What’s happening in Ukraine is being felt around the world. Even if the current situation does not directly impact you, you feel the results. People are feeling anxiety. They feel nervous, and in some cases, they are even scared. We as marketers need to be sensitive to this. We need to show our empathy and we need to adjust our marketing accordingly.
When it comes to content creation, we sometimes get tunnel vision as creators. We look at our marketing objectives and the best way to carry out those objectives. We create content calendars and social media plans, and we follow those to a T. If we don’t, we fall behind.
But there are times when the events of the world knock our marketing plans off-kilter. In fact, sometimes what’s happening in the world becomes more important than any of the marketing plans you have laid out. This is one of those times.
Does Your Automated Marketing Plan Show Empathy?-
Whenever there is a shift in the world or national sentiment, whether it’s due to politics, economics, or something more, there needs to be a shift in your automated marketing plan.
Not only do you need to shift your messaging, but you also need to shift your release schedule. A time like this is not a great time to push hard to make sales. Now is a time for empathy, and your marketing plan should reflect that in messaging and the frequency of that messaging.
The other thing you need to examine is how your automated marketing plan is structured. Automated marketing is designed to make marketing easier because it sends out emails, text messages, and posts on social media on a set schedule.
However, if you allow things to become too automated, then that post you set up a week ahead of time might seem out of touch when it is finally released. Be aware of your automated marketing plan and adjust it accordingly.
Choose Your Visual Content Wisely
When creating the content you send out, look at it through the lens of the world.
Does it adequately reflect the world sentiment? Are you using colors that are too bright? What about your words? Are they insensitive to what’s happening? How about your images? Are they sensitive to what’s happening in the current political or economic climate?
During times of world strife, the images, wording, and colors you use, send a message.
Use your good judgment to make sure you’re sending the proper messages visually as well as verbally.
Stay Informed
Read the news and scroll through social media. Take the pulse of the world. How do people sound? What are people saying? How do people feel?
You can tell a lot about how the average person feels when you look at headlines and social media posts. Listen to them.
When you are in touch with what’s happening globally and how it’s affecting people, you can better shape your marketing message. You can take the same tone.
Understanding how the average person feels will also help you understand when to push for a sale and when it’s time to take a step back. Your messaging will be better when you understand your customers, what they’re feeling, and what they’re expecting from the companies they buy from.
Conclusion: Show Your Empathy
Remember, people are looking for companies that understand them and what they care about? They want to know that the companies they give their money to care about the same things they do. That the companies feel the same things they feel, including what’s happening in the world.
One of the worst things a company can do in the current climate is come across as tone-deaf. Once fans think you’re out of touch, it’s difficult to draw them back into the fold.
No matter how in-tune you believe you are with the world and how people are feeling, be sure to check and recheck yourself and your content.
Ask a friend or a trusted employee to check your work if you have to.
Make sure that your tone and message properly reflect what your company stands for and what’s happening in the world today.
Written by Erika Towne