How Giving Back During Covid and Beyond Can Be the Biggest Gift to Your Own Business

The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique time for companies to show compassion by giving back. They say that gestures speak louder than words. Well this is the time to move past the corporate rhetoric and show a little love by giving back. 

Giving back during COVID and beyond can be the most significant gift to others as well as your own business. This is the best time for companies to communicate care to their customers, employees and communities. And luckily, there are many ways and opportunities to give back. 

Read on as Marketing guru, Caitlin Strempel, explains how giving back during COVID actually helps businesses. 

How Giving Back Helps Your Business Thrive 

Giving back during COVID can help your business thrive because it sets up a positive image and reputation for your company. It also makes YOU feel good.  One of the ways that brands build their reputation is through marketing; but, today’s world is challenging as you can no longer gain customer loyalty through glamorized marketing. Instead you have to earn this loyalty by building trust through relating with customers and working towards building a relationship with them.

Companies can give back by looking for ways to support the community. There are many ways to do this. For instance, a company can partner with grocery stores to deliver food to vulnerable members of society. Relief organizations such as Feeding America are mobilizing support from companies to help deliver food to struggling families. Your company can give back by contributing to such organizations. There’s one brewery company that decided to begin production of sanitizers in a bid to cushion the community from the scarcity. Look for a need in society and take the initiative to help out.

There is a concerning trend that corporate philanthropy has been declining for the past 15 years. Corporates view charity as a catch-22 situation. From one end, there’s the pressure from investors to make a high ROI. On the other end, there’s the demand to give back to the community. 

Yet, charity is not something that business leaders should be debating. Giving back is an integral aspect of business growth as it allows businesses to build trust and have a positive social impact. Just make sure you find an initiative that you truly care about. The worst thing you can do during this time is to give back purely for showing off. Your inauthenticity will be seen!

Aside from the community, businesses should look for ways to give back to their consumers. They can do this through more value-packed content or by offering discounts on products for a time. If it’s a service company, they could offer free training. This would benefit the company as it motivates your customers to trust in you and advocate for your product. Furthermore, your customers are likely to buy more from you since you have considered their needs and showed up for them during this pandemic.

Giving Back By Supporting Employees 

Firms should also consider taking care of their employees as a way of giving back. Instead of laying off workers, they can consider offering them alternatives such as remote working. They can also continue to pay their workers even if their workers are at home. Giant companies such as Google and Microsoft recently adjusted their sick leave policy to continue to pay their workers. The last thing you want to do during this time is to lay off quality talent! If you can, and you’ve been looking to hire, hire now! There is currently a pool of tremendously talented workers who are out of a job. 

Employees are the most significant marketing weapon that you can leverage. For instance, when employees go on social media and talk about how their company supports them and helps the community, people will want to buy from you.  Happy employees will also produce the best work; therefore, you should engage your employees and try to figure out how to best cushion them from the negative outcomes of COVID. 

A Bit About Caitlin 

Caitlin started her digital marketing agency at the worst time in her life. She had to rush her two-month-old son to the hospital for heart surgery. This experience made her decide to pursue entrepreneurship and never go back to the 12-hour-per-day work life. Her agency, Rising Ranks Digital, helps companies leverage SEO and marketing strategies to expand their ROI to millions within months. She has a passion for working with firms that want to change the world by making it a better place. 

Caitlin states that at this time, the most significant gift you can give to your own business is focusing on extending your hand to help. You can learn more about Rising Ranks by visiting their website.