The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented for us in the United States and presents unique challenges that the country has never faced. Those challenges extend to how we conduct business, leaving many companies worrying about keeping their business afloat \u2014 and how to respond to the crisis from a marketing perspective. We talked with Kirk Chartier, Chief Marketing Officer of Enova, and Kelly Jordan, Head of Global Consumer and Small Business Marketing for Enova, in order to compile a few tips. Together, the two have more than 45 years of marketing experience in roles for companies such as American Express, Walgreens and Orbitz.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Chartier: <\/strong>There\u2019s an element of it that feels like any of the financial crises we\u2019ve had, but it\u2019s entirely different because of the public health issues alongside the economic crisis.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jordan: <\/strong>If your business is basically on life support right now, you really have to think about cash preservation. So paid marketing is an area that probably isn\u2019t an expense you want to prioritize over taking care of your customers and your employees. You want to be ready to be back and strong when things open up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now is not<\/em> the time to reflexively stop advertising\u2026now is the time to keep marketing, but do it differently.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Chartier<\/strong> (contd): You may not spend money on advertising \u2014 you may market through your customers. You have to stay engaged so that when things turn, (customers) will be aware and they\u2019ll come to (you).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Chartier: <\/strong>Do what you can (afford) to promote your business and your brand. You can do that by building the relationship with the customers that you have, and also by building your relationship with your employees. Make sure they feel good about your business so that when things come back around, they\u2019ll feel good about representing your business.<\/p>\n Jordan: <\/strong>Think about your customer base and how their needs have shifted during this time.<\/p>\n Can you pivot your business model in the short-term or medium-term to better reflect the changing habits of your customers?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Chartier: <\/strong>You need to take care of your community\u2026whatever you can afford to do. I\u2019ve seen some businesses doing collabs with other businesses as a way to promote themselves. So you think about ways to market that are about selling, but also about promoting the brand and making it more visible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chartier: <\/strong>In a time like this, relevancy comes to the forefront. Empathy from a tone standpoint \u2014 relevancy from a content standpoint. You have to place your product in a relevant context to the current situation and need of your customer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jordan: <\/strong>Brand equity takes a long time to build in a positive direction, but it can go away overnight with a bad decision. Making sure your communications are relevant and sensitive during this time is critical to having a loyal customer base when we come out of this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jordan: <\/strong>This is a very sensitive time from a personal health and financial stress perspective, so people are understandably anxious. You have to be mindful of those components, but giving people an option of how to take advantage of this situation in a smart way isn\u2019t inappropriate.<\/p>\n Chartier: <\/strong>If people need your product \u2014 if this is the right time \u2014 you need to be informing them that you have it and it\u2019s available. And if it\u2019s not exactly the right time for your product, you have to remind them you\u2019re a good business who cares about its customers, its employees and its community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented for us in the United States and presents unique challenges that the country has never …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[540,610],"tags":[541,549,568,567,153],"class_list":["post-2694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-marketing-growth","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-crisis-marketing","tag-pandemic","tag-small-business-marketing"],"yoast_head":"\nHow does this pandemic compare to other crises we\u2019ve experienced in the United States?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What are some lessons you\u2019d share for small businesses that are some of the hardest hit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
They clarified that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean to stop marketing efforts entirely, but to change how you\u2019re doing it.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How can a business market itself while cutting down (or eliminating) paid advertising?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
They also recommended using PR, social media and email campaigns as inexpensive options for keeping your business at the forefront.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What type of considerations should be given to \u201ctone\u201d when marketing during a crisis?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Why is it important to be sensitive to tone and relevancy during this time?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
There\u2019s a school of thought out there that marketing during this pandemic is capitalizing on crisis, or that it\u2019s inappropriate. What do you say to that?<\/strong><\/h3>\n