Hospitality Marketing & Covid-19

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It’s mental and utterly surreal what’s going on globally. It feels like we are all in a Black Mirror episode. Hospitality has been sucker-punched. We’re all feeling winded. But it’s time to catch our breaths. This blog is a summary of pieces of my own hospitality marketing advice, key tools and amazing resources from industry legends to follow.

Our industry has shut its doors, lost team members, lost sleep, lost money and maybe even hope. We have all had to adapt as we have never adapted before. Even during the Blitz, the pubs were open for a resilient bevvy or two! 

We’ve gone through it all. We have been scared, angry, frustrated and panicky - well it’s time to dispel that negative feeling. It’s time to adopt that Blitz spirit. Like a badass Pokémon, it's time to evolve and level-up.

MY ADVICE:

Now more than ever hospitality marketing has to focus on storytelling, compassion and reflection. Those keeping schtum, not sharing positive stories about kind actions or putting bottom line over their community and teams will categorically be cast from the mind of the consumers and employees when we do reopen. The do-gooders and positive banner flyers will be the real champions during and after this crisis.

⚡REDIRECT THAT ENERGY: Your collective inboxes will be bursting with emails from brands with Covid-19 in every single subject line. It is essential to let your customers know what you are doing but if your open rates are as low as a Donald Trump’s morals redirect that energy into something that is going to make an impact to your company. Yes marketers it is time to show your company you do more than comms. Time to amp up the positive vibes internally and focus on finding ways to generate sale leads. Mark Ritson for Marketing Weekly describes it perfectly: “Get on with the business, with the brand, and with making tangible and impactful changes to the rest of the business. Marketing has a lot more levers to pull than just advertising and better-run brands are currently pulling them, while ignoring the big, stupid, red ‘Covid-19 campaign’ button that is flashing over in the corner.”

🔗CONNECT WITH YOUR TEAM: Though you aren’t together physically, you still must connect as a team. Create a company-wide Whatsapp Broadcast list or start a Totem Team account (company private social media, great for culture building) or Instagram account and start sharing heaps loads of positive vibes. Share wellbeing messages, government updates and advice, streaming exercises classes links, videos of recipes for them to cook at home. Connect them by producing a map with their pinpoint locations to encourage them to help out their teammates who may need someone to drop off some groceries.

💗A WHOLE LOT OF LOVE: Okay, the P&Ls are as full of sadness and sorrow as Eeyore’s eyes but you must must must show your team some love. This doesn’t have to be with huge financial gestures. Set-up a Headspace account for your company, create team care packages and distribute with a delivery chain, pay for a digital course for those who want to learn or simply give everyone an Audible voucher to get a book. Show some love and share what you are doing internally on social.

🛵DELIVER MORE: If you aren’t on delivery, get onboard and prep a large order of local love. If you are a large global group or a single operator you need to get out there and support your community. Let your neighbours know you are there and doing deliveries by carpet-bombing a positive ("we are thinking of you") flyer. Get them to sign-up to a residents' Whatsapp Broadcast List and send them little surprise and delight moments. Reach out to schools to see if you can support them with providing items for pack lunches for vulnerable kids. Arrange a drop-off of goodies to your local hospitals’ staff room. Deliver more and stand-up for your community! 

🔎BRAND DIAGNOSIS TIME: Ok, Marketers. Stop freaking out and realise you have headspace. The strategic headspace we have all been whining about needing while up to our eyes in emails. Deep dive into those analytics and sales mixes and do some solid diagnosis and strategy. What’s working? What’s not? Who are our actual customers? Share reports of positive wonderful insights you may discover, strengthen future opportunities by identifying trends and potential customers. Though uncertain, map out where you want your company and communications to be. When it is go time again, hit that ground running with a better battle plan. Watch this video from Mark Ritson on diagnosis and strategy.

🆙 LEVEL-UP YOUR KNOWLEDGE: The time that you used to commute to work can now be put to good use to level-up your knowledge. Start a course, listen to industry podcasts and treat yourself with a marketing book. There is so much accessible and free stuff you can get your mitts on. Just see this as a massive opportunity for you to catch-up and re-educate yourself. Refresh yo-self with Google advert skills with their Academy or learn about Behavioural Economics with Rory Sutherland. Take this time to become a stronger marketer. For those millennials - you can earn badges for your LinkedIn. Share your knowledge, experiences and insights on LinkedIn using slides or journal function to help others in the industry.

🏠HOME ENTERTAINMENT: So, everyone is online. It’s time to get creative communicators. Make your brand’s own sticker GIPHY and start a competition. If you have a cookbook, get online and do a live cook along. If you have brand illustrations white them out and make open-source colouring sheets for kids to download. If you are an industry expert start a podcast. Don’t worry about being polished. Just get it out there. Be authentic and get creative folks. You will be remembered for it.

🤖COMMUNICATE LIKE A HUMAN: Sounds stupid but keep the conversations going. Share everything, past moments of happiness in your brand, awesome customer reviews or stories or random acts of kindness across your company and the awesome smiley faces that make up your business. Speak like a human. Drop the robotic, personality free statements or the here’s a cocktail picture ignoring what’s going on. React. As you look like you have just not changed your Hootsuite schedule or you have no soul Show your brand’s humanity.

SOURCES OF AWESOME:

TOOLS:

Need more support?

Elizabeth Stancombe