who matter to your brand. Not about your product, but about themselves. When everyone is craving for a good and positive conversation right now, be human and talk to them. Don’t tell them how awesome you are, ask them how they are managing to be awesome right now.
And while they do this, be ready to jot down the points. For they are going to construct the next strategy, the one you need, and your customers deserve!