There’s a lot going on in the world at the moment and a lot of uncertainty over many things, including healthcare, the economy and just how we as a nation and a world will move forward with Coronavirus an ever present threat but one thing is for certain – businesses are going to need to strengthen their branding and impact more than ever in the months to come!
Whether it be the face of a company or the face of a product, branding is more important now than ever before. Even with shops and businesses temporarily closed, plans need to be made as to how to reopen in ways that will make maximum impact whilst remaining sympathetic to the current economical and public situation. How companies choose to put themselves forward is a topic for another day, but how they choose to brand themselves for the future is definitely something to discuss now!
Branding Elements Worth Adopting
Personalisation
This isn’t a new thing for 2020 but if you do offer personalised support, products or services, now is the time more than ever to promote them. With the sudden stop of 99% of social interactions and communications, people are looking to interact with their friends, family and business contacts in different, more personal ways.
Even something as simple as a message on your website or app to highlight your personalisation options can increase interest and sales, but why not go further and include this as a primary point in email marketing messages, newsletters or any other communications you send out. Make it clear that your personalisation service is ready to keep people connected, even when they’re apart.
Enhanced Technology
One thing the world has been forced to rely on is technology, and many companies have had to evolve quickly to ensure they can keep their staff working remotely and fulfil their obligations to their customers and clients. Many have had to sink sizeable chunks of money into upgrading old systems in a short space of time, so it is worth promoting this so in the future customers know they are able to communicate in a number of ways.
Elements such as chatbots, virtual meetings and video calls are established technologies but “new” to many industries; if these are something you’ve had to utilise lately, make these known on your website and marketing media. It’s unlikely we’ll be able to return to our “old” ways of communicating and working any time soon, so the easier it is for customers to communicate, the better!
Online Communities
As discussed above, people are turning more and more to online community areas to keep in touch. Whilst we’re not saying try to launch the next Facebook, if you do have the facility for a forum or board area on your site, now is the time to either build it or promote it. It may be your area is to offer support for the services/products you sell, or answer common questions, but you may find pushing this now increases your userbase for the future.
This type of area also allows you to keep your customers in the loop 24/7 where possible with any updates to your business.
Content Creation
If you don’t have a news or content area on your website or app, now is the time to start one. This is another area to keep people informed as to your current situation, future plans, and give them another outlet to contact you with any queries, ideas or thoughts they have on your content. You can enhance this content with media including images, GIFs, videos and social feeds.
Good quality content is invaluable and also has a good impact on any organic ranking positions you have in the big search engines such as Google and Bing.
Social Media
Speaking of social media, never has it been so important to have a presence on at least one big channel. Many companies opt for Twitter or LinkedIn to start, but depending on your sector, Facebook can also be an invaluable resource, as well as Instagram if your products/services lend towards the creative.
We’re aware many companies don’t have the time for social media and it can take effort to create and share good content, but with the world in a virtual space at the moment, it’s worth rethinking this strategy. If nothing else, any platforms you do use make good areas to share updates on how you are coping with the COVID crisis and your plans moving forward.
Make sure you have these channels well branded, with your most recent logo, website URL, description, details of any products/services etc.
