The Three Best Ways to Connect with Customers Now

When the economy was chugging along, there was an overwhelming focus on data driven marketing and programmatic advertising. And then the entire world was hit with a crisis from an invisible virus that does not care about age, color, gender, wealth, or position in society. More than natural disasters or financial crises, this virus prevents people around the world from even being together. People are restricted from doing all but the most essential activities in their daily lives, and for many ensuring their families have access to essential services is the single most important thing on their minds. We know, of course, that we will come together and beat this crisis, that this too shall pass.

How can a brand or a company contribute beyond retro fitting factories or repurposing hotels and buildings? More importantly, perhaps, what do you say to your customers now? Here are the three best ways to connect with your customers now. 

Do something thoughtful or mindful.

People have a lot on their minds and are having to lead lives very differently from normal. Do something kind or thoughtful, something good for others without expecting anything in return. A certain skin care brand sent out their hand cream with a note that ‘we know people are washing their hands a lot these days-and that is important-so here is something to take care of your hands.” It arrived unannounced and out of the blue and showed honest compassion. Another brand created a playlist designed to cheer up people staying home. What could you do or offer your customers that they might never do or buy for themselves? 

Show your authenticity and honesty

People around the world are staying home and giving up many of the small pleasures in their lives. People are going to realize that perhaps they don’t really miss some of them and will focus more things that really matter to them. The crisis is going to accelerate the already growing demand for authenticity in a brand or company.

Authenticity comes in many forms and it’s more than just a certificate. If you are an Italian designer brand you could send out a link to all your customers to view the Andrea Bocelli Easter concert in Milan. As other brands have done, you could create a virtual tour of the town where your brand or company originated, perhaps introduce the people there. Whether you offer a service or sell a product, show how you do the right thing. Show your honesty. That is the root of your authenticity and should also be something that you share with your customers. You are not showing off, you are showing that you are real. We are rapidly moving into an era where customers will judge brands by HOW they do what they do.

Show your humanity

Perhaps more than anything else, this virus shows us that we are all equal as humans. We are seeing that the “essential” workers we all rely on are not high-flying executives or celebrities, they are people like all of us. In times like this, it is essential that the brand or company show their humanity and empathy. One example was a sanitation worker who was asked “don’t you fear getting sick?” He said “people are relying on me. I can’t stay home.” Who can you celebrate? Can your brand use its resources to create an online forum to exchange information and foster community?  One Japanese fashion company had their shop staff do short five-minute intros of their homelife while they were furloughed.  The key point here is to show that you are also human. 

It is increasingly clear that companies and brands that don't reach out to consumers using empathy and mindfulness are asking to be relegated to the forgotten and irrelevant shelf. One of the fastest growing sites is www.didtheyhelp.com which is a peer graded site about how companies behaved during the crisis, Heroes to Zeroes, a kind of Hall of Fame and Shame.

The traditional key concept of marketing is to know the customer segments or groups that you want to target and market to. That requires knowing your customers. Seems obvious, right? How will you know your customers on the other side of the crisis?

Coming out of this crisis, brands and companies need to change, because customers will have changed. Now more than ever before brands and companies need to put their customers at the center of all they do. By putting customers in the center of your business model, and implementing multiple communication and interaction channels and technologies, you keep customers engaged and (hopefully) participatory. You can encourage customers to join a discussion about the paradigm where the brand lives.

Now is the time to put your customers front and center by sending them transparent communications that are thoughtful, authentic, and human.

This article was originally published on Medium and reformatted for LinkedIn