Step Up Your Communication In Times Of Crisis

Since the beginning of February, the social communication landscape has changed dramatically towards talking about one subject: the COVID-19 outbreak. I’m sure this blog post is the millionth one you’ve read about all aspects of life during COVID-19. Hopefully, the topics we cover feel a bit more fresh and insightful than all of those banana bread recipes everyone keeps sharing.

Most major players in the digital space have all adjusted to communication in COVID-19 accordingly...

Google announced a new expanded COVID-19 search experience, which includes a statistics module on the right hand side of the results page with top organic results showing information from World Health Organization and The New York Times. 

Bing created its own Covid Tracker. On Twitter #Coronavirus is the most used hashtag of 2020. 

Facebook says Coronavirus is pushing usage through the roof while most usage is concentrated among private messaging and video calling. No surprise there, although the added traffic must also be driving a lot of traffic to the ad channels as well.

In the midst of all this noise, your business is also affected by the pandemic in one way or another. We’ve gathered 4 ways to continue communicating efficiently and keep your business’s voice in line with the rest of the changing landscape.

Address the issue

Talk about it on social media posts. Don’t hide from this discomfort, lean into it. If there is something that this pandemic has helped to normalize, it is the honest expression of how we are all feeling in these difficult times. Join that conversation! Create FAQ sheets that answers most common questions regarding how business practices are adapting to restrictions. 

Update your information 

Check product availability on your site, update your business hours and delivery information. If your business is significantly impacted by the crisis, explain how you’re adapting on a dedicated page or right on your homepage. Keep this information up-to-date. Everything is already confusing, you don’t want people not to trust your hours of operation. Adjust them to what they currently are, and make sure you let everyone know you did, so they aren’t asking the question when they get to that point.

Refine your messaging

Now might not be the best time to be snarky or sarcastic. Use empathy, understanding and even certain types of humour instead. This is a time for us to come together, and snarkiness and sarcasm come off a bit tonedeaf in a time when there is quite a bit for us to worry about. Not to say it’s not allowed, but consider it twice to make sure you are being sensitive.

Take a pause and ask yourself some important questions

What role does your brand play in this situation - it’s ok if it’s none? Can your brand help or be useful? What can you do, even outside of your normal operation, to help people find some comfort in these times? There has to be something you are good at that might help the world other than just going about business as usual.

It’s not business as usual

Every post, video or ad will need an added layer of consideration & transparency over the coming days and weeks. Be mindful and be ready to adjust your messaging. 

Most importantly, don’t just stop operations. Don’t let the fear of uncertainty keep you paralyzed in this time of transition. Embrace where you are, focus on learning and being open to new things, and keep moving forward with compassion and empathy for the situation we are all in. Hopefully sooner rather than later, we can all talk about this in past tense and be thankful for the choices we made while we were in it.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Keep moving forward!