Why it is important to keep communicating in a crisis
Let’s face it, the Coronavirus is one of the biggest challenges to face humanity for over 100 years. It is non-political, non-discriminatory and its impact on global health and on the state of our economy is unfathomable at the moment.
Many people in the UK hoped it would stay in ‘other countries’ becoming the infection that we managed to escape….but in our heart of hearts we knew this wouldn’t be the case.
It first hit our industry with the cancellation of major trade exhibitions, shows such as MIPIM, MACH and Homebuilding and Renovating. Large corporates then started to cancel meetings of more than a handful of people and everything was transferred to video conferencing and conference calls.
The cancellation of exhibitions had an immediate impact as companies missed out on the opportunity to communicate directly with customers and prospects and to showcase their new innovations to the media.
With most business people having to clear their diaries and work from home due to country lockdown restrictions, we had to focus on innovative ways in which we could continue to serve customers, whilst observing the restrictions.
However, there are still very clear routes open for businesses to communicate with their markets. Digital marketing, social media and SEO become increasingly important as face to face contact is off limits for a while....
Here we look at the best ways to maintain good communications in these unprecedented times.
Social media
Social media is the place that most of us go to first these days if we want breaking news. Having active social media accounts is essential during these challenging times, as businesses need to keep that visible presence.
We continue to manage our clients’ Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin accounts to ensure they can communicate directly with influencers and customers, without needing that face-to-face contact or to attend an exhibition.
We also combine social media with blogging, so we can share content about new products, services or innovations, ensuring that companies can still get a message across to customers.
Vlogs and webinars are becoming more important than ever for business to business companies that offer services and we can create these and share via social media. Businesses are making use of innovative new ways to interact with customers and share their expertise and we are sharing these via social media.
Content marketing
Company websites are the first place that people go to find out if a business is still operating normally or if there have been any changes to how they purchase from them.
We provide daily updates to our clients’ websites, creating news stories, blogs and thought leadership articles focusing on topical industry issues, as well as about products and services and how to buy online. The main aim is to ensure continuity of business in these challenging times.
Never has it been more important to retain content on websites. Architects, for example, are, in the main, working as normal, but from home, so buildings are still being planned and designed and products specified. The same is true of engineering designers, who are still looking for product information and specifications. Projects may be a little delayed in the coming weeks, but it is still important that websites are regularly updated with keyword enriched copy. This will ensure that your company achieves a good ranking with the search engines.
In normal times, around 50% of our copy goes to printed magazines and half to online. We are finding that, increasingly, our content is being used in online magazines and e-newsletters, which are still being distributed in order to ensure continuous visibility of products and services over the coming months.
Magazines – online and printed
The majority of b2b magazines and newspapers are continuing to offer both print and online services during this lockdown period, however more than ever they need business support.
In the last two weeks, many publications have contacted us looking for fresh content and thought leadership articles, to keep them in the forefront of the minds of customers.
Our PR team have excellent connections to the trade, regional, national and international media, so we can ensure that we can still get a message out on our clients’ behalf.
As exhibitions are the places where companies would be choosing to carry out new product launches and to demonstrate new technologies, there is now a great opportunity to promote new products and services through a dedicated PR campaign in the trade, national and international media. Dragonfly PR has extensive expertise in generating media coverage for clients, particularly in the food, manufacturing and construction sectors. There is a great opportunity for companies to get a message across about their products and services through a wide variety of media.
Finally, it’s worth bearing in mind that in these more austere times where every penny counts, PR is much more cost effective than advertising. For a start, a page of editorial – which is 7 times more persuasive than an ad – costs significantly less than a full-page advert. In addition, once our PR news stories are uploaded online, it supports your organic SEO and promotes your Google ranking for months or even years to come.
If you would like specific advice on promoting your business during this lockdown period, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We provide affordable, value for money PR and content marketing services that protect a business in challenging times and enable you to rise above the competition as soon as the market starts to turn.
Dragonfly PR is a Sheffield based PR company, which specialises in b2b public relations, content marketing and social media. Our team has 20 years' experience in creating bespoke b2b public relations strategies and the expertise to write articles, case studies, SEO enriched content and blogs that are guaranteed to build brand awareness for your business.
For more details of our public relations, content marketing, digital or social media services, please contact our team on 0114 349 5341 or email hello@dragonflypr.co.uk.