Should Lead Generation Campaigns Still Run When A Battle’s Going On?

It seems quite a shame that this year’s Thanksgiving has clearly been marred by the recent court decisions around the Ferguson scandal. But as these things come to pass, it’s really important for any business to have a lead generation action plan in case they find themselves caught in the midst of a highly politicized struggle.

Now why lead generation in particular? Shouldn’t your entire organization be concerned when things like huge protests and scandal disrupt the tranquility of business-as-usual?

As much as that’s true, most of the measures you’ll be taking have a direct correlation with what anything else you’ll need to do to avoid getting caught in the conflict.

• Media announcements – And by media, that not only includes traditional TV advertising or even the niche spots you’ve got on some local business publications. This obviously includes online and social media. Be mindful of what content you put up and see how it can be interpreted by those who take a side or remain neutral in any given uproar.

• Find your customers in the mess – A data visualization of online conversations regarding the Ferguson decision really paints a stark divide. Probably the most difficult task is getting in touch with all your customers when some of them could be in one cluster or in the other. However, you need to spot them regardless before taking any further action.

• Create guidelines – It’s usually only in very rare occasions that you end up finding most of your customers favoring as singular stance on an issue. And even in such cases, it’s usually better to separate the conversations between themselves from the ones between your business. It should not be too easy to take a subject about things like finance and accounting but then find ways to make it about racism and Michael Brown.

• Unless you can, avoid too much peacemaking – While this sounds a bit unethical, some issues can be just far too big for your own company to quell. The next best thing you can do is to keep the conflict from disrupting as much of your business as possible. In all fairness, this could be easy as the Thanksgiving Day parade proceeded despite the Ferguson protests.

Not all wars involve tanks and gunfire. Sometimes social upheaval can happen with just smartphones and Twitter. And all the same, daily business is at the risk of being disrupted. Make sure your lead generation strategy keeps you under the rather but still in touch with customers.

Should Lead Generation Campaigns Still Run When A Battle’s Going On?