During the time of the pandemic, the importance of the right brand messaging is magnified. It could be great, be a cookiecutter, or it could even be costly.

In this episode of AMP Up Your Digital Marketing, Glenn Gaudet speaks with Douglas Spencer, President of Spencer Brenneman, LLC., a brand strategy consultancy based in Boston. They discuss how brands can go about brand messaging the right way, examples of brands doing a great job of this, some that did not, and keys of brand messaging to abide by. You’ll learn:

* How to be empathetic in your messaging. 

* What being authentic looks like in brand messaging, and what it does not look like.

* The importance of sincerity, and why it’s an absolute must in your brand messaging. 

Douglas is a branding expert who helps organizations, small and large, figure out who they are, refine their focus, and connect with the people most important to their success. He’s offered to help small businesses and nonprofits with their brand messaging free of charge during the time of the pandemic.

Right now, it’s even more important than ever to have the right brand message. The wrong message can be costly, however, having the right brand messaging can build brand affinity and loyalty, leading to people to keep your brand at top of mind when they want your products or services.

So how do you go about brand messaging? And how important is it? Doesn’t your bottom line take priority in these stressful times? The answer is, your brand is always important, especially during this pandemic.

How Important is Your Brand Now?

You may have heard this before, but we are living in unprecedented times. The reason people keep exemplifying this point is that it’s the reason people don’t really know what to do. There is a lot of uncertainty.

How do you plan for the future when you don’t know how long these tough times will last? How do you navigate through this time when you have nothing to look back on for reference? Everyone is using their best judgment for their specific situation. You can learn from others, or you can listen to what other people are saying and doing, but no one has the 100% correct answer.

For brands, you need to think forward, but also think about who you are now. There are organizations that don’t know what to do, and they make moves out of desperation rather than authentically helping. People have a tendency to want to do well but also want to help others out, Douglas said.

“When you think about your brand now, it’s important to take a step back and really put yourself in the shoes of your customer, your employees, and the people that are important to you,” He said. “Think about what their lives are like. How are your interactions with them impacting that?”

How Do You Think About Your Brand in a World That’s Completely Different?

Some people might not think that branding is important during this time. Right now, they want to survive the short-term and get back to business when things return to normal. But that’s not the case.

People who put work into their brand before the pandemic hit are better suited. They have more trust and brand affinity from their customer base than those who put no time into it. So what do you do now? Do you double down on your brand? Do you change it?

“Think about it in terms of empathy, sincerity, and authenticity,” Douglas said. “In terms of empathy, it’s really important for folks to stop and think about where their customers are.