Due to the onset of coronavirus/COVID-19, it seems as if the world is headed toward another economic depression. While people are trying to understand how this will affect their personal lives, businesses are concerned with how they’ll continue onward.
More importantly, businesses might be wondering how they can help—i.e., how they can provide their services while still seeming genuine and positive amidst a scary, stressful time. It might sound daunting, but it can be done. The following considerations are just a handful of ways to do so.
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Be Human.
No one wants to visit a website or interact with a brand that feels sterile and bland; people want to interact with a company that seems to understand them—something that is human.
Your business can achieve this by focusing on authenticity—structuring brand identity around qualities that are honest, transparent, and real. This means creating a brand identity that has morality, interests, a unique voice, and more.
Having such a characteristic element is a surefire way to comfort people in times of trouble. Rather than giving people a company that feels distant and “digital,” you can present yourself as just another person—someone who understands them and is here to help.
Increase Online Traffic By Improving Your Website’s SEO.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process through which a website’s data and metadata is … well, optimized for search engine functions—it’s what determines how an engine like Google finds and organizes your business’s site depending on specific search terms.
If you’re looking to remain genuine while still increasing engagement during such a strange financial time, you can go about improving your website’s SEO to make it easier for people to find you. It might not sound like much, but it’s an easy way to ensure your business provides people with information when they’re most searching for it, thus increasing your credibility.
Simplify Your Brand Voice.
Now is not the time to begin A/B testing various internal choices. No customer wants to have to wade through an entire paragraph or two just to understand what your company is getting at. Be direct, avoid jargon, and speak from the heart.
Such simplicity is a surefire way to keep certain customers around, as you’ll be providing them with the basics of what they want to hear, know, and see while patience, attention, and time are in short demand.
Speak like Your Audience’s Friend.
When people are short on time and money, the last thing they want to feel is as if someone is either confusing them or trying to sell them something. Take the time to reform your brand voice and tone, guaranteeing you talk to your audience one-on-one, as if you were their friend.
Such a move is a game changer, as it’s an easy way to win people’s trust during times of trouble, remaining direct while considering their time and patience. It’s bound to gain respect and keep customers around.
Respect Your Audience’s Trust, Time, and Finances.
People are bound to hit financial troubles during a recession, and many of those people will be members of your customer base. You may have worked hard to earn their trust over the years, but doing something questionable during such a difficult time can cause that trust to vanish in an instant. Sticking to your guns and supporting your core audience by refusing to waver from your core principles makes your company and brand authentic.
Don’t Pander or Speak Down To Your Audience.
There’s nothing worse than someone who talks to you as if you’re inferior to them or speaks in blatant platitudes, making empty statements that mean nothing at all. While you should never play with your audience, especially don’t do it during a recession. Remain genuine, speak from the heart, and stick to your brand values.
Create a Well-Established Network.
One opportune way to remain genuine throughout difficult periods of time is by creating an affiliate marketing strategy. Affiliate marketing is a great way to establish positivity and authenticity at any time due to the cooperative relationships such programs are established on.
Affiliate marketing strategies work by having affiliates promote businesses through their own channels of communication. Affiliates can include fellow businesses, making for B2B relationships, or social media influencers, who present your brand to their own vast audience.
Authenticity from such relationships arises from the sincerity of cooperation, which becomes ever-present in strained times. Affiliate networks are strengthened by including creators and businesses who live within the same niche, and sharing audiences can show people just how well people can work together no matter the circumstances. Affiliate marketing strategies can be utilized to address global stressors at such a time, too, letting people know they’re not alone.
Have and Tell Stories.
One of the best ways your brand can continue to remain genuine in such difficult times is through storytelling. When under stress, people will often feel compelled to escape—to run away from their issues; however, there are numerous ways to manage serious stress.
From a brand perspective, you can regularly reach out to past customers via email to provide them with tips and tricks to manage such stress, but you can take it a step further by providing a personal narrative—there’s a reason so many people are binging Netflix while in quarantine.
As a brand, you should share your story. Remain authentic and human. Tell people how you got to where you are. Describe your roots and the struggles you faced when starting out. Explain how your business is dealing with the stress of reality.
You want something that people can relate to, something where they can empathize and see a part of themselves in your very own story
It might not sound like much, but a simple story can go a long way, motivating someone to begin handling their stress, to try to find ways out of unemployment, or to take action to begin making a better, more interconnected world around them.