I was listening to some podcasts over the weekend and the hosts were talking about the insane amount of COVID-19 content that companies are putting out on LinkedIn--webinars, ebooks, how-to-guides, checklists--you name it, you can't go to a website without seeing a COVID banner and special page on what the company is doing to respond to this crisis.
The theme that came out was that most of this is just white noise. While it might keep the marketing teams busy by producing something, and might make people feel great about trying to help (not a bad thing BTW), the net impact of the activity is just that--something to do to keep everyone busy.
And again, some of that is OK right now--for so many companies there's just not a ton of stuff to do. But I'd argue that even if that's the case, that you shouldn't commit the error of inserting your brand into a situation that your buyer doesn't associate you with. It's one thing to say how you're keeping employees safe and you're still here to help. It's another to call yourself and expert and try to offer help--the same help that can be found from 100's of other companies--including those on the front lines of this crisis.
So why not be true to yourself and double down on the type of content that your customers will readily consume when they're ready to come back? We're all going stir-crazy from being at home; and we're all ready to get back to work. So while not assuming that your customers are hurting or may not be in a buying cycle for a few quarters, don't stop adding value to them or their issues. Don't stop educating them as to what a better "future state" might look like. Or how you can help. They'll respect you more and trust you more when the time is right to have the conversation with vendors like you.