You are, no doubt, wondering how marketing strategies will change due to Covid-19 and which direction you should take in planning email marketing campaigns. Histories will be written on the subject and, as they will all disagree, how can we hope to be definitive?
The one thing you might consider is to check for trends and, if they look productive, jump on the bandwagon. I’m not decrying following the crowd, especially where the effects are unpredictable, but pick a trend with care.
We’ve recently seen companies pulling adverts from Facebook because, they suggest, they do not want to be associated with some of the posts that are being allowed to remain, particularly those of a racist, homophobic, or inflammatory nature. This appears to have gained considerable support on both social and mainstream media.
One of your jobs is to build trust in your brand, and showing you have some form of social responsibility is an excellent way of doing so, as long as you are being sincere. A significant change in buyer behaviour over recent years has been a tendency, one that has increased during the Covid crisis, of buyers choosing companies to purchase from which profess similar values to theirs.
I’ve seen such people accused of only doing so to make themselves feel good. Hardly a criticism. Isn’t that why we do most things? There’s nothing wrong in wanting to sell to these people, nor to agree with the beliefs that they profess, as long as it is true.
Suddenly peppering your website with the latest slogans, and images of demonstrators, is not going to cut it. ‘Actions speak louder than words’ is an excellent aphorism to remember when considering how you are going to show your beliefs to those you wish to convince.
You’d think that companies would be cutting back on charities and other deserving causes and it seems that the ones targeted are changing in quite subtle ways. I know of one minor charity which has received increased donations over the period of the crisis from local companies. This is probably due to anticipate post-Brexit exporting difficulties. They see their market occupying a smaller footprint.
These companies probably segment their email marketing lists on location, and look to gain a certain kudos from a suitably modest banner on their marketing emails and website saying they support this particular charity. Could it be defined as opportunism? A better question might be, is anything wrong in this type of opportunism? If you are selling local, then word-of-mouth recommendation can be a massive asset.
If you have a specific charity, or worthwhile cause, you want to support, then go ahead. Your sincerity and, probably, history will be apparent. However, there is nothing wrong with picking a charity because its location, purpose or other factor suits your business model.
But be aware; despite rumours to the contrary, social media commentators are not always easily fooled, and if you suddenly abandon a charity because, say, there’s been an upturn in the market, you might end up losing more than you have gained.
