This is a strange world we’re living in. People can only go out of the house if they are healthcare workers or if they are going to buy essential goods for the family. There are checkpoints in certain areas of the city. There is zero traffic. You haven’t seen the health minister this many times in the past couple of years. Where does Lakeland public relations for your business fit into all of these?
While the world grapples with this new norm, entrepreneurs are left wondering whether they should market and promote their businesses at all. Doesn’t it sound and feel insensitive to continue to sell at a time like this? Should you release a statement or pretend nothing is happening? Should business go on as usual?
The answer is to acknowledge what’s happening, but the level of acknowledgment depends on how affected you and your customers are. It pays to ask these three questions before drafting your Lakeland public relations response:
Is COVID-19 Affecting My Target Audience?
Are your audience affected by the pandemic? Are you catering to health workers? How can you help them? If your market consists of people who work in the industries now affected by the pandemic, you must acknowledge what they are going through and find a way to help them.
If you own a restaurant near a hospital, for example, perhaps you can donate PPEs or food for the frontliners. Make sure that you acknowledge their heroism in the Lakeland public relations press release.
Will My Audience’s Priorities Shift Because of the Pandemic?
What kind of products and services are you selling? Take a long look at how the pandemic will affect your customers’ priorities. After the pandemic, will they still choose to be your customers? Will they still buy products and services from your company? If you’re selling luxury items, you are not going to be a priority for your customers even after the pandemic.
What you can do is to show your solidarity with your customers. Although you won’t be their priority after the pandemic, you can find a way to show that you are a socially responsible company.
This will help keep your brand at the forefront of their minds. When the time comes that they’re ready to be your customers again, you’ll be on top of their choices because of the way you responded to the pandemic.
Does COVID-19 Impact Our Products and Services?
You need to tell your customers how the pandemic has affected your production process. If it somehow impacted your business operations, pen an open letter to your audience and tell them about it. You need to let them know why you can’t deliver products and services the same way as before.
They need to also understand how your company was impacted by the pandemic. This will make them realize that more than its impact on them, the pandemic also affected businesses like yours.
