One thing we’ve all seen and felt in the last week or so is the tremendous uptick in email traffic, marketing mailers and information updates that are coming out as organisations scramble to let their customers know what they’re doing.
You have to communicate, the question is how do you stand out when everyone is speaking at once?
Couple of things to think about and the first is your corporate voice - are you engaging people and drawing them in? What impact could a change of tone have?
Imagery is also really important, a picture catches the eye in a way words can’t so ask yourself if you are using imagery to cut through the noise and increase the chances of your messages being seen.
Whatever you do, be consistent across all the platforms you are using. Don’t just rely on a mailer or posting something on your website, instead mirror your key messaging across these, plus social media, one to one calls and any other channels you use.
The next thing you should think about is keeping your profile high – building brand visibility requires perseverance. It isn’t established overnight and you don’t want to lose what you may have spent months or years building up.
So keep generating news releases, or thought leadership articles - or vlogs! – because when we come out the other end of this we all want to have a robust business community that’s ready to pick up and carry on.
We are seeing a good amount of news traffic on the Chamber website so ask yourself, if your competitors are doing it, why aren’t you?
We’re also seeing new partnerships being forged and some really amazing initiatives emerging. Be aware that there is a growing thirst for feel-good news both in the press but also the public at large and those companies who are engaging in this way are keeping their profiles high and banking some goodwill with their customers.
The Chamber’s Help Hub on LinkedIn aims to help facilitate some of these partnerships so if you are company looking for help; or a company offering some help – go to the hub and start posting.
I want to give a quick mention to internal communications – it’s a cliché but your people really are your biggest asset so make sure they are kept informed and they will be your ambassadors, communicating positively out to others on your behalf.
If you absolutely can’t be doing any of this right now, then my last piece of advice is that you use this time wisely. Identify now where the gaps are and put the structures in place to ensure a consistent flow of valuable content going forward.
History has shown that some of the most recognisable brands have started and really taken off during difficult periods.
So it can be done, just keep communicating.