The offline world is becoming more and more reliant on the online world, so now is your chance to ‘digitise’ your business and look for new opportunities.
Understandably, there’s an abundance of information in cyberspace about the coronavirus. Much of it is a rehash of existing news being shared by different sources, and it’s getting to a point where people see these posts and think, “Oh no, not more doom and gloom.” I know that’s how I’m feeling.
Yes, we need to stay informed and updated but we also need to remain calm and focused on business. There are a number of different things we can do to minimise long-term impacts.
With events being cancelled in all industries around the globe and no indication when they will recommence, content marketing will be vital for lead generation.
During this time, I’m trying to share as much practical, free advice as I can to help anyone in business.
So let’s talk content – specifically, how much COVID-19 related content you should be sharing.
Let’s start by asking these two questions:
- How relevant is it to your clients and industry?
Certainly, for industries that have been directly impacted (such as travel, hospitality and some retailers) the issue is highly relevant. Using social media and content to communicate will be vital over the coming weeks.
If you’re in recruitment, consider how it impacts your clients and candidates, and what those impacts might be. How much information do people need from you?
- How does it impact your target audience and candidates?
What issues and challenges are coming up for your target audience and candidates? This is an opportunity for you to address those issues and provide practical solutions that can help them.
Content tips
Now you’ve established how relevant it is, think about what types of content you can share.
- Consider newsjacking (when relevant) – Newsjacking is the process of adding your thoughts and opinions into breaking news stories. It’s piggybacking on trending news topics to get yourself noticed. If you choose to newsjack, be make sure it is relevant, non-offensive and makes sense to your audience. Simply mentioning something about coronavirus as an add-on to an article doesn’t cut it and isn’t newsjacking.
- What questions do people have that you can answer? – due to the amount of uncertainty in the world, people are looking to experts to answer many questions. There’s an opportunity to educate people on many relevant topics, the most obvious being gig economy and flexible work, HR and employment policies, law, self-help and online learning, customer service training ….
- Try to share positive messages that educate your target market and candidates – doom and gloom helps no one, least of all the economy. Try to share positive stories of creative ways people around the world are managing the current issues. I have seen stories about book stores delivering books to households, bakeries creating ‘Make your own Sourdough’ kits, overall businesses getting creative with how they deliver their products and services.
- Practical tips and how-tos offer the most value – share posts and articles that educate your audience and give practical advice, much like I am trying to do with my free blogs and content.
- Opportunities to remain relevant and be the ‘go-to expert’ – Recruiters, now is the time to position yourself as someone who solves problems. Your content should reflect that.
- Produce relevant and compelling strategic insights – before you share existing content, do some research to validate that it is correct. Make sure you add your expert insights with any shared content to give it context
- Share positive news stories from clients who are taking advantage of market conditions to redefine their business offering or find new revenue streams.
My poor phone and laptop have been running hot and I’ve had to charge again during the day just because I am on it so much.
We are online, not just getting our news and updates, but shopping online, looking for entertainment, doing Zoom calls to stay connected, enrolling in online learning to upskill, looking for positive stories, looking for jobs, researching suppliers, downloading movies and books, and trying to continue business as usual. So now is the time to take advantage of that and look for ways to spread joy, not fear.
Tanya Williams is the pink-loving, sparkly Chief of Everything at Digital Conversations. She wears many hats; entrepreneur, best-selling author, digital trainer, and she is a Social Amplification Specialist with over 20 years’ marketing experience. She works with recruiters to uncover the hidden gold in their existing assets, find ways to leverage every moment of your digital marketing without increasing your marketing budget and amplify your internal champions to increase your visibility. Her goal is to make the hero in your industry sector. She has a simple, no-tech-talk approach and thrives working with established recruitment companies to tap into the opportunities they might miss, using practical & relevant tactics to drive business outcomes.