As the epidemic spreads, the pressure to overcome this global public health crisis has gradually come to marketers. Although some companies ‘products are selling well, more companies’ products are slow-moving. Flexibility is the key to mitigating the damage caused by emergency public health issues.

The outbreak of the new coronavirus has continued to spread, and many brands have been affected. Retail physical stores have experienced a sudden drop in crowds due to segregation control, and e-commerce has also caused sales to decline due to logistics issues. In addition, the closure of the factory has led to insufficient inventory, and even some well-known international brands have not been spared.

In the face of the epidemic, here are seven strategies to deal with this shock.

1. Avoid sales and take supportive actions

As a marketer, the question that needs to be clarified is not “how to increase sales”, but “how to support customers during this period.” As far as the situation is concerned, focusing on increasing sales will not only have any positive effects, but may have adverse effects.

More and more e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, media and technology companies have begun to take supportive actions. High-end boutique group LVMH has donated US $ 2.3 million, while L’Oreal in the beauty industry has vowed to invest US $ 720,000 to fight the virus.

However, this does not mean that all brands need to support with high donations. By donating or providing your own goods or services to the people who need them, you can also help others and help your brand image.

2. Use themes and keywords for accurate marketing

The new coronavirus has had a major impact, so people naturally talk and search the Internet for relevant information, and buy related products in search of self-protection.

Companies in the fields of healthcare, health care and medical products can take this opportunity to get closer to customers who care about health issues. For this reason, it is very important to correctly target customers.

With artificial intelligence analysis tools, brands can analyze online data and identify who is reading the epidemic-related content and the type of content. Next, you can build customer segments based on topics or keywords and send relevant content to increase marketing accuracy.

3. Effective use of your app and digital content

Since many people need to be isolated at home, downloads of games and video applications have reached a new high. According to platform statistics reported by netizens, 574 accounts on the China Douyin and Kuaishou video and audio platforms have increased from 100,000 to 500,000 followers between January 20 and February 2.

If you want to catch this wave, you can create related content, games and videos. Specific industries, such as fitness, can especially interact with customers through relevant content, such as creating simple exercise or home-made healthy eating instructional videos to help customers fight the virus.

4. Make sure your ads are in the right context

Due to changes in privacy regulations, content comparison marketing has revived. The key is to place advertisements in the right context, and in this sensitive period, ensuring that the context of the ad is appropriate is the top priority of maintaining “brand safety.” For example, due to strict travel restrictions imposed by governments in many countries, it is inappropriate to choose to advertise travel in regulated areas at this time.

In order to avoid creating a negative brand image or damaging the brand’s reputation, brands can use artificial intelligence technologies such as natural language processing and deep learning to help analyze the data and understand the situation in depth, thereby ensuring that the advertising is appropriate and relevant.

5. Focus on multi-channel interaction

If the brand is facing problems such as high product demand or delayed logistics, or is unable to replenish in time because the factory is closed, it is necessary to keep the customer informed of the latest news.

By letting customers know the estimated delivery time of the product at any time, as well as understanding the cause and the general situation of the delay, it can reduce the other party’s dissatisfaction and avoid moving consumers to buy elsewhere.

To ensure that customers ’questions or complaints can be responded to at any time, please make good use of different multiple channels such as websites, emails, social networking sites, push notifications, or in-app messages to interact with them to bring them closer together.

6. Target customers with “high lifetime value”

Although people in China and other places have increased e-commerce sales due to longer stays at home, low inventory, manufacturing and logistics issues have made it more difficult to ship goods.

Considering the above, rather than trying to acquire new customers, e-commerce marketers should focus on interacting with existing customers with the highest lifetime value, so that the other party will continue to interact with the brand after the crisis ends.

In addition, deep learning can help improve data analysis performance and identify high-value customers. This technology segments past customers by looking at past behaviors and inductive patterns, and then predicts conversion rates for each segmented user. Once you have these insights, you can use them to tailor your marketing campaigns to your customers.

7. Reflect current affairs

The epidemic is a hot topic right now, so incorporating relevant keywords and visual design into marketing campaigns and ads can be effective in attracting attention, but remember to make sure it’s appropriate.

In principle, information about the epidemic should be avoided for irrelevant products, but if it is a product that helps people, such as a dry cleaner, the marketer should put the product on the shelf and send relevant information.

Also, do n’t forget to include useful and relevant messages in your marketing activities. For example, the beauty company’s perfect diary is promoting safety and epidemic prevention recommendations to the public, and the underwear brand “NEIWAI” also posted messages on WeChat, in addition to reminding everyone to pay attention to health and cheering everyone up.

If the epidemic of the new coronavirus develops similar to SARS, the retail industry is expected to return to normal in June. However, as far as the market is concerned, it is still important to provide customer support, keep communication channels open, and develop appropriate marketing strategies. This will determine whether the brand can survive the shock and maintain its advantage in the future.