With the world locked down, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all in one way or another. For business owners, the result has been frightening, confusing, and at times, devastating, not just here in the United States, but all around the globe.
When the pandemic hit, I began receiving phone calls from friends and colleagues who know me as a marketing expert. They were asking for advice on their businesses and what they could do to stay afloat and secure during this uncertain time. I heard from a friend who operates a senior living center in Europe, who was dealing with halting the pandemic within the walls of her very own facility. I heard from a hotel owner from Central America who was dealing with the heavy loss of tourism. A therapist from the same area called me, asking me to help explore how she could create opportunities for success in the midst of a crisis.
Their concerns were real, critical, and touched my heart. As an award-winning marketing and communication professional, it’s not easy to respond to these challenges. Anytime an economic crisis hits, like it in 2008 for our marketing firm, JJR Marketing, it is a time to show your clients how you can thrive in a crisis.
We not only weathered that storm but have grown from a team of three to sixteen in the past fourteen years. In that time, we have been involved in major initiatives, including dramatic product launches, the grand openings of more than thirty restaurants and the multi-million dollar grand openings of hospitality venues. We’ve been heralded by Clutch as one of the top B2B PR agencies in Chicagoland for the fourth consecutive year and have now been vetted and chosen as a Forbes business council member. Through growth and setbacks, we’ve learned the meaning of resilience. So now, in the wake of drastic events like this pandemic, we are regarded as first responders of communication.
So believe me when I give this advice, as I did to my friends as well:
This is the perfect time to engage your business in sensitive, public relations initiatives.
By public relations, I don’t mean tooting your own horn or trying to convert customers. That would be seen as insensitive to the economic climate. I mean changing your tactic to a more sensitive form of marketing communication that touches the hearts of customers and media, builds your brand, and will continue to promote goodwill and a positive feeling about your organization long after the pandemic has ended.
CONNECT AND CONQUER
For example, one of our recent COVID-19 efforts was to connect a national pizza company with a local nonprofit organization that helps the homeless. They were able to provide pizzas for 400 of the residents of their organization. With so many media-worthy events now cancelled because of the virus, the media is starved for relevant, feel-good stories concerning COVID-19 and they don’t have the staff and manpower to find them on their own. If you have a feel-good story associated with your business, now is the time to share it with the media. A press release to the right person about your company’s generosity or ingenuity in the face of this crisis can go far in showing the public how you are connecting your company’s core values and attuned to the needs of the community.
THINK CREATIVELY
As far as your social media, forget what you’ve done in the past. A more sensitive approach to your social media is called for at this time. It’s not time to sell or to push your services. It’s time to be there for your customers and respond to the good things they are doing, or the good things you can do for them. Now is the time to extend your hand to someone in need or invest in creative ideas. How can your business give back to the community in this time of crisis? Elevate a hero? Make a donation? Use your resources or service in a unique way to help the effort to fight the virus? Provide free coffee, lunch, or dinner at your location to relevant workers? Provide a grant? A scholarship? This is an opportunity for your organization to shine and think outside of the box of what you do and how you usually do it.
We can’t connect the dots the way we did before because the dots are no longer there. The country is in need of healing, hope, and sensitivity. Now is the time to lead with your heart, not your call to action.
Yes, during this battle your business may change and even struggle. But with a little creativity and sensitivity towards your customers, you can uplift others and also emerge from this crisis as a hero to your business, your community, and even to yourself!
Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz is the CEO of JJR Marketing (www.jjrmarketing.com) and Fig Factor Media LLC international book publishing company (www.figfactormedia.com), founder of The Fig Factor Foundation (www.thefigfactor.org), creator of Today’s Inspired Latina book series and international movement (http://www.todayslatina.com), author of thirteen books (www.jackiecamacho.com), international speaker, and pilot. Jacqueline speaks to hundreds of audiences about marketing, servant leadership, finding your passion, and achieving success in business. She has addressed the United States Army, BP International, United Airlines, Allstate, and Farmers Insurance among other corporations to share her inspiration.
If you or an organization you know needs as speaker, please get in touch with us at http://www.jackiecamacho.com/contact.