6 ways to use your marketing tone to enhance CX

Words are powerful. Especially, when they are being used in a situation where there is no in-person interaction. In such situations, the voice of the customer becomes critical. By setting the right tone for all touchpoints, a brand is more likely to create an ecosystem that breeds trust. Focusing on a positive voice of tone while making use of innovative marketing strategies becomes all the more important during a crisis. These are the times when even a reputed brand could lose its leads by using the wrong tone of voice. And on the other side, being diligent and sensitive towards the customers’ needs and demands can generate enormous numbers of leads.

The onset of a crisis puts a brand’s strengths and weaknesses under the spotlight. The current coronavirus pandemic is a crisis that has forced most people to be physically separate from their friends, family, workplace, and almost every place is required to turn digital or an exclusive way of doing the business, dramatically remodeling people’s daily experiences. This crisis seems like something that is here to stay for a while forcing people to adapt to the realities of the ‘new normal’.

So how can a B2C company actually benefit out of it?

For a B2C company, their most prominent stakeholder right now is a person who is craving warmth and security, resulting in the generation for the need for brand new customer experience (CX). So the prime focus shouldn’t be on how to boost up the sales and grab market share. Rather, they should focus on customer feedback to know how to support their customers in a meaningful, human, and relevant way given the current scenario.

What customers care about most right now is drastically changing the face of shopping in quarantine. Brands with the most desirable price, most fashionable product or most extraordinary marketing campaign might not have an edge over those that manifest emotional intelligence and communicate with care, honesty, and empathy, resulting in the building of trust. Right now, people just want to be recognized and appreciated, and they are extremely susceptible to the tone and motive a brand chooses to use.

So, as a business leader, how do you mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus as it upends every aspect of your business like a natural disaster? Follow these 6 easy steps to adapt to the changing scenarios into your marketing tone for better customer experience.

Reanalyze the marketing plan

The right kind of messaging should always take into account the impact of cultural events on the customers. Evaluate your current images, language, and tone of voice from a point of view of a person who is stressed, afraid, or longs for authentic human connection. The next step is to adjust the marketing campaigns by crafting a sensitive message that caters to the present concerns of the customers. The latest example of such a messaging is what Nike did soon after Americans were asked to stay indoors if at all possible. It was simple yet inspiring with an underlying tone of hope.

Retain and Grow Your Customer Base

Studies say that 80% of a brand’s revenue comes from 20% of the loyal customer database. Loyal customers are the only ones who spend more on average, making larger purchases more frequently. So it’s crucial to utilize and exhaust the customer data or UGC to know what they want and how they want it because these are the customers that will help the business once it’s back up and running. 

Reevaluating the Ad Spend

With the onset of the crisis, a lot of brands withdrew from paid advertising to conserve their cash flows. But this is the best time to put that ad spend to good use because people are glued to their screens locked indoors and paid advertisements could be a great way to keep your brand alive in people’s subconscious. Since the traffic on the web is up and there are fewer advertisers, the cost per click (CPC) for ads is low resulting in cheaper ads.

Think Contribution Via Social Media

The social media platforms today have the potential to be a powerful foundation for building trust and relationships. But to do that, you have got to be engaged. The key is not to appear out of place or tone-deaf while doing so. Hence, the messaging has to be organic, personal, and full of empathy. It has to be receptive to the person on the other end reading it. It has to hit the note of compassion and togetherness just the way Jeni’s Ice Cream did with this post on their Instagram account.

Mold your Offers & Promotions

Careful and consistent gauging of customer sentiment is important as we are inching towards an economic recession. Leveraging the customer insights during this time will come handy in remodeling the current discounts and offers as it can help attract new customers, building loyalty among existing customers, driving traffic to the site, and increasing sales. The best kind of offer is the one where the customers feel that they are helping the community while buying something for themselves. Like LARQ urged its customers to take $20 off their purchase and use that to donate it directly to the frontline workers through a Direct Relief:

Email Marketing to your rescue

Email marketing is considered to be by far the most effective long-term method of marketing communication majorly impacting customer’s purchase decisions. And its importance has reached the skies now more than ever as it’s vital to keep the customers informed about any changes affecting the business, stock, and industry. Automated email flows (birthday campaigns, win-back flows, or abandoned cart emails) with a product recommendation engine, or adjustable discount codes and customer segmentation is a perfect recipe for a tailored, targeted email that is easy to design.

In times like today, it is important to respond to the way the world changes. Marketing today must lean on the community, brand building, and relationships with existing customers by Striking the right tone in the messaging can put a business in good books even for a longer run.