Emotional communication

Consumers want to feel that companies care about them by offering advantages to help them in this crisis.

In our resource the latest COVID-19 market stats for marketers and sales leaders it’s mentioned that the most important values for consumers are: relaxation, safety, security, serenity and simplicity.  Source: Gartner [Consumer Sentiment About Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis]. April 17, 2020.  

Social responsibility

Users value positively that companies are committed with society. It’s an important moment for all of us to collaborate and fight the virus, so it’s key that as a company reflect your commitment to society.

First two consumer worries are the economy and people acting against the community. Source: Gartner [Consumer Sentiment About Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis] April 7, 2020.

Current communication

As a company it’s essential to be updated and inform final consumers. If you reflect current communication, it will increase consumers’ confidence. There are brands such as Coca Cola, Ikea, Audi, etc, that have adapted their communication in a perfect way to the current situation, and as a result, they had success in their campaigns. 

In Nike’s case, their campaigns always appealed to “acting” and “moving”, so they decided to launch a new campaign saying the opposite: “If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the word, now is your chance. Play inside, play for the world”. This message conveyed empathy and social responsibility, causing a great impact on society. This is why it’s important to carry out a campaign according with current events.

Constant and humane communication

Communication should be constant and humane, and not only communicate to sell or inform promotions. In other words, companies should show the human side of the company, caring about their customers. As a result, the target will empathize with the brand, and, consequently, be they will be faith to it.

1.- Cashbacks

Nowadays brands are doing many cashback campaigns, so it’s essential to develop a marketing strategy with good communication. The reason why it’s important to carry out cashbacks promotions is because of the economic situation.

There are 59 million jobs at risk in Europe, which equals a 26% unemployment rate (Fuente: McKinsey & Company [Safeguarding Europe’s livelihoods: Mitigating the employment impact of COVID-19]. Abril 19, 2020). When they buy services and products, they prefer cheaper offers.

2.- Raffles

Consumers spend more time in social networks. Specifically, WhatsApp has increased 61%, Instagram 22,7%, Facebook 36,5%, and Twitter 56,1% (Source: Smartme Analytics [https://www.smartmeanalytics.com/public/resource/products-free/COVID_Informe_Smartme.pdf] March, 2020).

Brands are boosting their social media accounts more than ever. Raffles are mainly used as a tool of dynamization, to increase engagement with users and make themselves known among the target. Consumers want to feel excitement and hope, so it’s important to introduce the motivation concept, either in the long term with valuable gifts, or in the short term, with little value gifts.

3.- Discounts

As we explained before, we are currently living in a crisis, so consumers are trying to save money as much as possible on their purchases. This is why discounts should be promoted to attract consumers. However, it’s also important to use good communication to stand out from the competition.

4.- Bundles and cross offers

Another successful promotion is to select two complementary products or services and add a discount. Consumers can try out new products or services.