How You Can Create New COVID-Friendly Holidays

Dear Reader,

How are you feeling?

Are your family and friends healthy?

I ask because COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise.

COVID in the U.S. is expected to keep reaching mind numbing numbers.

Across the major TV networks, the Sunday news shows spotlighted medical experts talking through their masks so viewers literally would see their actions and get their message. Since current COVID numbers don’t include the full impact of Thanksgiving travel and
gatherings.

While new vaccines show promise, we need to remain vigilant against COVID for months to come.

Vaccines must be thoroughly tested to get approval for use in the US to ensure they’re safe for a large and diverse population without unexpected and possibly bad side effects.

If, for example, one out of every thousand people vaccinated has an adverse response, over 250,000 people over 18 will get sick from the cure.

Further, a plan for manufacturing and delivering the actual vaccine to individuals must be developed. It must include tracking and data collection to ensure the safest and quickest end to the pandemic.

Despite your desire to see family and friends this holiday, please put off these celebrations until it’s safe to get together. Because COVID thrives on cold weather and poorly ventilated indoor gatherings.

While you personally may feel healthy and not have symptoms of COVID, you can still spread the virus to others. Further, don’t think “I am only one person and the number of people I may infect will be small.”

Because the problem is bigger.
Since all these small numbers add up to VERY big numbers.

Remember the toilet paper shortage last spring?
It wasn’t due to a major shortage of resources or manufacturing stoppages. Instead it resulted from lots of households making one or two extra purchases.

On a personal level the increase in toilet paper purchase was small.
BUT, in total, they created a nationwide shortage.

 

In the US and elsewhere there are limited medical resources available. This includes:

• Medical professionals consisting of doctors, nurses and other specialists,
• Non-medical hospital and facility personnel, and
• Other emergency workers like EMS, firemen and police.

Beyond trained personnel, beds and other COVID-related equipment are also limited. And, during winter months, it’s difficult to set up and heat makeshift hospitals.

Further, each person hospitalized for COVID reduces the system’s ability to serve non-COVID emergencies.

And these limitations don’t extend to the physical and mental fatigue of frontline workers. They work long hours and get no time off to rest and overcome the stress they’re experiencing.

 

So what can we do as marketers during this holiday season?
Use our ability to create promotions to help our audiences to celebrate the holidays without leaving their homes.

How can you do this?
By re-imagining the existing content, products and services you have.

Actionable COVID-friendly Holiday Marketing Tips:

Adapt these 5 COVID-friendly holiday celebrations and gifts to align with your business and items you audience already has. Your goal is to give them reasons not to travel and avoid crowded locations.

• Dress up products and services for the holidays. Offer gift cards online. They act like micro loans for local shops. Ask buyers to donate cards or additional money to frontline workers and people in need. Also, create gift cards for services not usually considered gifts like utilities. Even better, match donations.
• Act like a Christmas elf and give your audience tech support. Regardless of your products and services, create easy-to-find and follow videos to help technology-challenged individuals to use Zoom, Skype and other communication technologies. Help your audience visit virtually with family and friends.
• Offer books of games. Who doesn’t need more play in their lives regardless of age?  Create fun COVID-friendly holiday-themed activities tailored by age group. Offer digital downloads, audio, video and/or webinars. Use items your audience already has at home so you don’t encourage them to go to crowded shops.
• Deliver family traditions without the travel. Since many holiday traditions consist of special foods and activities. Help your audience to collect, preserve and transform their photographs, recipes and activities into sharable online versions. So family traditions continue without holiday travel or gatherings.
• Tap into the “Anywhere But Here” syndrome. Take your audience on a trip without leaving their favorite couch. Since people dream about being somewhere else when life gets rough. Ask: What do we have in our content inventory that can help our audience to escape?

Welcome new subscribers: Yuri, Emilien, Todd, Voice, Marc, Brett, Alison, Kehulu, Kelly, Nathan, Ben, Aleksandra, Frances, Nicole, Sally, Kerel, Alok, Anika, Lucinda and Ayako.

If you enjoy reading the AMG Newsletter, I would appreciate it if you forwarded it to your friends and colleagues.

Happy Marketing,
Heidi
P.S.: Want Heidi Cohen to contribute a quote or other commentary to your next article, presentation, video, research and/or book? Then hit reply to this email and ask.

P.P.S: Did you miss last week’s AMG Newsletter?
Previous newsletters can be found in the AMG Newsletter Archive.

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FEATURED ARTICLE: Annual Promotional Plan

To ensure your marketing yields maximum profitable sales regardless of what happens, use these 10 tips to create your 2021 Promotional Plan.

Given the current business environment, there’s a good chance your plans may go sideways with unexpected problems due to COVID.

So follow these 10 tips to ensure that you’re as prepared as possible.

FEATURED ARTICLE: Best Holiday Content Marketing

How do you measure if your holiday content marketing has created a lasting success for your business?

Sorry Campbell’s Soup, but your Thanksgiving Bean Casserole wouldn’t exist if Sarah Josepha Hale hadn’t created Thanksgiving content marketing in the mid-1800s.

This Holiday Content Marketing Campaign article gives you the case studies, data, research and worksheets you need to create profitable campaigns over time.

FEATURED ARTICLE: Seismic Content Marketing Shift

These 3 major global changes will have an impact on your marketing and your business more broadly in 2021 and beyond.

Based on research, this article gives you data and case studies to convince your boss and put your marketing on track to succeed.

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Heidi Cohen Around The Web

► Heidi Cohen ranked at #60 on Digital Scouting’s Top 100 Digital Influencers! Big tip of my hat to Dr. Robin Kiera.

► Heidi Cohen’s recipe for Fruit Junque was spotlighted in “At Home For The Holidays With Active Campaign.” Hat tip: Jason Miller.

► Heidi Cohen was named one of the Top 20 Content Marketing Influencers on Twitter by SEMrush in their 2020 State of Content Marketing.

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Welcome Mat Photo via Mabel Amber https://www.pexels.com/photo/jetty-feet-sign-wooden-128299/ cc zero

The fine print: