Content Marketing During COVID-19: The Good, the Bad, and the Baffling
Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash
There has never been a more challenging time to communicate with your customers. Most of us have, at this point, received an email from every person or company we’ve ever done business with telling us how they’re handling the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Some of these messages are helpful. Some are opportunistic. Some are irrelevant. And some are downright baffling. I’m looking at you, Barnes & Noble.
While the bookseller was widely criticized for sending out a three-sentence email that said basically nothing, B&N spotlights a major challenge for marketers amidst this crisis. We all must ask ourselves:
How do we stay relevant to our audience right now?
What do our customers need or want from us right now?
What does our business have to offer right now?
What is the best way to express our message right now?
Three tips for crafting your COVID-19 content
Here are three things to keep in mind as you craft your content marketing messaging in light of COVID-19.
1. Stay in your lane. We don’t need health or hygiene tips from a car dealership. We don’t want pantry recipes from our drycleaner. We do want online, on-demand workouts from our gym, however. And we would love to know which restaurants are offering delivery and takeout, and what food safety precautions they’re taking at this time.
2. Watch your tone. This has never been trickier. You want to strike the right balance of serious, relevant, and empathetic. No one wants a tone-deaf sales pitch from a roofing company offering “50% off a new roof because the sky is falling!” (I made that up. Not a real offer. I hope.)
3. Choose your words wisely. Raise your (frequently washed) hand if you never want to hear the words “uncertain time” or “social distancing” again. I know, it’s tough. There are only so many ways to say something. That’s where a content marketing writer can help.
I’m more than a human thesaurus. I can work with you to understand the challenges your business is facing in this uncertain time now and help craft messaging that resonates with your audience, rather than turning them off or making them tune out.
Who’s doing COVID-19 content right?
So is anyone actually getting this right? Yes! Many brands and businesses are. Apartment Therapy, a website known for home décor hacks and virtual house tours, has been posting useful content on cleaning and disinfecting your home. Articles include 3 Disinfectants You Can Use If You Can’t Find Clorox Wipes and The DIY Sanitizer Recipes You’re Seeing Everywhere Don’t Work—Here’s the Right Way to Do It.
On Facebook, IKEA Israel posted these brilliantly simple quarantine instructions.
Keeping up with your content marketing efforts isn’t easy, let alone during a global crisis. If you need help with your blog posts, crafting and curating social media updates, creating email campaigns, or any other written marketing content, get in touch. I’m here for you during this uncertain … unprecedented … I’m here for you.
Abigail Green is an experienced content marketing writer and journalist who offers businesses creative solutions for every content need.