Leeann Froese offers thoughts on communicating during this pandemic.
The rapidly evolving situation around COVID-19 is unique, and we will be in this experience for some time to come.
For the past week, as we work mainly from home, our team has been assisting clients in their difficult communications to their employees, customers, industry, and friends.
What many business owners are stuck with is just how to communicate at this time, and what to say. On one hand, with everyone at home and online, there has never been a better time to capture eyeballs, and on the other, people are filled with anxiety and stress and no one wants to be insensitive. So what is OK right now?
It’s OK to share good news.
Companies may be worried that their lighter news is going to be washed over by the wave of coronavirus stories. That’s a legitimate PR concern (more on this below), in the sense that you don’t want to announce soft news stories when the hard news of the day dominates.
BUT
You want your employees, customers and anyone else involved with your business to know that you are open for business, safe and secure, and ready to make it to the other side of the adverse events the pandemic is causing. And positive stories, if shared tastefully, are a welcome break to the challenging headlines that are bombarding everyone. We need some good news.
Be Sensitive
With that said, our overall PR recommendation for this time is to pause all extraneous outreach. Limit press releases and other media/influencer engagement to announcements related to the pandemic. Example topics are closures, changes to the way you are doing business, event cancellations, promotion postponements, and community initiatives meant to support those impacted by COVID-19. Otherwise, it’s very likely that your outreach will be ignored and result in no earned coverage or brand mentions.
In times of crisis, a prudent first step is to pause all scheduled communications. Carefully review your emails and social posts. If your business is a winery, like many of our clients, consider pausing advertising or any posts about events, tours, and tastings. You could you come off as out of touch, and your content won’t get the attention it deserves when everyone is focused on the latest updates in the news. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t communicate at all, but be conscious of the type of messages you put out, and constantly re-evaluate before you press send, based on what is currently trending and in the news.
The biggest thing is to create your communications with empathy in mind. Everyone on earth is being touched by this pandemic in one way or another. Try to create your communication through the lens of the audience you will reach, and consider: how will they react with what I am about to present?
Getting Through the Reaction Hurdle
Over the past few days, we’ve helped a number of our small business clients navigate their way through this extremely challenging time. We would like to thank everyone for continuing to support our clients in the food, sports, and beverage alcohol spaces. These industries are deeply impacted.
These are the kinds of reactionary services we have provided just this week at Town Hall Brands:
Advise on business tactics including the shift to delivery services, e-commerce, and other changes to business operations
Assist with employee communications
Write FAQ documents
Create messaging around safety and business closures
Write blog posts
Oversee social media content
Adjust dates on graphics materials to be printed for our sports team clients
Create graphics for social media
Can we help you here #withtownhall? Let us know.
This situation is changing by the day, and as communicators we too have to adapt our strategies and response just as swiftly. What was suitable today may not be suitable tomorrow. And we are here for it.
Even if we thought we’d be ready, no one was ready for what this pandemic is doing to our world. One thing is certain: we are in this together, and we will get through it. And when we do, and when our clients reopen with new energy, we will shout it from the rooftops.