SPECIAL MAY SUPPLEMENT
YEARS
30 STRONG
Marketing in Turbulent Times
BY DEBRA JASON
AFTER 9/11, TIMES GOT TOUGH, and companies began cutting back.
Sometimes they let employees go and stopped there. Other times, they
eliminated their marketing—afraid to spend their marketing dollars.
Today, in this COVID-19 environment, we know it’s about
more than letting employees go—spas, hotels, salons and
more are being required to shut their doors to customers.
Yet many realize, despite the crisis, it’s important for them
to maintain a presence in the marketplace.
Totally eliminating your marketing in turbulent times is
not your best move. It’s a fearful and stressful time, but as
sales and leadership expert Meredith Elliott Powell suggests,
you can “Recognize, admit and embrace the fear.”
You can keep your message out there and stay top of
mind, but do so with authenticity and compassion. Help
people solve problems in the moment. As PR professional
Wendy Marx explained, “People are panicking right now.
It’s no time to focus on your needs. Look for ways to put
your audience in first place and address their needs and
concerns.”
What can you do to help your clients and/or
prospects get through this?
Marketing (like life) is about building and nurturing
relationships.
You can nurture your relationships by putting out
valuable information while building your reputation as
someone who serves others. Remaining visible during
turbulent times means you’ll be remembered later—when
times are good again.
For instance, on their website, ISPA provides a list of
COVID-19 Resources from information about the CARES
Act to the Professional Beauty Association’s (PBA) COVID-19
Relief Fund. Our colleagues at Skin Inc. Magazine offer
“9 Tips to Keep Your Spa COVID-19 Free.”
You too can be someone who serves by creating
content that addresses what’s happening in the
marketplace and:
Present it in a webinar and/or podcast. Share tips
1. that relate to the current situation that your
audience finds beneficial (and helps alleviate their fears
and anxiety).
Punta Cana Wellness offered a webinar on “Your
Business After COVID-19.” This program revealed how
wellness can generate confidence, community involvement,
well-being for your employees and clients while creating
provision.
The team at Book4Time Inc. launched a weekly webinar
series. Here’s what they said about it, “Many of us may have
been furloughed or are trying our best to work from home.
We understand it’s difficult to create a ‘to-do’ list when
your business is closed. However, we want to make sure
we’re encouraging our customers to work ON the business,
even when you can’t work IN it…We want you to be ready
to return to work stronger than you were before.”
“Repurpose that webinar content into an article.
Post it on your blog first and then, after four to five days,
post it as a long-form article on your LinkedIn profile.”
COVID-19 UPDATE ■ PULSE ■ MAY 2020