Rebuilding Your Brand During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The year of 2020 has seen many hardships, but the event to leave its mark will always be COVID-19. Having affected the economy and every industry, the Coronavirus pandemic has left many businesses bankrupt or shut down. For those still standing, some may wonder how to recover and rebuild. As the virus comes in waves, the way the world works today is completely different, and the implications for how to do businesses with clients may have some firms stumbling. In a world where COVID-19 is on everyone’s lips, it seems like every business will suffer, but be it summertime or the end times, there will always be a need for legal services and Fuel Web Marketing has a plan for you.
Get Out There
That’s right – personal need or greed, global crisis doesn’t change the playing field much. During the stay-at-home order for many states, some as early as February 2020, and others lasting as long as June 2020, relationships became tense. According to a survey conducted via the opinion-seeking app TruePublic, 45-percent of 1,543 Americans, aged 16 to 35, said the order could lead to an increase in divorce.
We’re also talking about business here, and with how hard businesses have been hit, bankruptcy is just around the corner. Employment law is changing - health and safety standards too. How does a company contend with this? You need to get out there. Not literally but communicating with your audience and staying connected is one of the strongest ways to make a come back during a crisis. Clients want to know that they have someone they can turn to, someone for support. Who do you turn to when there’s trouble?
Someone you can always talk to.
That’s why establishing a strong social medial presence and communicating with your audience is the second step a business should take when rebuilding its reputation. But wait, if that’s the second step, what’s the first? Well, if a business is beefing up its social media and making noise with conversations and media, clients are eventually going to click on a link hat leads to the website. Read on to learn more about how to make that happen.
It’s All Digital
A client clicks a link that brings them to your homepage, and what do they see? According to J.D. Power, the four key points that affect how user-friendly a website are (1) information/content, (2) appearance, (3) navigation, and (4) speed. Is information ready and available, is the website appealing, can consumers find what they need, and can they do so quickly? In a time of crisis, the first thing any business should do is review its digital properties and make changes where needed.
Avoiding a marketing disaster should be a top priority. Notice how quickly auto manufacturers came out with commercials with a focus on social distancing and safety. Does your business reflect the times and events people are dealing with, and are your clients being made aware of that? Re-evaluating a website for digital and remote services may become the norm for the unforeseeable future. A business that doesn’t keep with the times is a business without a plan.
We need a plan – redesigning the website, creating useful content (more on that in a bit), and interacting with the audience. But first, take a look at the numbers and review the budget. How much have expenses been impacted and can your business afford to cover all angles? Pigeon-holing oneself into a niche is never a good idea but refining one’s target audience doesn’t hurt. With funds taking a hit in every industry, placing a focus on the most profitable of practices is the smart move. And if we’re focusing on less, we can put more energy into creating quality content.
Quality vs Quantity
A tale as old as time, a debate for the ages, is quantity better than quality or is it the other way around? When bringing clients back, creating useful content is the way to go. How has COVID-19 affected parents who share custody? What rights do employees have who fear exposure in the workplace? Information related to what’s going on now and placing a focus on more relatable content will get clicks, but just not any content.
In a time of crisis, people don’t just want support. They want someone who knows how to boost morale, someone who knows a thing or two about the worst of times – people want a leader. Along with creating useful content, creating positive content shines a light in the dark. Even if a momentary change of pace for distraction, the world will eventually need to move forward, taking the lead with a positive step will cause others to follow, and positive brand communication gets a lot of attention on social media like Twitter.
A leader always comes with credentials, not just a shiny badge and a title. Can you back up your claims? Prove it. Highlight your business with testimonials, verdicts and settlements, show your audience that you know what you’re talking about and can handle not just your own business but also their business. It all brings us back to what kind of content to create, who we’re going to connect with, and how.
On Your Left – No, Your Other Left
It feels like problems are coming from every direction, and the truth is, they are. It’s time to cover every angle to bring the business back up to speed. We have a website, social media presence, and plenty of content. Now, we have all this talk about support, but why not put a face to the name? Put the “media” in social media with a little video marketing. Just know what you’re dealing with when it comes to video.
Being on film can give rise to a lot of transparency for a business and that can be a good thing. This can be a chance to show your legal team in action, it’s another opportunity for client testimonials, and another chance to connect with your audience. Connecting with your community and showing your human side is key. People want a friendly face, but they also don’t want to feel like they’re talking to a robot. It makes video marketing a tricky matter when it comes to the sale.
Being able to make use of this technology is also a plug for connecting with your audience. Tv and print are no longer the mainstream forms of driving traffic to a business. Getting with the times and implementing new forms of marketing can increase brand appeal. Take a look at the national demographic today, and the majority of Millennials in the US today are between 27-43 years of age. That would mean the majority of working adults, your clients, are people that grew up with computers, the internet, and smart phones. Those are the people you will need to learn to attract, and that means getting comfortable with new forms of technology as well as communication.
It’s time to bounce back and get out there to bring our clients back in here. Communicate, rebuild, connect, and be able to support clients while offering your services and proving you’re the leader people need when dealing with their legal matters. Fuel Web Marketing is the digital agency that can help get you there.