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Engaging Consumers In A Pandemic Environment
How has the pandemic impacted businesses?
The last few years have upended the business environment across the globe. Business owners have had to deal with a variety of adverse events, including:
– Temporary and permanent closures
– Changes to operations and procedures
– Limitations on contact with customers and prospects
– Reduced capacity / occupancy restrictions
– Heavy focus on clean and sterile facilities
– Supply and demand inconsistencies
Because of this, business owners have had to reevaluate their existing strategies and implement new strategies to address the pandemic’s effect on their business.
The pandemic has also affected consumer behavior in the following ways:
– Resulted in additional social distancing procedures
– Exacerbated consumers’ sensitivity to touch
– Push by consumers to embrace “touchless” technologies
What the pandemic has reinforced is that:
– Businesses must continually evolve to survive
– Communication is mission critical for a business
– Businesses must utilize multiple channels of communication, including but not limited to:
– Social Media
– Mobile
– Direct Mail
– Onsite signage
– Email
In general, businesses are communicating with a variety of groups:
– Customers
– Prospects
– Employees
– Community members / advocates
This communication spans both on-site and off-site communication. Examples of off-site communication include: Updates & alerts, well wishes, marketing and sales offers. Examples of on-site communications include things like curbside pick-up, guestlist and waitlist, loyalty programs, and scannable QR codes.
Plus, some business communication is considered “marketing”, while other communication is “non-marketing” or transactional messaging.
What methods are businesses using to communicate with their customers? How effective are these communication channels?
The reality is that text messaging communication ranks as one of the most effective channels of communication for a business, with open/read rates in the 98%+ range. This means that a business using text messaging for communication can ensure that their messages are read by their recipients just about all the time.
Here are a few tips to ensure compliance with your messaging initiatives:
– You should not import any customer phone numbers to send marketing messages without first establishing express written consent.
– In some cases, exceptions can be made for users that are switching from one texting platform to another.
– Build an opt-in list organically using a digital kiosk and other tools
– Make sure your disclaimer language is clearly displayed on all “Calls to Action”
– Non-marketing transactional communication is less restrictive in terms of consent requirements.
Want to learn more about iVisionMobile? Make sure to attend the B2B Marketing Expo on April 6th & 7th at the Los Angeles Convention Center!