As your inbox fills with cancellation notice after cancellation notice, you’re probably feeling pretty anxious about how to move forward in these uncertain times. Like you, our business greatly benefits from face to face time spent during our industry’s many tradeshows and networking events. Also like you, we are having to make unprecedented decisions on behalf of our company in the wake of the pandemic we’re all facing. 

While we do not know how tomorrow, next week or even next month will unfold, one thing we do know is that NOW is the time to take action if you’re a marketer for a fresh food brand!  

Here’s what you can do.

Take action on these in the next week or two:

• Share a Customer Statement – Sharing a simple statement with your customers about the operational steps you are currently taking in light of this situation will help showcase forward-thinking and preparedness that will put your customers’ minds at ease.  Consider your website, email and social media as appropriate platforms to share this with your customers.
• Consult with a Crisis Communications Team – We know many companies have a crisis team available to help during difficult times. If you have one, now is a good time to collaborate with them to determine appropriate messaging for your brand.  If you don’t have one, we can help!
• Present Content with Value to Audiences – If you have social media content, email content or blogs planned in the next week or two, we recommend pivoting the content to ensure what you’re sharing is relevant and helpful in the context of the current situation. Now is a great time to share ideas for cooking at home more, storing produce to extend shelf life, etc.

Take action on these in the next 30 to 60 days:

• Sharpen Your Digital Assets – One month from now, we will know the impact that staying at home during a pandemic will have on our digital marketing assets on a macro level.  With people spending more time on the Internet, traveling less and craving connectivity outside of the home, we’re bargaining on a significant elevation in website traffic and social media engagement for brands.  
• Get Comfortable with Video – The fact of the matter is, face to face communication will become less of the norm in the coming months.  Under these circumstances, now is an excellent time to encourage the C-Suite in your organization to get comfortable communicating via video.  Whether posting a video to YouTube or sharing via social media and live streaming, digital face to face can be as effective as the real thing. There could be questions about whether or not our fresh food is available.  Use video to show shoppers that your fields are plentiful and ready to pick and ship.
• Employ a Helpful Email Strategy –  If ever there was a time to communicate virtually, the time is now.  Stay ahead of your customer’s problems and offer solutions with an email marketing strategy.  Consider solutions that your customers may be seeking, empathize and offer realistic solutions to their challenges.  Truth be told, we can all use a little help these days.

Determining how best to navigate communications with one another during these uncertain times is going to be a challenge. As food marketers, it’s more important than ever to execute an effective communications plan that both helps you stay connected with your customers and consumers while not losing steam for your business. If you need help with thinking through these realities and what you can/should do, we’re here to help.

Fill out this form and one of our marketing experts will contact you within 24 hours to schedule time for us to help you – for free.

{{cta(‘7effabed-8288-4d71-8bd7-ab5e30447d24’)}}