When to Stop Your Prospecting Campaigns During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Most of us have not faced a global event that has quite literally stopped and isolated the world like the recent COVID-19 pandemic. As governments continue to order citizens to stay at home, many businesses are being closed or put on hiatus while people self-isolate.

At a time like this, it’s hard to figure out what to say — truly, we’re all in this together. However, now isn’t the time to stop talking to your customers or prospects. But you might want to think about your communication tactics during such a challenging time.

At CoPilot AI, we want to help lay out some groundwork for those of you who are not sure whether outreach is appropriate for your industry, or if the current climate should make your business take a breather.

When you should stop your marketing and sales activities: any industry that is directly affected due to government regulation around COVID-19.

These types of businesses could include movie theatres, gyms, or live events.

This category covers essentially anyone whose product or service encourages people to do activities (think the opposite of social distancing) that are in conflict with your government messages, you should consider pausing your campaigns and communications.

When you should slow down and re-strategize your marketing and sales activity:  any industry that will be largely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

These industries could include airlines and travel, hotel chains, or brick and mortar businesses.

The big difference here is that these industries have not completely shut down due to the circumstances, but they will be on crisis control - most likely not planning on taking on any risk and are fighting to stay afloat.  

The reason we recommend to “slow down and re-strategize” in this case is that these businesses will need to start growing again soon, but your messaging and maybe even core service or product might need to be different. Pause and take the time to think about your strategy, but don’t stop your outreach once you have found the appropriate way to continue forward.

When you should continue your marketing and sales activities: any industry that is not directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

These industries could include software and technology, marketing and agency services or consulting and professional services.

Many businesses might feel the need to pause activities or change the course of their planning, but in reality, these industries are investing now for future gains.

We recommend continued outreach efforts in these industries so that any economic downturn doesn’t affect them or your growth goals.

By no means is this a one size fits all approach to navigating the COVID-19 situation. Everyone’s situation is different and the impact it will have on your business or the industries you’re targeting will depend on the circumstances.

Talk to us to learn how you can continue your sales and marketing efforts through social lead generation today.