April 6, 2020

To Send or Not to Send: Messaging in the Age of COVID-19

By Brittany Luebke at Cheetah Digital

Cheetah Digital discusses email marketing and how to do it right in times of crisis.

Over the past week in the U.S., brands have scrambled to put together messaging regarding their response to COVID-19. Marketers, corporate communications teams, and company leaders are in new territory, and it’s a delicate balance between sharing and oversharing.

Email is an excellent way to reach your audience about what you’re doing as a brand. It’s a trusted channel of communication with your audience as they’ve already opted-in to receiving messages from you. You’re able to reach your audience instantly and be direct in your tone, person-to-person. And that’s why so many brands are relying on email as the channel to communicate serious news right now.

But…

Do you really need to send another email? It’s possible that your audience isn’t looking for an update from you. Or perhaps a social post would suffice. Gartner has a thoughtful post about this topic, and I loved the questions they proposed in thinking through communications right now:

Launch your COVID-19-themed marketing email campaign only if you can answer yes to these four questions:

  1. Am I telling customers something different from other brands versus saying the same thing as everyone else?
  2. Am I telling customers something they don’t already expect of my company or brand?
  3. Is the WIIFM (“what’s in it for me?”) conspicuous in the subject line and opening paragraph?
  4. And, most importantly, is the WIIFM (“what’s in it for me?”) attuned to your customers needs right now?

Consider this

You don’t need to send an email just because everyone else is doing it. But if you meet Gartner’s criteria above, and you still think that yes, you need to continue the conversation with an email, here are some additional considerations:

  • Segment your list when possible. Sending a very large campaign to email addresses that are not normally engaged or have not received messages in a long time poses a risk to your sending reputation, and may prohibit the campaign from being properly delivered. So whether you segment by time since last email opened, type of customer, or location, think of ways to whittle down your recipient list.
  • Highlight the good. Waiving flight change fees? Great. Covering expedited shipping? Awesome. Flexible return policies? Yes. Try to connect with subscribers, and limit their burden when possible.
  • Pare down your text until you have a concise message. This is not the time to be exhaustive if you can help it. If you have a long message that needs to be communicated, perhaps link out to a press release or blog post. We really liked this example from Movable Ink. Right now, your subscribers have an influx of emails, many sharing the same information. Make it short and sweet!
  • Reach out to your partners for help. We’re happy to talk through considerations, especially with clients who have a need to contact inactive email addresses. And a second opinion might help back up your thinking to your leadership team who is feeling the pressure to get communications out the door.

It’s a busy and hectic time for many of our clients and partners. We’re here to help in any way that we can.


Written by

By Brittany Luebke at Cheetah Digital