BLOG | Digital Marketing A Guideline to Customer Engagement During the COVID-19 Outbreak

The COVID-19 crisis has affected many businesses around the world. But some businesses continue their operations remotely so that clients or customers can still benefit from their services. And at the same time, provide a livelihood to their employees, as they remain quarantined at home.

If you are a business that engages in business-to-business services, then you might be facing situations wherein your client halts getting your services due to the business operations ceasing. For some, consumers may not be able to purchase products or services because they want to focus on acquiring the essentials that will help get them through the lockdown.

However, should your business still have clients who partner with you amidst the health crisis, then you must be 100 percent proactive in helping them survive through it.

Whichever situation you may be facing, your business still has this lingering uncertainty of how it can operate when consumers are overwhelmed and restless as the circumstances develop.

As people stay updated on their screens, they are still exposed to marketing content that stimulates them to take action. Hence, businesses should work to ensure they create an effective campaign to capture their consumer’s attention.

But how?

Proweaver Works with Clients Through Their Struggles During the Crisis

As a web design company, our employees have been working remotely to serve our clients, and we’ve seen the impact on how our circumstances have changed the way they do business. At the same time, we’ve worked with them through the challenges of these difficult times.

With that, we provide you a guideline on how you can go about customer engagement, making sure you and your clients help each other and your consumers through the crisis.

A Guideline to Engaging with Your Customers During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Here’s a list of what you should focus on when maintaining or improving customer engagement during the COVID-19 crisis:

1. Find New Ways to Serve Customers Remotely
2. Communicate Effectively
3. Operate Responsibly
4. Market Empathy
5. Keep in Touch with Your Employees
6. Be Mindful of the Content You Put Out

We share to you our knowledge in detail as to how businesses can conduct effective customer engagement while working from home or deploying employees during the health crisis:

1. Find New Ways to Serve Customers Remotely

   Businesses that can work from home need to compromise how they operate and most importantly, interact with the clients. So how can businesses adapt to continue to accommodate their clients’ needs?

   If you run an IT or marketing business, perhaps going back and forth with your clients that are still operating and communicating with them may not make as much of an impact on you. Thus, you can proceed with the tools your company already uses to resume your business remotely. However, if you haven’t come up with a process that works for a work-from-home setup, then you must streamline your process and use tools that will make your work more efficient. Luckily, there are many applications online that will help you share data and communicate with your team.

   For schools, on the other hand, you can provide e-learning opportunities  instead. As children are now more accustomed to learning online through videos and online articles, you can now send your lessons online. Although teaching in a controlled setting can be a challenge during our time of self-isolation.

   As a web design and development company ourselves, we also use tools and applications to communicate with our clients and share information. If you need application suggestions that will make your work from home experience a lot more efficient, here are some of our recommendations:

   • Zoom

     This is a great tool for online meetings when you are communicating with a large team. Not only that, but it also allows you to record your lecture or presentation and broadcast it for later.

   • Skype

     Most companies use Skype because of its easy to use interface and quick response times. Skype has many features that make it convenient for your team members to use should you need to discuss a certain project.

   • Trello

     You can use this tool to keep track of ongoing projects and any sort of work done by those from your team. It’s a to-do list of all the tasks with different boards for the different projects you take. Members can also give feedback and share links to any completed tasks.

   • Google Suite

     The biggest search engine has created its own word processor, spreadsheet, and even data storage to make it easier for companies or individuals to share files and date online.

   These are just some of the many productivity, communication, and task management applications you can use to make it easier for you and your team to engage with your customer and give them quality service. Make the most out of these innovative applications to serve your clients as if you are providing them service personally.

2. Communicate Effectively

   Now more than ever, communicating with your clients is crucial to keep them engaged in your brand. Of course, this can be manifested in many ways but one thing is always for sure, clients or customers stay loyal to businesses that they can get in touch with when they are in need. Whether they require your services or information, if you turn them away now in this most stressful time in their lives, they’re going to remember this bad experience.

   So, make sure to always have your communication channels open to get in touch with them, like social media, messaging applications, and the likes. You can create a header bar that addresses the safety precautions your business is implementing while operating. As much as possible, update them about store closings, transactions, and the services available while your team is working remotely.

   Effective communication is the key to effective customer engagement.

   Did you avail of Proweaver’s custom web design or social media management services? Should you want to inform your customers or clients about any updates regarding your business operations during the COVID-19 crisis, feel free to get in touch with any of our representatives.

3. Operate Responsibly

   Of course, the way you operate during the pandemic can affect your customers and employees. As some states in America have not gone through with the community lockdown and have continued their business operations, businesses must secure the health and safety of their employees.

   If your business is allowed to operate even during the health crisis, then you must follow the safety measures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That way, you can prevent the virus from spreading through person-to-person interaction. However, if your business can operate without meeting your client personally, then do so. You can provide guidelines on your website and social media accounts about how your business is operating remotely and how your customer can reach you.
   
   Operating your business responsibly reflects how much you care about your employees and clients. During these times, operating your business without implementing the right safety measures to protect your customers and employees could badly affect your clients’ (and even your employees’) perception of your business.

   For example:

   If you are running a supermarket, make sure that you promote the wearing of masks when they enter your location. Also, if they are waiting in line, customers must be 6 ft apart.

4. Market Empathy

   According to Errol Gerson, a renowned Management Consultant with over 30 years in the business, “you need to reach out to every one of your clients and say ‘What Can I Do to Help You?’ rather than ‘Have You Got Any Work for Me?’ because if you make a call and ask for a job, you immediately and psychologically put that person on the spot and they become defensive. And put them in a position where they do not look kindly at your request.”

   With the feeling of stress and anxiousness that overwhelm your clients today, hearing the words “What can I do to help you?” makes them feel that you are with them on this crisis rather than want something from them. When you approach it in a way that you want something from them, it will feel more burdensome to them instead of a partnership.

   Another way to look at empathetic marketing is also by providing services that will benefit the community by donating a portion of proceeds to those in need. Why? Consumers are also driven toward making a change in their lives and others. This lets them participate in relief efforts while social distancing gives them fulfillment in helping others.

   There are many ways you can incorporate empathetic marketing, so you can gain more customer engagement. For example:

   Aritzia, a famous fashion boutique, had to close its stores due to the coronavirus crisis. This event affected many of its employees. However, to provide for them, they started the Aritzia Community Relief Fund where all of the proceeds during the time of the crisis will be given to staff members in need.

   Needless to say, the marketing was conducted extremely well and has garnered much attention from its consumers.

   Another example of empathetic marketing would Nuun’s email marketing campaign that not only highlights the benefits of their product but also how some of the proceeds will be used to purchase care packages for frontliners.

   It’s safe to say that showing empathy to your customers or clients builds a strong bond of trust, especially during these difficult times. Stimulating their emotions through your marketing enables them to take action as consumers are more inclined to engage in brands that care and have a more humanistic approach.

5. Keep in Touch with Your Employees

   So how does communicating effectively with your employees co-relate to customer engagement? Of course, your employees are the people who directly communicate with your clients so staying in touch with them as your team works from home or even operates directly with clients is still highly important.

   According to Mark Cuban, a billionaire entrepreneur, “the way you treat your employees during the pandemic could define your brand for decades.” Of course, he was talking about resuming operations too soon during the coronavirus pandemic, but this still holds true in other ways.

   Let’s take Aritzia, again, as an example, since they donated their proceeds to their employees, this puts them in a good light to consumers, letting consumers know how much they value their employees.

   Make your employees know that the business is there for them during the time of the crisis by understanding their circumstances during this crisis. The way you treat them could also affect the way they perform and present themselves. So don’t shy away from being a caring hand and motivational leader during these challenging times.

6. Be Mindful of the Content You Put Out

   These are sensitive times and so your content must be sensitive to the situation at hand. If you don’t plan out your message properly, it might extremely backfire and cause long-term damage to your brand.

   When uncertainty and fear were widespread across the globe, many people are personally affected by the virus. That’s why as much as possible, don’t present a tone-deaf message that makes it seem like you’re taking advantage of the current crisis.

   As a brand, you must be careful as to what your campaign wants to portray to the masses. Ensure that it does not come off ignorant and disrespectful. Show awareness and care in a way that truly speaks to the plight of those who are struggling in our society today.

Our Advice on Content Creation for Customer Engagement

It’s been months since the lockdown. But the content for your campaign for the next few months has already been planned out. Should you scrap everything you’ve worked hard on planning?

Not so fast! Perhaps you have content you can still put out. Just check if the message you’re trying to convey can resonate with your customers during these times.

So how do you go about this?

1. Stay Positive While Still Acknowledging the Current Situation

   Did you have positive and encouraging content that you might have wanted to share with your consumers before the outbreak?

   As they may be exposed to a lot of dark and heavy content while keeping up with the pandemic, your consumers may also welcome distractions. Why not tweak some of the encouraging content to make it fit the tone of the situation?

   For example, you can give them tips and tricks on how they can remain productive while working from home. Or you can suggest activities they can do at home while marketing your services. As some individuals self-isolate, they may have time to do things that they aren’t able to do before. So, why not encourage them to pick up these activities?

   A little bit of encouragement and positivity can do wonders!

2. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Feedback from Your Customers

   An effective way to get more customer engagement is to ask them questions about how you can help them during times of distress. Know that perhaps you may not always have all the answers when it comes to providing what your customers truly need during these times. You can do this in the form of email marketing or on social media posts, wherever you get the most traffic so you can get answers and plan out your marketing strategy.

3. Always Adjust to the Current Situation

   Things don’t always go as they planned. We may have to adapt our marketing strategy to accommodate this. Regardless, consumers always value brands that are honest, empathetic, and transparent to them. That’s because these three values are what truly build the foundation of a trusting relationship between you and your consumers.

We’re All in This Together!

The Internet has connected us in ways we never imagined. It has brought many opportunities for people to communicate and acquire information. Truly, it became a network where we share information, ideas, and sentiments. This form of technology has made it possible for us to be there for each other for long distances.

Therefore, make every message that your business puts out today count. Let us as businesses create content that makes our brand a friend or partner they can rely on. Create a marketing plan for customer engagement that stimulates action and drives your consumers to take an active role. Be fully hands-on in helping them get through the crisis as it will reflect on how they will perceive your business in the long term.

Wrap Up

The key to effective customer engagement is not only the ways we should communicate to the customer. But also the other factors that contribute to how we get in touch with them, like our employees, work-from-home process, and the likes. We must think about them thoroughly and come up with an effective plan to ensure they work together to maintain the level of customer service we provide to our customers.

Fortunately, we have many innovative tools out there that can be used to communicate with both our team and our clients!

Furthermore, as the coronavirus situation develops, we as businesses should be careful of the message we present to our customers. We must be sensitive to the situation of those who are greatly affected by the disease. These times, the message of empathy is what the world needs to hear now more than ever.

How Proweaver Can Help You with Customer Engagement During the COVID-19 Outbreak

It may be a struggle for you to manage your company’s online marketing. You need to reach out to every one of your clients and say ‘What Can I Do to Help You?’ rather than ‘Have You Got Any Work for Me?’ You need to reach out to every one of your clients or serve your customers or clients directly.

Should you have so much work on your plate already, leave your online marketing and website creation to us. Our team can help you with an effective social media campaign that helps acquire more customer engagement.

Proweaver has partnered with numerous companies in communicating with their customers through various digital platforms. Thus, increasing leads and strengthening their brand image amidst the coronavirus outbreak. Our team is dedicated to helping you get through this crisis and come out stronger than ever!

Reach Out to Us

Let Proweaver be your partner in creating web applications! Get in touch with any of our representatives should you want to know more about how we can help you. Rest assured, they will gladly answer your questions as soon as they can.

Let’s continue to stay strong and safe as we work together to overcome the difficulties of this pandemic.