By Eileen Lopez
In a time where “business as usual” is not so usual, businesses are looking for new ways to stay connected to their customers. From virtual events to social media, live streams, webinars, and so many others, the struggle to preserve the relationships they worked so hard to build in a pre-COVID world has definitely become real. The fact of the matter is, we don’t have to work as hard. Slowing down to re-engage on a personal level and listening to what your community is saying may just be the answer. Give the people what they want!
Human Connection
Just when you thought you LOVED quarantine, self-isolation was recommended for 5 more months. Suddenly we miss the little things like going to lunch with a colleague, popping into someone’s office for a quick answer, or a mid-day walk with your work bestie. As social distancing became an act of love and visiting friends and family was discouraged, multiple platforms such as HouseParty, Netflix, and even dating apps attempted to recreate social interaction via their platforms and it kind of worked.
Finding relevant ways for your business to interact virtually with your loyal followers will not only keep you at top of mind when things get “back to normal”, but will give you a chance to reconnect and share aspects of your business/brand that people were too busy to listen to before.
Self-Care
As conversations about mental health during self-isolation increased, so did the importance of taking care of oneself. From facemasks, preparing a nice meal to simply being still with your thoughts, the conversation included many businesses that typically wouldn’t be seen as relevant in the self-care space. Showing your patrons that you care about their mental health and well being will help maintain and strengthen your “personal” relationships. Whether you share an infographic from a respected source or decide that ordering in on a Wednesday is self-care, acknowledging people’s feelings lets them know that they are not the only ones going through the madness. #AloneTogether
How to…
To be honest, no one knew how to quarantine, we were all just winging it and trying to keep from turning into the couch! Some of us had never cooked a meal in our lives and suddenly became Instagram chefs, while others struggled to find the delicate balance between working from home, distance learning, and drinking all the wine.
Whether you share your quarantine routine or what to do with all the canned goods you purchased in a panic, giving people ways to make #QuarantineLife slightly easier feels like you are extending a virtual hand.
Comic relief
Everyone needs to escape from time to time and since we literally can’t, sometimes the best we can do is turn off the news and look at pictures of puppies. Providing comic relief to the masses via a funny meme or making light of the situation makes your platforms and business that escape, even if only for a moment. Create something that is sensitive to the current climate and that makes sense for your audience or leverage something you saw on a similar page. Sharing and giving credit where it’s due will also support the other business which is always appreciated because as we know, we are #BetterTogether
Convenience
Making things accessible and as simple as possible is not as easy as it seems and with everything being so inconvenient these days people just want one thing to be easy. When you think of businesses that are thriving during the pandemic such as Amazon, Postmates, Starbucks, etc…it is because they have removed unnecessary steps between initial interest and conversion, their services are one click away. As whispers of another shutdown continue, think of the challenges you experienced the first time and see where you can optimize your customer experience, on and offline, and make it easy for your biggest fans to support you!
At OneSeven Agency we pride ourselves in offering 7 services under one roof to make it easy for businesses to go to one place for all of their PR, marketing, partnership, digital, event, creative and social media needs. If you need a website, digital and creative services, or just someone to perform a professional evaluation of your current platforms and give recommendations, we are here to help!