The current pandemic and our preventative measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 has led us to a unique place in the business world; we’ve all but stopped business for the time being.

We started consuming social media like it was our best friend, because now, it basically is. It’s our news source and our entertainment source all balled into one giant bag of opinion, humor, anxiety and fear.

And right now, as concerned as we are about our health, a more worrisome concern is our economic future. How will we earn money to provide for ourselves and our loved ones when the economy has been put on hold? It’s safe to say that a majority of Americans are in uncharted waters in dealing with the future. There are simply too many unknowns.

It is in this environment that businesses struggling to stay afloat find themselves trying to continue their digital marketing efforts (Think social channels). Maybe some have suspended them until summer or even indefinitely. But our opinion is that the companies that continue to have a voice will emerge ahead of the curve once this is over. Being seen now will make a deeper impression, because your customers, and future ones, are spending so much time online these days.

It can’t be about just being seen. The messaging has to be appropriate for the times.

Here are three things to consider:

1. Be aware of the current mood. Don’t try to be funny or edgy right now. If you make light of a situation and someone takes offense, it could backfire. Their complaint, their anger, could ripple negativity for your brand. The best thing to do is acknowledge the situation we are in and craft your posts sensitively.
2. Don’t try to sell, just be human. If you come out asking for their credit card up front, it turns people off right now. Nobody is thinking about buying much of anything outside of the essentials to survive right now. And you can reference that fact when talking about what you sell. But staying top of mind should really be your only goal right now. Be a decent, caring brand.
3. Be helpful. Offer something of value and don’t make them wait for it. That is to say, it used to be ok to tell people that YOU have the answer to whatever problem or situation the customer is in, and they can simply click here to get to five tips on the subject, as compiled by your experts. That would be a common ploy to get an email address so that you can market to them in the future. Stop doing that. For now, just give away the five tips, right there. Even provide a nice video to illustrate the tips. They’ll learn from you and after the crisis has passed will remember how helpful you were.

As an example, Oh Shoot Productions working with Black House Creative, created a video to raise awareness of the safety of restaurant takeout. We did it to help local restaurants stay in business. And we put it out there for everyone to learn from and share. Maybe they won’t order from the one restaurant we chose, but will feel ok about ordering from another.