Covid-19 | Amendola Communications

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COVID’s Impact On B2B Marketing And PR: Insights From Our Clients

February 16, 2022/0 Comments/in Blog /by Jodi Amendola

COVID-19’s impact on remote work, supply chains, and staffing has been well documented, but one area that hasn’t received much attention is the effect the pandemic has had on the marketing and public relations (PR) efforts of businesses. Insights gained from a survey of our clients’ 2022 B2B marketing and PR priorities show the pandemic is influencing several aspects of the marketing mix – from budgeting and brand awareness to lead generation and nurturing.

Building brand awareness is a primary challenge

We asked our clients to select their top three marketing and PR challenges from a list of nine commonly cited struggles. “Increasing brand awareness” topped the list, being selected as a top-three challenge by 67% of our customer base.

A contributing factor to this challenge may be ineffective use of marketing mediums. For example, the pandemic has caused many businesses to turn to social media for brand awareness, replacing more traditional branding outlets such as events and mass media. While this can be an effective strategy, it can also be risky. Leveraging social media for sociability’s sake won’t help build your brand. In addition to being engaging and compelling, social activity should closely align with your messaging and business objectives to reinforce brand consistency and drive results.

Thought leadership drives action

When asked what marketing and PR efforts would impact their success most in 2022, 53% of our clients responded with “participation in thought leadership opportunities,” topping other initiatives such as digital marketing (20%) and strategic planning (27%).

Research validates the importance of thought leadership to business success. According to data from Edelman, 55% of C-suite executives offered to provide their contact information to an organization after viewing thought leadership from the company, and 42 percent reached out to the organization to follow up on the material. In addition, nearly two-thirds of executives invited organizations to participate in a request for proposal after seeing its thought leadership.

With COVID, thought leadership is particularly sought after in healthcare. Businesses serving this space have an opportunity to gain mindshare and attract prospective customers by weighing in on pressing healthcare challenges and demonstrating how their solutions and services can address these issues. More on this topic can be found in our earlier blog, Why Thought Leadership Matters in Healthcare.

Leads stall at conversion phase

According to our clients, closing leads is their biggest marketing-related sales challenge. A convincing 53% of our clients said the bottom of the sales funnel (the Conversion & Purchasing phase) is where engagements frequently fizzle out.

A primary reason for this issue is an unbalanced mix of marketing messages and content. For example, many marketing efforts focus too heavily on the Awareness phase of the buyer’s journey (e.g. introducing specific pain points or problems, making prospects aware of potential solutions and associated benefits, etc.). Few businesses spend equal time and effort crafting strategies, messaging, and content for the downstream Evaluation and Conversion phases, resulting in leads stuck at the top of the sales funnel. More attention should be given to later phases of the buyer’s journey. Self-evaluation checklists, ROI calculators, and customer references/testimonials are examples of marketing pieces that can move buyers beyond Awareness and toward Conversion.

Lead generation takes priority

Even though brand awareness was identified as the most significant marketing/PR challenge, lead generation is the top marketing priority for 73% of our clients in 2022. COVID has placed new pressures on business sales efforts, causing many organizations to demand more leads to nurture in order to meet sales quotas.

B2B brands often treat brand-building and demand generation as two separate objectives with different budgets, but it is more effective to have one integrated approach through the whole marketing funnel. Considering branding and lead generation together leads to more consistent messaging and conversion success.

Events still viable marketing medium

When it comes to B2B marketing and PR outlets, COVID has likely had the biggest impact on events and trade shows, causing many to go virtual and others to be cancelled outright. You would think this disruption would sour business enthusiasm for industry events, but our clients indicate the opposite is true. In fact, 53% of our customers say they plan to budget more for events this year than they did before the pandemic.

In-person networking events have been sorely missed by healthcare vendors, who are eager to invest in and attend these conferences again in 2022. Prior to the pandemic, 24% of B2B marketing budgets were allocated to meetings, conferences, trade shows, and events, and there’s a good reason why. Meeting face-to-face sparks genuine, enduring connections. Events are where businesses often turn prospects into customers and customers into relationships and revenue.

It’s clear that COVID-19 has impacted traditional B2B marketing and PR approaches, particularly in the healthcare space. Adjusting to these changes requires a proactive strategy, a wider network of marketing content and channels, and an experienced partner to help you navigate unfamiliar terrain.

PR Works Better When You Make It Personal

April 28, 2021/0 Comments/in Blog /by Jodi Amendola

As many readers of the Amendola blog are probably aware, I lost my mother, who was my inspiration and guiding light, to COVID-19 the night before Thanksgiving last year. It was difficult for my family as well as me, especially because I believe it was unnecessary.

She should have been there to celebrate the holidays with us and would have been in my opinion had it not been for some missteps in her care.

As part of my process of dealing with this unexpected loss, I wrote a story about her that appeared in the Arizona Republic. If you’d like to know more about the details, along with my thoughts about what you should do to advocate for your loved ones should they be in the same unfortunate circumstances, it’s all contained in that article.

It’s what happened next, however, that I want to address today.

Shortly after that article appeared (and was re-posted on Facebook), I began to receive the most touching and beautiful comments, messages, and emails. And I’m still receiving them.

Some were from friends, of course, expressing their sympathy for my loss. Many, however, were from strangers who had gone through a similar experience and found a sense of kinship in sharing their grief as I had shared mine.

It was a stark reminder of a basic principle we, as marketing and PR professionals, should keep in mind: PR in general, and thought leadership in particular, works better when you make it personal. A topic, incidentally, I also explored in my latest Forbes Agency Council article.

The most effective thought leadership comes when the person behind it is passionate about the subject matter. Yes, you can write in a detached away about something technical, conveying information and/or data that is worth sharing. But while it informs, it usually doesn’t move people to action.

For that you need a human element. And nothing is more human than sharing something personal.

It can be a story from your childhood, your teen years, or your time as an adult. It can be about something funny that happened to you, or something sad, or something that contains a mix of emotions you can’t even sort out yourself.

Or it can be about a person who means a lot to you. Like my mom did to me.

The important thing is that it is a little glimpse behind the façade we all tend to put up in our business encounters to cover our true selves. In other words, it’s real.

Organizations often talk about creating an emotional connection to their brand during branding meetings. But then they’ll do everything they can to hide anything that seems remotely raw or real.

To me, that approach makes no sense. Sure, you don’t want to air all of the organization’s dirty laundry in your marketing and PR efforts. But what’s wrong with showing your human side?

The point is a person or a company can be open and honest about their feelings and reactions to events without falling into the rabbit hole of controversy. The key is to focus on the parts that are universal to the human experience.

We all experience joy and caring. We all experience excitement and wonderment at one time or another. We all experience grief and loss.

That doesn’t mean we experience it in the same way. But we do share those experiences to some degree.

The more willing organizations are to take a stand and tell stories about themselves, their employees, their customers, and everyone else who is connected to them, the more “real” they will become in the minds of their key audiences. And the more successful they will be in creating a brand image that is unique and memorable.

I know it’s not always easy to tell these stories. We can all feel a little exposed when we offer these types of details about ourselves.

When I wrote about my mom it was like going through it all over again.

Yet as I see the reactions continue to come in I know I made connections with people I’ve never met, and probably never will properly meet. Isn’t that what marketing and PR are really all about?

COVID-19 Has Robbed Us of a Lot; Let’s Not Forget the Gift of Gratitude

November 23, 2020/0 Comments/in Blog /by Jodi Amendola

COVID-19 brought a year filled with uncertainty, change and lots of hardship. The impact of the pandemic has taken its toll on many of us.

With the election behind us, Thanksgiving around the corner, and 2021 ahead, let’s be grateful for the many gifts we have, the successful marketing programs achieved and both our personal and professional COVID bright spots.

In today’s fast-paced Zoom culture, we hop from one meeting to the next. We are so busy juggling and looking ahead, that giving thanks and showing gratitude is an obvious yet often overlooked gesture.

We frequently shoot a quick thank you text or email (if that) and check it off our “to-do” list. Remember the days when we actually went to the Hallmark store, bought a card and wrote a personal note?

Some of my favorite career highlights have been receiving hand-written notes from employees and clients, who took the time to express their gratitude and mail a personal, heartfelt thank you.

Thanksgiving Day simply isn’t enough to contemplate all there is to be grateful for — especially when adding our professional blessings to the mix, like the partners, colleagues and employees who contribute to our success.

In 2021 as the pandemic will still be a part of our life and change will continue to be the only constant, let’s promise to give thanks on more than just one day. Here are some thoughts to help you incorporate ongoing gratitude:

Create and implement an ongoing appreciation program, which can have a tremendous impact on performance, sales and overall happiness.
Put aside time and budget for personal notes/direct mail, emails and blog posts giving thanks and gratitude to your internal and external clients.
Consider implementing an awards program, recognizing key accomplishments
Donate money in your clients’ or team’s honor

Whatever approach you take, remember that a personal thank you goes a long way and will be remembered with appreciation.

Special thanks to each, and every member of Amendola team, who day in and day out make all the magic happen. Your hard work and dedication do not go unnoticed. I appreciate all of you.

Happy Thanksgiving, and a special thank you for all who have helped me and supported both me and Amendola Communications along the way! I am so grateful for my team, clients, prospects, media, analysts, and of course, my family.

With heartfelt appreciation, Jodi

Revisiting “The Four Ps” of Marketing During a Pandemic

October 7, 2020/0 Comments/in Blog /by Chris Currington

Whenever asked to come up with a marketing plan, many people refer back to the “The Four Ps of Marketi ng” and use them as the basic foundation to develop an integrated strategy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of healthcare and health IT companies have had to totally rethink the four Ps—whether they know it or not. And, they’ve had to do this as fast as possible while trying to save lives—of frontline workers and infected patients—while remaining relevant and profitable.

Here’s an example. Currently all eyes are on the biopharma industry to see how quickly they can develop a vaccine that will effectively stop—and hopefully eradicate—the coronavirus.

The “P”roduct here is the vaccine, and there are many companies testing theirs to see which offer the best and safest results.
But have you also noticed a lot of the “P”romotions that these companies have been making in the national news? So far, none of them have been paying for these promotions—and that’s an important point of clarification—not all promotions are paid.
There are also a lot of national arguments on the “P”lacements of the vaccines. How will the vaccine be distributed and who will be first in line to receive it? How will they know it’s available and where to get it?
And of course, we’re also hearing a lot or rumblings about the “P”rice of the vaccine. Will it really be free (someone has to pay for it) or will there be a hefty cost when people pull up their shirt sleeves?

Because we’re in a pandemic, the whole healthcare industry has had to deal with its effects on their individual products and services. Here’s a recap of a few observations of what’s been happening.

Product

Because of COVID-19, many—if not all—health IT companies have had to take a very hard look at their products and solutions and how they can help health workers deal with and provide care to those in need.

Some of the products are back-end solutions that integrate with technologies such as EHRs—to provide faster service and track results. Certain companies may deal more directly with healthcare coordination or how data is being used and sent, while others may provide community-based services to those who are most vulnerable. And as mentioned above, many are dealing with therapeutics that help in delivering care to those affected with the virus.

Placement

Directly related to the product or solution is where and how it will be used. This will have an effect on how it will be marketed and determine the channels for those efforts.

Right now, in healthcare, certain products (think thermometers, COVID-19 tests, ventilators, etc.) are moving very quickly all around the world. But it takes sophisticated logistical operations to get equipment where it needs to be.

But this also affects how the public is informed and how the product gets used. For example, we’ve heard several instances of how someone may be feeling symptoms related to the virus but has absolutely no idea about where to go to get a test.

Promotions

This is probably the most confusing and difficult of The Four Ps to navigate during the pandemic. With so many companies wanting—and deserving—earned media placements, many news outlets are overwhelmed with requests. Having the right relationships with the media, and offering them true, compelling and factual stories is key to making sure products and solutions receive the attention they deserve.

Paid promotions are an obvious possibility, but with so much information “out there” companies will need to be very analytical, specific and targeted to reach their audiences and cut through the noise. Social media is also a good option to promote a product or solution, but knowing the right channel and frequency are keys to getting attention, followers, likes and shares.

Price

The most compelling of the Four Ps to the consumer of a product or service is the price! Remember all the fears about toilet paper and hand sanitizer shortages, and efforts to control supply and demand?

Many healthcare and health IT companies—in order to meet needs and create a common good for care delivery—provided their solutions for free. But they can’t do this forever because they’ll go broke. And, in an unstable economy, pricing dilemmas will surely consume many of these companies’ time—while trying to maintain and salvage relationships with clients and customers.

As has been demonstrated time and time again, The Four Ps of Marketing create the formula for a winning strategy and a profitable company. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have had to revisit all the Ps to make sure their product or solution gets where it needs to be or does what it can do for health workers.

Products, places, promotions and price are now more relevant to healthcare delivery—and saving people’s lives—than they have ever been before.

Marketing In a COVID World

September 9, 2020/0 Comments/in Blog /by Stacy State

In mid-May we talked about the emergence of a new normal in public relations and marketing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Media coverage of the virus has become all-consuming in the intervening four months.

Over 100 million pieces of news focused on COVID-19 have appeared. In just one sampled day, 340,000 came from 30,000 media outlets. As the lingering epicenter of the crisis, the United States produces one third of all global daily coverage.

Even as pandemic fatigue sets in among the American population, our collective obsession with the virus and its toll never wavers. Potential vaccines linger on the horizon bringing hope. However, even aggressive projections place their availability 5 to 6 months away. COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The brands and products that most easily resonate with Americans these days are those that fulfill critical needs, both physical and emotional. So, unless you’re selling hand sanitizer, outdoor entertainment, or any type of toilet paper, how do you keep your brand in front of your customers?

By making your brand feel critical.

The Five Things That Matter

Brand Messaging

Gone are the days of simple promotions. In today’s world the only messaging that stands out and feels genuine is that which tries to connect with people on a human level. The mixture of isolation, fear of the unknown, and an overwhelming sense of community and empathy has hot-wired most Americans to see the world differently in a very short amount of time. It has crystalized the things that matter and those that don’t. To matter, your messaging must account for this shift in thinking.

Social Media

The isolation of social distancing has caused 32% of Americans to spend more time on social media as a way to stay connected to their friends and family. Leveraging this groundswell of attention, paired with appropriate messaging, is the key to remaining relevant and to gaining new audiences. Make your brand into a trusted news source that offers important information during this time of need. Engage your followers in a conversation that proves valuable.

Virtual Events

Our need to connect with one another is fundamental. While physically isolated, virtual events have skyrocketed 1000% during the pandemic. These events are a collective backbone offering education, networking, and collaborative opportunities. It cannot be overstated how important these events are for socializing your brand’s presentations, white papers, and case studies. These webinars and virtual roundtables serve as important touchpoints with your existing customer base and essential engines generating new client leads.

Email Campaigns

Email remains another reliable and consistent communication vehicle. Since the beginning of the pandemic email open rates have improved 8% with a corresponding click-through increase of 22%. Incorporating the critical elements mentioned above into a comprehensive email campaign can help drive the success of your brand’s overall marketing strategy.

SEO & Lead Generation

The consistent theme here is Americans are turning to alternative tools to stay connected. Social media, virtual meetings, email, and the Internet have replaced most traditional in-person communication. Internet usage has surged 70%. A clever SEO & lead generation plan will plant the seeds that flourish long after COVID-19 has disappeared. Providing evergreen content that engages customers and answers core needs remains the heart of successful lead generation. Whitepapers, eBooks, and blog posts will always matter. And SEO drives their visibility.

The world has changed. People have changed. It’s impossible to know for how long. But for now, connecting with people requires embracing this new normal. The five keys listed here will help your brand lead as we all step into this brave new world.

What Journalists Want: We Read Cision’s 2020 State of the Media Report So You Don”™t Have To

June 10, 2020/0 Comments/in Blog /by Brandon Glenn

Another year, another Cision “State of the Media” report.

The 2020 edition, which represents the 11^th annual report in the series, surveyed more than 3,200 journalists from across the globe to provide a picture of today’s media landscape. While much of the yearly report generally reads like PR 101 for experienced public relations professionals, it often contains some nuggets of interest that are worth further reflection.

In that spirit, following are a few notes and observations after digesting the 29-page report:

COVID-19 did NOT change everything: In the marketing and public relations worlds, things can seem to change fast, so it can get easy to become caught up in the moment and lose a little long-term perspective. Don’t allow COVID-19 to let that happen to you. Yes, our professional lives during the pandemic are undoubtedly different in many ways, but lots of things in the media world remain largely as they were pre-pandemic. Email is still the preferred method of pitching. Journalists still want to hear from local and national experts who can offer perspectives that illuminate their audiences. To cut through the noise, pitches still need to be timely, relevant and targeted. These things are unlikely to change any time soon.

The media business continues to be brutal: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated what was already a years-long trend of the media business shedding jobs. Journalism advocacy organization Poynter maintains a depressing and frequently updated list of recent industry layoffs that illustrates the severity of the problem. For reporters and editors, a lack of staffing and resources was cited in the Cision report as the biggest challenge they face. For public relations outreach, this presents a challenge as the number of media outlets continues to dwindle, but also represents an opportunity as individual journalists are under pressure to produce higher volumes of content and could use help finding stories.

Press releases are still relevant: In spite of its obituary having been written a number of times over the years, the humble press release remains very much alive. In fact, journalists who took the Cision survey cited the press release (36%) as the most useful of all brand sources, beating out spokespeople (19%), email pitches (13%) and company websites (12%). For marketing and communications professionals, this qualifies as great news: There is still a place in the world for the well-crafted, well-timed and appropriately targeted press release.

The major takeaway? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Given the barrage of news and information we’re confronted with on a daily basis, separating the signal from the noise is rarely easy for anyone let alone journalists dealing with budget cuts and shrinking staffs. Standing apart from the pack requires the same focus and commitment to timely and relevant messaging that it always has.

5 Tips on How to Write Social Media in a One-Subject World

May 20, 2020/0 Comments/in Blog /by Margaret Kelly

AKA #WantToUseNewHashtags!

As any public relations professional will tell you, making your story stand out from the rest of the noise is what we’re paid the big bucks to do. Press releases, bylines, blogs and case studies are the stuff of dreams.

Internally, this is how it’s done: your Amendola team is comprised of an account executive, strategist, writer, media relations specialist and, if we handle it for you, a social media manager. Everyone on your team is deeply knowledgeable about your company’s offerings.

The strategist and account executive put your company’s expert message in front of our writer who produces a piece of content. The media relations specialist pickups up the ball and gets the press release or byline in front of the right set of editors and journalists who are looking for exactly the contact you have. Once it’s published, the social media manager links the article to your various social media platforms.

Client-generated content is nuggets of gold for the social media team; however, we follow a pretty strict practice of the 80/20 rule. That means all your company’s LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter posts should be a mix of 20% company news and 80% third-party content to keep you focused as a thought leader on the topics in which you excel. You want your followers to be interested in your feeds because you generate news of interest, not just commercials.

Finding that all-important third-party content for your social media posts is where the social media team earns its KUDOs.

But how do we do that when the whole world is talking about one subject?

Don’t get us wrong especially when all our clients are in the healthcare field – we have the utmost compassion for everyone suffering and working courageously during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s impacting everyone their jobs, health, lives, and everyday routines. This is by far, the single largest collective story we’ll see in our lifetime. But my colleagues and I are struggling to keep it fresh in a one-hashtag world.

So once again, how do we find articles that help propel you as a thought leader when all media seems tuned to one channel? How do we help you stand out above the din?

Here are 5 tips to help you find ways to enhance your message.

Research. Our team finds RSS feeds (such as Feedly) a good resource for tracking keywords created in a Google search, or to subscribe to specific outlets, which is perfect for locating articles that come at least close to your company’s subject. Additionally, we use keyword searches within Twitter to actively find articles, people with whom to engage, and conversations around hashtags normally discussed in a non-pandemic world.
Pivot. Turn your company’s news into the world’s news. Do you have a solution that helps patients monitor their meds and stay compliant? I could find you 10 articles any other day. But now, I have an article that mentions how COVID-19 patients are getting free insulin, which keeps them compliant. Do you work with EHRs? Let’s talk about how EHRs are helping or hurting during COVID-19. Give your opinion. Ask for others to tweet or comment theirs. The idea is to keep in your lane but stay relevant.
Sidestep. OK, so perhaps you can only make 20% of your posts about you. But you can include news about your clients or business partners. Find articles about them and thank them for doing a great job. Thank others for helping your clients. If you’re not already (and you should be!) follow your clients’ Twitter feeds. When they post something positive about a local restaurant feeding them, or a video of their clinicians dancing to relieve the stress, share it! Re-tweet with a comment like, “Thanks, @Joe, for helping our friends @Client! #FrontLineHeros.” It’s technically not your news, but it’s a way to engage with your clients, and most of all, it feels good.
Join in. If you can’t beat em, join em. You’re not going to get out of posting COVID-19 news; why fight it? However, everyone is in the same boat as you tired of reading all the grim statistics. So, let’s give them something to smile about!
Let us help. In these difficult times, you’ve got enough on your plate. You’re trying to run a business, keep employees on staff, and find solutions to beat this nasty thing. Why don’t you let the Social Media Team at Amendola help you lighten the load?

Remember social media is just one part of your overall messaging. When used in conjunction with the rest of your public relations offerings, it’s like adding frosting to the cake. Although, I am a little impartial. Stay safe!

The New Normal in Public Relations and Marketing

May 13, 2020/0 Comments/in Blog /by Stacy State

Even saying it seems like an oxymoron it’s not exactly normal if it’s completely new. Truthfully, the new normal will be defined by the choices we make today and most importantly tomorrow.

While it’s been said many times, the present experience is rather unprecedented. We can certainly learn from recent mistakes, but what we choose to learn and how we choose to change will define the new normal.

But enough of the philosophy. If we focus on one specific topic that of public relations and marketing the question is how will these professionals be changing strategies, communications, and audience perceptions?

One thing that has certainly continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is mass communication. As of April 16, there has already been more than 38 million pieces of news focused on COVID-19 and 163,000 in just the last day (that’s one day) across nearly 18,000 news outlets, with 44% of the news coming from the United States.

That’s a LOT of news. And, as you would expect, reactions from brands have varied from ultra conservative to very liberal.

Winners and losers

Before we get to the new normal, it’s important to discuss who some of the winners and losers have been throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, the market and consumers are being forced to embrace a new way of life that includes virtual meetings, online fitness, food delivery services, and even telemedicine. At the same time, industries supporting travel, festivals or conference entertainment, airlines, and hotels have seen a tremendous decline in stockholder value.

Aside from general financial stability and economics, what’s even more important for public relations and marketing professionals is who are the winners and losers as it relates to communication impacts during the pandemic. Brands that have remained empathetic, relevant and considerate have faired better than their peers.

In an example, Virgin Airlines announced they were using aircraft to help ship healthcare supplies to providers in need. Meanwhile a competitor airline ran ads of their planes “social distancing” and being 6 feet apart.

Needless to say, the latter fell on deaf ears and came across as insensitive as real people, family and friends were suffering with COVID. In a similar tone-deaf scenario, Corona beer (despite the unfortunate coincidence in their name), launched an advertisement for their seltzer beers with the slogan: “Coming ashore soon.”

Obviously with the given crisis and the continued spread of COVID, this advertisement while intended to be playful was ill-timed and came across as insensitive.

Creating the new normal

While brands struggle to stay relevant, considerate and compassionate during times of a pandemic, one can’t stop to question when we can get back to normal, i.e., the way things were. The unfortunate answer is never.

We must start creating the new normal. As public relations and marketing professionals, we realize things have changed. With the media focused solely on the pandemic (and rightly so), many brands have shifted communications online.

Social media has seen an abundance of activity in online presence. The digital era can be a blessing or curse to brands depending on how they engage with their online audience during this pandemic.

As of mid-April, we are just now reaching the peak of the COVID pandemic in some cities across the U.S. In the throes of a pandemic brands must be cautious to post social media that is timely, relevant and considerate of the readers.

Promotional announcements and advertisements will not only disengage the readers but may turn them away from your brand in the future. As we move into later phases of the crisis and we see more recoveries and fewer active cases, brands can reengage on social media in a more promotional manner but will need to still consider the impact that COVID has had.

Digital marketing’s role

In addition, digital marketing is playing a significant role during the pandemic. Some brands have decided to invest heavily in digital marketing as that’s where most audiences are in today’s world.

Depending on the industry, some brands have seen a huge interest through this channel which is delivering content and ads at lower costs than during normal times. The key is in the message and communication. Knowing when, where and how to communicate is critical.

Getting to non-COVID topics

And lastly, what most brands really want to know is when can I talk about something NOT related to COVID? Unfortunately, the answer is likely not for a while.

Does this mean you can’t connect to your audience or consumers? No. In fact, you should be connecting with your consumers and being there for future prospects. Now is the time to support current customers and deliver hope to future consumers.

Build the foundation now

We started this blog by talking about the “new normal.” Unfortunately, the best crisis communication plan could not have predicted nor planned appropriately for COVID-19.

However, an attuned, savvy team of public relations and marketing professionals can help you feel poised and ready to embrace whatever the future may hold. The communication efforts and media sources used by companies will forever be changed but the vision and mission of organizations remains the same and will only grow stronger.

Take this time to build a solid foundation upon which to blast your value propositions and mission once the world is ready to listen.

How to Write During a Pandemic

May 6, 2020/0 Comments/in Blog /by Morgan Lewis

Writing is difficult, especially when you work from home, as many of us do here at Amendola. As I write this, for example, the COVID-19 virus pandemic is sweeping across the U.S., with New York City and Louisiana emerging as hot spots. I point that out for two reasons:

To show that we at Amendola compose these blogs weeks in advance (and you should do the same for your site’s blog)
To illustrate how difficult it is to write when there are many distractions

Not only is the local and national news about the pandemic a constant source of distraction, but I am also now home with my wife, who has a full-time career, and our 2-year-old and 5-year-old sons. It’s not an ideal environment for writing, but that’s the thing about writing: There never seems to be a good time.

Give Yourself A Deadline

At Amendola, most of us write a lot of content and all of it comes with a deadline. The concrete date itself can be a huge motivator, but even if you are not given a deadline by a manager or colleague, create one for yourself and let others know about it, such as the colleague who is going to review it before it’s shared with the rest of the team or your boss. Once you’ve set a realistic date for completion and shared it with others, it motivates us to put distractions aside and get started because we feel accountable to the other person and ourselves to finish the content.

Ignore the Monkey

Apart from my kids who demand quite a bit of attention the distraction I feel is entirely self-inflicted. Writer Tim Urban, in one of the most entertaining blog posts ever about procrastination, blames this type of behavior on the “Instant Gratification Monkey” who takes control of our brain from the “Rational Decision-Maker” who we rely on to get our work done. The monkey, however, causes us to repetitively check the news, watch videos, scroll social media sites, or even clean the refrigerator instead of completing our cognitively challenging work.

The Instant Gratification Monkey is only interested in “maximizing the ease and pleasure of the current moment,” Urban writes, so we need to resist that urge. That starts with putting away all distractions as much as possible (I’ve put a website blocker on my laptop and sequestered my phone in the kitchen) and creating a plan for your content.

Get the Plan on the Page

A good way to fight distraction while still not actually writing is research. Whether it is a blog post, white paper or thought-leadership article, you should have adequate source material available beforehand, but don’t let it stop you from putting words down on the page. There is a tipping point and it varies depending on the length of content, the audience, publication, etc. between inadequate research and too much.

A good way to figure out if you’ve reached that tipping point is to start listing the points you want to convey, or the most interesting facts from the research so far. That should give you a good idea if there are gaps that need to be filled with more research.

Simply getting started in this way can in itself be the most important part of the writing process because, as James Clear, author of the bestselling self-help book Atomic Habits, writes in his blog: “the willingness to start is the littlest thing in life that makes the biggest difference.”

Editing is the Work

Some non-writers may be surprised once they start writing how smoothly their content is flowing from their fingers. After this revelation is usually when they realize that the composing part of writing isn’t the hard part of the process, but rather it is the editing. It’s the reading, re-reading, moving words around and cutting that’s the most tedious part of writing and the part that elicits almost as much procrastination as getting started. Fortunately, when you have arrived at the editing point it’s likely closer to the finish line. As both Urban and Clear point out, that momentum helps move you faster toward completion, even if you are not 100% satisfied with your final draft.

It’s Never Going to be Perfect

Hopefully, you will have someone reviewing and editing what you wrote to make it better. Everyone needs an editor, especially if you’ve been drafting a piece of content for a while without working on anything else. When the content is still very fresh in your mind, it can be difficult to assess its quality because you have edited it so many times and can remember the changes. If your deadline won’t permit a day or a week between your most recent draft and another look, turn the content in anyway. Another round of revisions before outside feedback won’t significantly improve its quality. As internal medicine physician Alex Lickerman M.D. puts it: “Recognizing that inflection point the point at which our continuing to rework our work reaches a law of diminishing returns is one of the hardest skills to learn, but also one of the most necessary.”

Experienced writers have a keen sense of that inflection point. For professionals who write less often, I would urge you to always edit and revise those first couple drafts, but then trust your gut when you feel a piece of content is done. A good editor or at least a proofreader will be able to truly review the content with fresh eyes and make changes or offer recommendations.

This post is my way of assuring you (and myself) that during this time of powerful stress-induced distractions, we can still get writing and work done. We just have to turn on “Paw Patrol,” ignore the Instant Gratification Monkey, do the research and start writing. The progress you make, even if you don’t finish the content, will reduce your stress and remove the self-inflicted obstacles to completion.