- Apr 08, 2020
Email marketing or Email communication is a way to build CRM activities (Customer Relationship Management) to develop your business. However, in times of crisis, when your target audience is severely affected, you cannot work on the same lines of email marketing as before. The audience seeks empathy and a sense of sensitivity to the present crisis. With the sudden outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus, big companies and start-ups have faced huge issues to follow-up with their clients and work smoothly. More such situations have occurred in the past, and businesses have failed to find their way back. So what could be the way to follow for email marketing during the crisis? Below is one of the best steps to follow:
Be Alert: Take it as a rule. Be alert! You do not just support your customers but your competitors too. Don’t waste time waiting for the right time to communicate. Start now.
If you take longer to connect with your client, someone else will, and that can sabotage the brand reputation. You communicate through emails on regular days with them, do so in days of crisis too. Just know how to do and how often to do. Connect over sentiments that build a relation between you and your audience through email marketing.
Be Sympathetic: In times of crisis, it is utter stupidity to attempt direct email marketing. Your client can get offended for a lack of sympathy. Understand the situation and have a direct email communication that adds comfort and hopes in your tone and impact them rightly. For any ongoing social media campaign, pause it for a while till the situation heals, and clients feel normal. Business runs on pure ethics. Exchange of products and services can happen anywhere with anyone.
Be Informative: When your brand has a reputation, your clients and visitors are curious to know what you are doing to support the society and its welfare. Ensure your audience perceives your worthy contribution through email marketing communication. This will not only be a way to connect with them but also show your concern as a brand for the society. Also, reflect how you are ensuring a cleaner workplace for employees, their health, and hygiene as a priority. Your client will be impressed with seeing your contribution.
Be Concerned: Many times, marketers mistake their positivity through humor, which offends the audience. You may seem unaware and unconcerned, which can harm your brand reputation. Ensure you do not hurt people’s emotions. In B2B, it gets more severe as clients don’t wish to have tie-ups with organizations that are mocking the seriousness of the situation. Show your worry for the society in your emails that reflect you as concerned as your clients are.
Be communicative: Communication is the key. Be constant with your communicative email marketing. Regular communication with your audience in times of crisis will update them with new information, and you can reflect concern too, which will help you bond better.
Be Responsive: Allot a team of members who will be available through Live chat to respond to incoming emails and queries. This will help the audience understand you as you are not reaching out for any business-related marketing but being there if they need so. Train your employee’s right spoken soft skills and sympathetic tone of emails.
Your audience is the king. You must understand the need of the hour and communicate as needed. Going out of email communication will offend them like you only hold concern for business. While staying connected sensitively will help you understand them beyond business. All renowned organizations continue email marketing, with dynamics changed. With a team designated, you can continue to email your clients and prospective customers with a sense of harmony, sympathy, understanding, and unity in times of crisis to join hands and walk along. Not all marketing strategies have to be well- planned. Some are just random and situational. To have a progressive business scope, these steps may add value to your email marketing in the coming days.
