Lesson 5: Communicating during a crisis
Imagine this: You’ve fallen into a nice rhythm with your email marketing–you’ve got an eye-catching template, you’ve figured out some great subject lines, and you even have the next couple months of emails planned out. Then, out of nowhere, your current and future plans for your business are all disrupted! This is the situation many businesses found themselves in with the Covid-19 crisis.
In this lesson, we want to get real. Sometimes our best-laid plans get upended through events that are totally out of our control. We want to give you back some confidence by helping you have an email gameplan that you can use during times of crisis.
Communication tips for hard times
This advice in this list will help you update your customers and keep your business running. We’ll use the example of Covid-19, but these principles can be applied during any time of crisis for your business.
Keep it simple and to-the-point
Who suddenly had an inbox full of COVID-19 emails from every company you’ve ever interacted with? Yup, us too. When you’re competing with so many others and trying to get information across to busy people, you have a very limited amount of time to capture someone’s attention. Your email communication needs to be kept short, simple, and to-the-point.
Be open and honest about impact
In a situation like Covid-19, the widespread closures and heavy demand for services have a deep impact on businesses, both large and small. Be transparent with your customers about how the situation is impacting your business and, in turn, your customers. For example, you may want to send an email indicating service may slow. You could include this information at the top of your website, also.
Acknowledge uncertainty and embrace templates
In situations of uncertainty, you need to pay heed to the unpredictability of the situation. Flexibility is important for businesses. Email can help you to establish consistent communication with your customers and announce changes in real-time. In line with this, you can also create email templates to streamline the process. This makes it much easier to send out consistent email messages quickly if you need to make an urgent announcement.
Express gratitude
When you’re planning your email communications, don’t forget to express gratitude towards your customers. Additionally, calling out any wins is a welcome morale boost in tough situations.
Make it easy to opt-out
Lastly, it’s important to make sure it’s easy for customers to opt-in (or out) of your email subscriber list. People may want to streamline the emails they receive during times of crisis. Keep your chin up and keep communicating. Even if customers opt-out of emails, they may still enjoy connecting with you on social media or through other avenues.
WE’RE HERE FOR YOU!
GoDaddy has launched a website and campaign, Open We Stand, to help customers weather the storm with tools and resources. With educational content, stories of customers rapidly adapting their businesses, and community forums that allow virtual connection with others, the goal is to compile useful resources for you in one place. We also have some practical video resources to help you navigate the unknowns of growing your business during Covid-19.