What to do with your Social Marketing during a National Tragedy

National Tragedies are events that tend to distract your followers away from your content as they learn and explore the events that have transpired. These types of tragedies can result from the choices of people to attack or cause issues with others, they can come from Industrial accidents, natural disasters, and many other sources. When these occur there are several things we must keep in mind as businesses and marketers: 

• • People will be focusing their online attention towards understanding the event. While the event is top of mind for your followers it will be hard to connect with them.
  
  
  • Remember that your followers have real emotions and they may need time to process what they are seeing or experiencing. This might disrupt your marketing efforts at the time. 
  
  
  • Sometimes events are important for us to process through. Some events might not make a large impact on society yet others will have lasting effects. It is important as a business to think through what does this event mean to my followers. 

Whether the event is good or bad, these kinds of events will have a negative effect on your marketing. With people being distracted away from your content the algorithms will note a drop in views that may affect how well your content is seen over the next week or so. While this effect can be overcome there are some things for you to consider as you plan to adjust your marketing for the moment:

• • Think about what will the impact of this event be for my followers. An event, like a school shooting or other local activity, can have a direct effect on your followers. An event that is a long ways away or does not disrupt the life of your followers might not have an effect. By understanding how will this affect my followers you can begin to think about how you can show support to your followers and be a resource to them in the time of need. If the impact to their life is not great then you may be able to keep your marketing moving forward after a short pause during the event itself. 
  
  
  • Will this event affect my industry or preferred customer. If the tragedy will cause a direct effect to your  industry or customers you may be in a position where you will want to be seen as being a part of the solution or help to resolve the issues that are transpiring. You might be a resource to help your customers. 
  
  
  • Is this an event that it would be helpful to us if we took a stance on. Some events can be a resource to encourage your marketing to be helpful to others. Sometimes these events might be seen as the wrong time for your business to get involved. Understand the implications of the event on what you do. 

What should you do with your marketing during these tragic events? Here are some tips to help you navigate these challenging moments:

• • In the moment, it is easy to have a lot of emotions and feelings about what is going on. If you feel the need to post about what is happening make sure to think carefully about your response. If you can answer yes to these questions, you may want to rethink that post.
    • Ask yourself: 
      • “Is this response full of emotions?” 
      • “Can a group of people interpret our message to be against them?” 
      • “Will this response pigeon hole us one only one side of the issue?”
      • “Will this cause some of our customers to not want to do business with us?”
  
  
  • Can we position our content to be helpful to those affected by this event? A great way to encourage more people to value your business is to demonstrate you understand their issues and are willing to help. Good examples of this might be providing information about where people can get help, offering drop off locations for donations or giving some of your time or resources to relief efforts, resharing important information from authorities, etc. 
  
  
  • Would our content be construed as capitalizing on the event? If the answer is yes then you will want to rethink your content. A fast way to lose credibility is to look like you are enriching yourself at the expense of those who are affected. Think carefully about any specials or deals you offer to people at this time. 
  
  
  • Sometimes no response is the best. In some events it might be hard to understand the outcome for several days while an investigation is happening or the situation gets sorted out. Jumping in too quickly to share opinions or information that might be false can cause a negative effect for your brand. Take time to think carefully about your response. Sometimes wait a few days to get more of the full information before responding. 
  
  
  • The goal of using Social Marketing techniques is about being a positive influence on your community and followers so make sure what you do will be helpful and a positive contribution. As a business, it is often best to stay politically and religiously neutral so be very thoughtful of any response you make during challenging times. 

Major events can often be a distraction that pulls your followers attention away from your sites but it does not necessarily have to be a negative effect on your marketing. With these ideas you can understand how to best respond to the event and help your clients see you as valuable during hard times. 

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