RESILIENCE
TOOLKIT
Strategies and actions for business, government, or development organizations to ensure ongoing viability.
CHAPTER 3 Marketing To Be Resilient
Being resilient and having a response/recovery plan is great unless no one knows about it. Telling the story of a plan and all its elements and impacts and then communicating that story is a critical part of being resilient.
Communications is an ever-evolving practice. Press releases and handbills have given way to tweets and texts. But sometimes situations, like a week-long power outage, can impact the ability to use certain communications platforms. Being aware of what’s needed to both tell the resilience story and manage a particular crisis is imperative for businesses, organizations, and institutions. More importantly, knowing how, who, and where to get that word out will make or break the overall planning effort.
Contact List Development
Implementing a single resource to house all of your contact information is imperative to running a smooth operation. A clean, updated contact database is essential to any business.
Determine Contacts
Establishing which contacts and connections are pertinent to your business will help determine your priorities in the event of a crisis.
- Determine contact categories.
- Ensure contact information is up to date and includes alternates at key entities.
Contact categories to consider:
- Customer
- Emergency contact
- Employee
- General public
- Government entity
- Investor
- Media outlet
- Partner
- Social media follower
- User
- Vendor
Create Contact Hub
Efficiently reach your various audiences if/when a crisis occurs by creating a contact database for important business connections.
- Create a spreadsheet or database detailing how you can reach your contacts.
- Ensure that all contact information is accessible from multiple locations (e.g., office computer, personal computer, online).
- Make sure that appropriate team members are aware of where to access the contact information.
- Regularly update the contact list.
Information to include in your contact hub:
- Contact category
- Organization name
- Address
- Website
- Contact name
- Phone
- Account number
- Username
- Password
- Security question
- Pin
- Notes
Crisis Communication Planning
During an emergency, the need to communicate is immediate. If business operations are disrupted, your contacts will want information before the business has a chance to begin communicating.
Determine Plan Objective
Establishing the purpose of the crisis communications plan ensures that all efforts align with the common goal.
Objective Example: “This plan creates a structure for communicating with pertinent connections in the event of a crisis that affects normal business functions.”
Identify Stakeholders
When preparing a crisis communications plan, it is important to know who the plan is designed for.
Stakeholders will include a combination of groups outlined in your contact list. (See Contact List Development.)
Create Fact Sheets
Fact sheets are used to communicate the details of the crisis and how it relates to your business and its stakeholders.
- Identify who is responsible for creating fact sheets.
- Include all known facts pertaining to the crisis to prevent misinterpretations from spreading.
- Offer as much transparency as possible.
- Determine person(s) responsible for reporting facts.
- Set deadlines for completed fact sheet(s), as timeliness is likely necessary.
Communicate Facts to Stakeholders
Depending on the nature of the crisis, it is important to consider what method(s) will be most effective when dispersing factual information to your audience.
- Phone calls
- Physical mailing
- Press release
- Social media
- Website content
Observe Stakeholder Response
How you monitor and address stakeholder feedback can be paramount in having effective communications during a crisis.
- Determine person(s) responsible for monitoring and responding to feedback.
- Determine method(s) for monitoring and responding to feedback.
- Address negative feedback as soon as possible.
Regroup
Reflecting on the effectiveness of the crisis communications plan will help determine what changes and updates must be made to the plan.
- Gather all crisis management team members to discuss what went right and what went wrong.
- Discuss positive and negative feedback received. Was response sufficient? What should have been done?
- Revise crisis communications plan.
Effective Marketing
Marketing resilience is an achievable goal. During uncertain times, strategic marketing visions can not only help brands successfully weather storms, but they can set them up for dynamic long-term success in ever-changing markets. Implementing these practical strategies now allows your marketing department to become a crucial asset in helping your brand navigate the challenges ahead.
Support Existing Clients/Customers
Knowing and meeting the needs of your existing customers, especially during a time of crisis, will foster client loyalty.
- Craft marketing materials to keep people safe.
- Seek out high-quality information from reliable sources.
Focus On Retention Marketing
Be proactive and offer people something to look forward to once you’re no longer in crisis mode.
- Convey what there is to look forward to.
- Continue to communicate with engaged customers.
- Share other ways to connect.
Leverage Digital Channels
Going digital with your marketing efforts can be a fiscally responsible and effective way to reach your customers.
- Attempt to reach customers at many touch points. Touch points can include a combination of e-commerce, email, social media, instant messaging, paid ads, etc.
Stay Agile
The ability to pivot quickly as the circumstances require is an important aspect of business resilience.
- Observe the crisis effect on clients/customers.
- Pivot to accommodate the issue.
- Add or evolve your product or service.
Crisis Effect Example: “My customers can no longer enjoy dining in at my restaurant.”
Product/Service Evolution Example: “Now offering delivery or curbside pickup!”
Use Downtime
Use this time as efficiently as possible so that you are more than prepared for when the crisis comes to an end.
- Work on what you have not had time for before.
- Determine your long-term marketing strategy beyond the current crisis.
- Assess current operations and determine which need more/less attention.
- Analyze competitor tactics to adopt or avoid.
Prioritize Spending
Smart decisions regarding your marketing efforts will require your marketing dollars to work harder for you.
- Avoid slashing marketing spend.
- Concentrate on clients with high lifetime value.
- Build brand awareness among high-value clients.
