COVID-19 Communications: How to Communicate Quickly and Effectively to Your Membership
Last updated: March 25, 2020
Your website and associated digital tools are now more critical than ever.
Some of our clients have been asking us: Where on our website can we highlight our contingency plans for the coronavirus? How can we reassure members? How can we best support them? Here are some digital tools and resources that you may find useful to communicate important, timely information:
Alert bar: Use the alert bar for short, 1-2 sentence announcements that will display globally on your website. A scheduling feature is an additional enhancement that allows you to set up alerts in advance with a set start and end date — this can be especially helpful during understaffed periods.
Blog or news post: If the above announcement requires a lengthier explanation, simply include a link to a blog post, news article, or page with detailed information.
Member login dropdown: Typically used as a promo spot, this can also lend itself well to communicating important information to members as logging in is the #1 action your members will take on the website.
Slide-up announcement: When the alert bar is simply too limiting and a news article is overkill, opt for a short one-paragraph block of text that will emerge from the bottom of the website screen.
Email communications: We’re all getting deluged by coronavirus-related emails right now, but at times like these, it’s far better to communicate than stay silent. In addition to assessing what new communications you should compile and send, be sure to reevaluate any automated emails and consider pausing them, particularly those promoting services or special offers that may appear tone deaf or self-serving.
Social media communications: Similarly, reevaluate any scheduled social media messaging, and focus your social media efforts around sharing timely, top-of-mind information for your members.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs): We recommend creating a dedicated FAQ category related to the coronavirus. Check with your call center and/or any staff members responding to contact form submissions about the questions they are already receiving and incorporate them into this section.
Dedicated landing page: Whether using a landing page template or your default template, it may be helpful to pull together a list of coronavirus-related announcements and resources onto a single page, including the FAQs referenced above. This page may also include information about branch closures, reminders about online/mobile banking features, remote support options, loan products to help members through difficult financial times, and tips for protecting your members’ financial health.
We can assist with the implementation of any of the items listed above and can provide flexible and/or deferred payment options if needed.
Stay tuned for more information as we prepare our recommendations on how to effectively update your location pages in the event of branch closures and draw more attention to your ATM finder.