At WordWrite, we believe there are only four types of crises, and most are predictable:
1. Acts of God (e.g. natural disasters)
2. Acts of man (financial crises, workplace violence, etc.)
3. Acts of God made worse by man (e.g. global pandemics)
4. Acts of man made worse by God (e.g. an oil tanker spill spreads across the ocean because of a hurricane)
Businesses should always evaluate the risks vs. the rewards of continuing to advertise during a crisis, and there is no perfect answer. One thing is clear: Doing nothing is never the right approach. Here are three tips to help:
1) It’s not the time for sales
For the vast majority of businesses, a crisis (either internal or external) is not the time to start pulling out your best taglines, be cute or witty, or offer up steep discounts to drive quick sales. Read the room. Be empathetic in your approach, find the appropriate tone within the circumstances your customers or clients are facing. Those key stakeholders will reciprocate in kind.
2) Showcase your thought leadership
If you operate primarily in the B2B space, a crisis affecting your area of expertise can be the time to shine as a thought leader in your industry. Bringing value to your target audiences in a time of critical need is going to keep your business top of mind and be significantly more effective long term than any 10% discount. Find ways you can educate your audience and deliver value without being overly promotional.
3) Be creative in your approach
It’s time for big ideas: What can your organization offer that others can’t? Find it, capitalize on it, and promote it. Since 2020, we've endured a global pandemic, high food prices, inflation, ongoing global unrest, and arguably the two most highly divisive presidential campaigns in history. Become that trusted advisor who comes up with a different solution. If you position yourself as a value-adding leader in your industry, clients and customers will seek out your guidance much more frequently in the future. We call this process making deposits in the bank of goodwill. By making these goodwill contributions, if you ever face a crisis of your own, you won't be operating from a reputational deficit.
We've all seen the shift in the tone and tenor of what's been shared online these past four years, both in paid and organic content. What we say and how we say it is going to be under a microscope for the foreseeable future, especially given the lack of guardrails in the online community.
Combined with almost no barriers to entry, the proliferation of AI will make it more challenging to cut through the digital noise and clutter. Keep that in mind as you craft your content within this rapidly evolving communications landscape and the almost daily crises that our communication environment seems to create.
