Copywriting During COVID-19
Copywriting during a virus. I never thought I would be blogging on this topic, but here we are. What a whirlwind!
Hopefully, you’re well and truly adapting/pivoting/evolving, or whatever everyone's calling it today.
I've witnessed many reactions over the past few weeks. Denial? Yep. Panic? Of course. Avoidance? That’s me.
I stuck my head in the sand, well, actually, Netflix (hello, Tiger King) and hoped when I poked my head up again, it would’ve all gone away.
Luckily before I disappeared too far into the ether, one of my favourite clients snapped me out of my #COVID_19 reaction. She gave me a pep talk that went along the lines of:
This is the time you need to…
Share your value
Define your message
Strengthen your connections
So it got me thinking. Once we move past denial, panic and avoidance, how do we communicate? How do we keep writing in a way that’s appropriate to the current situation?
Here are five things to keep in mind when you’re creating content during COVID-19.
5 Things to Keep in Mind When Creating Content During COVID-19
1. Keep communicating
If you're anything like me (avoider), you may have gone silent over the last few months. No social posts, no EDMs and no blogs. All bets are off! Warning: I'm about to wreck your holiday. If there's ever a time to connect with your audience, it's now.
You might be thinking, "There are more important things to worry about right now”. And in a way, you're right. But on the other hand, your audience is still interested in what they were interested in before shit hit the fan, and will be when it's over.
If you're worried that acting like “business as usual” is insensitive, one way to navigate this is to share your experience. How are you feeling about the situation? How are you getting through isolation? Identification is essential right now and your audience will appreciate it.
Another thing to remember is you have a captive audience. Social media usage rose in 2020 and will continue to rise in 2021! This gives you an opportunity to grow your audience with thoughtful and compelling content.
2. Be generous
"There is a difference between offering a service and being willing to serve. They may both include giving but only one is generous." - Simon Sinek
I absolutely love this quote! We're all struggling right now. So it might sound counterintuitive to be giving away things for free, but actually, now's the time to share the love.
Sharing your knowledge shows credibility, reinforces your value, and gives your audience a chance to engage. It's also just a kind and generous thing to do right now. We're all feeling worse for wear, so why not help someone out?
I've seen loads of businesses release eBooks, how-to videos and free workshops. I've found this super helpful, so I've willingly "opted in". And let's face it, it's not like you're giving away something for nothing. You'll be rewarded with more engagement, a longer mailing list, increased brand awareness – the list goes on.
3. Lose the hard sell
This is a big one. Pipe down on the sleazy selling. Now is not the time. It's easy to get into panic mode and be compelled to double down on pushy Facebook ads to drive more sales, but people can sense #despo instantly and it puts them off.
Remember the 90/10 rule? 90% content, 10% promotion. Right now, I think it should be 100% content. We're all feeling anxious and stressed. We're not in the mood for businesses who just want to make a quick sale.
Does this mean you stop selling? No, not all. We've all got bills to pay, but there's a way to go about it. Going back to Simon Sinek’s quote about generosity, I think if you’re selling something now it should be about helping people.
You could…
Repackage an existing service to fit into the needs of your audience’s current circumstance e.g. moving services online
Create something new to fill a need. One of my clients has started to do fruit and veg deliveries. This is making people’s lives easier, especially those in isolation. It’s also paying the bills.
When you announce your new offer or sale, don’t bully them with a "50% OFF! DON'T MISS OUT!" Communicate its value and re-frame any promotion by highlighting how it will help.
4. Focus on connection
Now you're focusing on content, make sure it does one of these four things: engages, entertains, educates or inspires. I'll break these down.
Engage: Get your audience to do something. Start a conversation. Encourage people to comment, share, or enter a competition.
Entertain: Get an emotional reaction by sharing something related to your audience's interests. I've seen a lot of funny memes lately. Very entertaining.
Educate: What do you know your audience doesn’t know? Do you have an answer to their problem? Provide something useful.
Inspire: Again, think of your audience's personality. What inspires them? I share quotes on creativity, writing inspiration and workspaces.
5. Choose your words wisely
A lot is going on right now, so you want to be extra careful of the messages you convey.
We've seen it in the media. Words like "disaster", "collapse" and "emergency" do nothing for our psyche. They make us fret, panic, and do weird things like hoard toilet paper!
When reading back over your blogs or social media posts, ask yourself these questions:
Am I telling my audience something they already know? e.g. “the economy is affected” (yes, we know)
Is my message positive or negative? e.g. “this is getting worse and worse” (hmm, thanks!)
Does my copy fall into one of the four categories in tip four? (engage, entertain, educate, inspire)
What emotions do my words express? (hopeful, excited, encouraging)
Look forward
On 60 minutes's Coronavirus: A Brave New World, Canva's founder Melanie Perkins, and Scott Farquha from IT company Atlassian, were talking about how businesses's reactions to COVID-19 will reveal their true motives.
This was another a-ha moment for me. When this is all over, I want to feel like I reacted constructively. Not just for me, but for others.
This is a big learning opportunity for all of us, and how we respond will affect the way we do business going forward.