Like many others across the country, I am currently working from home. Most of our team is and I am thankful that we have the opportunity to do that and carry on our work, but the change in day-to-day routines has been an interesting one for sure.  For example, I am not normally a big TV person. I generally don’t have time during the week to watch local or cable channels but my new habit has me turning on the local news in the morning and keeping it on through the national morning programs to have some background noise. In the last two days I have noticed a shift in the commercial messages I hear and that lines up with what we’re seeing in the marketplace so I’d like to share those observations.

1. Acknowledging where we are as a culture is a good thing! I’ve seen many commercials for companies who have switched their messaging this week to focus on the fact that they are still here for their clients. I’ve seen many social media posts showing creative solutions for how companies are serving their customers in this season. Ignoring the problem isn’t a good strategy for this time period, but changing your marketing messages to show your connection to the people you serve is a great plan.
2. Now is the time to connect by phone! With many businesses shuttering their physical offices, many folks have had their office phones forwarded to their cell phones and have a lot more time to answer. This includes those key decision makers you may have had a hard time getting ahold of previously. One outbound campaign that we finished this week saw a 50% increase in connections and a conversion rate nine times higher than when this client ran the same campaign last fall. This work-from-home time can be huge for B2B company’s bottom lines if they use it to connect and not freeze.
3. Meet people where they are to keep and grow your customer base! The latest stat I saw was that social media usage in the last two weeks is up 300% over the weeks before that and our video streaming time is through the roof. Take advantage of these trends by engaging on social media and placing video ads on streaming services. You have a captive audience for another 30 days at least so now is the time to connect and stand out from your competition.

In the first few weeks of shut downs and social distancing, I saw a lot of businesses and organizations freeze. Understandable as no one wanted to be seen as crass or uncaring, but the season has changed. Now that we are in this for the long haul, your strategy has to reflect that so that you come out stronger on the other side. If you need help thinking through those options or your messaging, reach out. We’d love to help!