As a continuation of this four-part series on Marketing in Times of Disruption, once you’ve developed a healthy communication rhythm with your current customers and employees, it’s time to focus on growing your reach.
Basic #3: Focus on growing your accounts
To win long-term, focus on growing accounts, not conversions. A good customer database is your lifeline in a crisis.
– Melody Belotte
Almost overnight, COVID-19 caused a dramatic shift in consumers’ purchase patterns, communication preferences, and general attitudes towards health and safety. During a crisis like this, it’s extremely difficult for businesses to stay in touch with customers, much less convince them to part with their hard-earned cash. That’s why I believe a better long-term strategy in disruptive times is to spend your energy on growing reach, not revenue. The latter will follow the former, if done correctly.
If you don’t already have a robust list of email subscribers, social media followers or prospective customers, here are three simple steps to grow your reach:
Audit
Take an assessment of what size reach you currently have. If you have any existing social media pages, email marketing accounts (like Mailchimp or Constant Contact), visit each and write down current stats such as number of followers, likes, subscribers, email opens or clicks, etc. Set a growth goal for the next three months.
Engage
The more thoughtful, relevant and authentic content you post during a crisis, the more interested customers will be in staying in touch. (Click here for a free guide on how to do this!) As you grow your social and digital following, begin to drive all traffic to your email sign-up form. In doing so, you’ll have a more direct way to maintain contact (instead of relying on social media algorithms and paid reach to show your posts). Be sure to include an email subscribe link on your social media profile, website footer, contact form and on any ad campaigns as the primary CTA (call to action).
Nurture
Once you’ve captured a customer’s contact information, develop a “one-to-one” relationship with them by sending helpful content via email on a consistent basis. No need for fancy designs; if you have a simple, mobile-friendly email layout and content that is timely and relevant for the crisis at hand, your company’s name will be top-of-mind whenever people are ready to make a purchase. As each month passes, monitor key metrics (open, click rates, etc.) for insights on how to continually improve.
After you’ve laid this groundwork, the real challenge of marketing in a crisis is learning how to create effective messages. Check out part four of this series to explore creative ways to connect with the most heartfelt needs of your audience.
