There is another card day coming this Sunday. A key time for businesses to drive much needed trade from gift-givers and last-minute shoppers. However, these periods are incredibly difficult for those who have lost people close to them.
When you consider the unique moment in time we find ourselves in; the widespread grief caused by the pandemic and its knock-on effects, and the toll on people’s mental health that the last 15 months has had, it’s never been more important for marketers to be mindful of their audience and tread carefully.
So, what can you do? As proud members of Bloom & Wild’s Thoughtful Marketing Movement, we’ve put together three key tips to help you navigate these events in the future:
- Ask early if customers would rather avoid communications around a given card day date. Work with your CRM provider to work out timings and communicate well in advance of the date. It may be worth looking at an annual check-in communication, that giving your customers a chance to update their preferences and opt into or mute individual card days at one time, rather than repeated asks through the year.
- Be mindful in your execution. Consumers cannot opt out of broadcast comms, so be aware that your message may cause upset to as much as it may entice spend. That should not dissuade you from advertising but think about ways you can mitigate the problem and soften the impact. Working with a behavioural psychologist on the copy you use across your Owned, Earned, Shared, and Paid communications can help you deliver a powerful message to the many without being insensitive to the few.
- Follow good etiquette. This goes beyond card days and extends to all comms. Just because you can advertise to your audience around a given moment, stop and ask “should you?”. The analogy we use with clients is to ask them think like a dinner party. In that social setting, we would not respond to people being inappropriate, or crass, nor would we warm to anyone who just leaps into trying to sell us something. We are more likely to have an engaging and meaningful discussion with someone who has something interesting and relevant to say to us. This is how brands need to think about their advertising. If you succeed at this, you will make your brand more engaging, leading not only to custom, but a relationship that has the potential to flourish into brand love.
We hope you find these pointers useful, and if you are celebrating this weekend, we hope you get to enjoy a special day after all these rough months. If it is a tough day, please know that you’re not alone, and our thoughts are with you.
By Rik Moore, Head of Strategy at The Kite Factory