Business as we know it will change forever after the COVID-19 pandemic. This year will be the year of change for many: e-commerce, telemedicine and remote work or home office is on the horizon for every company and person. This has a new approach to technology.
Business owners are struggling to cope with these unsettling and difficult times. But crises, at any level, are disruptive and also are an opportunity to learn and earn the trust and credibility of our customers, partners, community, and family.
We know that with everything that is going on, information can cause as much anxiety as the crisis itself. But the businesses (large and small) have to adapt and be resilient in order to move forward and thrive, not just survive. That’s why technology is the best ally in times like these.
Why Go Digital?
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has stated in the 2018 London summit that: “the digital transformation is having a wide-ranging impact on the business environment, creating both opportunities and challenges. Inter-related trends such as e-commerce, big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) could lead to large productivity gains for the economy.”
Virtual Offices to Reduce Costs
That said, one of the opportunities or benefits offered by technology is to cut fixed expenses. Such as rent for physical spaces as well as coffees, snacks, stationery and services, thanks to virtual offices.
For many, managing a team of remote workers can be difficult. They may feel a profound disconnection, lack of control or impossible to build trust within the team. But in light of COVID19, remote work and virtual employees are a new reality.
In fact, Global Workplace Analytics reports shows that working from home grew 140% from 2005 to 2019, and these figures don’t include self-employed individuals. Remote working grew almost 10 times faster than the total workforce. Companies need to consider remote teams working together to achieve productivity and to get rid of some costs and expenses.
There are some best practices for ensuring a smooth transition and that can help your employees remain connected like consider using technology that’s innovative, create a plan that maintains structure and accountability, but that’s flexible at the same time, stringently uphold team member respect and trust, and so on.
We don’t really know if the social distancing will end tomorrow, but remote work is something that companies (large and small) should get used to.
Online Marketing to the Rescue
During the financial crisis of 2008, most business-to-business (B2B) companies decided to play it safe and cut their marketing budgets. However, right now, it’s the worst thing you can do. Your business needs to sell to stay afloat and if you don’t promote yourself, how do you hope to achieve it?
No one is expecting you to stop promoting during rocky times, but because all major events are cancelled, no one is going out or want to touch a flyer or piece of paper; and everybody is minimizing all face-to-face meetings your digital strategy is now the key source of lead generation and your higher investment should be in web marketing.
Review Your Strategy
The major advantage of digital marketing, is that it is measurable. With all that extra free time, you need to review your business’ online marketing strategy and redefine your marketing messages. It is important to realize that things have changed, and you may need to change the way you speak to people.
Rely on the Past
Take an in-depth look into the performance of past efforts to reset goals for your marketing campaigns. It is also a great opportunity to find your company’s visibility and promotion strategy: whether it is website content, SEO, content marketing (new blog posts and newsletters), social media, etc.
Strengthening your focus on web marketing will give you a competitive edge over competitors who are slow to react.
Social Media is Key
If you have the cash right now to run social media ads then you should be running ads. On average, costs have dropped since many businesses were forced to stop running ads, so this is a great opportunity for many businesses.
You can also use social media to move transactions online. It doesn’t matter if you are not an e-commerce, many businesses have been doing this already. If you want your business to survive you need to learn to adapt.
But remember to change your social media strategy. The world is a different place now than it was just a few weeks ago. You need to be more conscious.
One important thing: strengthening your online marketing efforts will minimize the risk and improve your overall position.
If you need help, contact us. We can help you to rapid digitize your business to respond as fast as possible to this situation. We offer you marketing services at a competitive price so that your business moves forward in this new technology.