Marketing considerations after the death of Queen Elizabeth

You don’t have to be a supporter of the royals to acknowledge that the death of Queen Elizabeth is a big deal for the UK. It’s a moment in the country’s history unprecedented for our generation.

I had no idea of everything that would happen once the monarch died until I read about ‘London Bridge is down’ in the Guardian. My thoughts naturally turned to how the business community - in particular small businesses - will react.

My first reaction was to take to social media to remind people that now would be a good time to check over their scheduled posts to consider whether those posts accurately reflect what they want to say in this time.

I’ve seen several other marketing experts do similar posts. Some suggested a 48-hour blackout on all marketing, some said to observe ten days of mourning, others suggested carrying on as normal.

So the question remains:

How to do marketing in the wake of the Queen’s death?

You won’t be surprised that I won’t give you a cookie-cutter answer like keep calm and carry on or no social media posts for X days.

I will always go back to the foundations of your marketing strategy - whether that is to answer a question like how to do marketing when the nation mourns, how to do marketing in times of war, or even should I start a TikTok account.

It’s why it’s so important to consider the marketing foundations of your business before launching into the marketing “doing”.

Here are some elements of your marketing strategy to consider.

1. Who are you as a business?

   What is your why and what are your values? What matters most to you? How can you apply this in the context of your marketing in this specific time?
   
   For example, if you are a legacy brand with traditional British values you would approach marketing in this time in a very different way to a plucky and irreverent startup who is controversial and divisive.
   
   Don’t follow the crowds. Follow your purpose.

2. Who are you speaking to?

   Who are your ideal buyers and how are they doing right now? If you were to put a post up singing the praises of the Queen, how would they feel?
   
   Please don’t assume people are universally sad about her death. It takes just a quick scroll on social media to see there’s a lot of apathy and also joy in some corners of the internet.
   
   Saying that, there are many people who are truly distraught. Are these your people?
   
   Let your knowledge about your audience guide your marketing decisions.
   

3. Do what feels right, not what someone else tells you is right
   

   Despite what marketing experts say, there really is no correct way of doing things. Nobody can tell you: “Here’s what you must do.” (Even though many will tell you they know what’s best for you…)

   The reality is that no matter what you do - or don’t do - there will always be people who agree with you and there will always be people who don’t. Someone will think you’ve done it perfectly and someone else will think you’re stupid.

   Once you make peace with this realisation - whether that’s in the context of the current situation or marketing in general - you will feel so much better about your marketing. You can’t please all the people all the time, so why bother trying? Please yourself!

   So I’m saying to you is figure out what feels good to you to say in your marketing, and then do that consciously and with intent.

I have no doubt that over the coming days and weeks we will see really bad marketing. We will see businesses piggyback on the news and we will see people misread the room on socials.

The fact that you’re reading this post tells me you’re someone who cares about doing good marketing and good things in the world. Lean into that and you will be ok.

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