Our hearts really go out to everyone whose business has been affected by this pandemic. If your business is quieter at the moment, or perhaps you can’t trade at all because of the nature of what you do, here are some suggestions for ways you can use this time to build resilience in your business and prepare it for when the lockdown lifts.
Listen
As a communications agency, we advise people on how to communicate (obviously). But part of good communication is listening – just as a good conversation should flow both ways.
Listen to your audience – how are they feeling, what are they worrying about and what do they need help with? Use what you learn from listening to speak to them in a way that’s appropriate and relevant to them. Listening now will also help you to figure out how best to position your product or service in the months to come.
Engage
Memes and micro trends pop up more than usual at times like these – when people are united by an experience. If it’s right for your business, take advantage of the social conversations that are happening. But also, be mindful of times when it isn’t right for your business too.
Look out for what’s trending on Twitter and hop on the hashtag of the moment on Instagram. Some hashtags we’ve noticed are #isolationcreation, #workingfromhome and #lockdownlife, but there are lots of hashtags ‘of the moment’. Have some fun, connect with your audience and join in on the current social conversation.
Create content
Overt selling doesn’t sit well in the current climate. Consumers know that buying things can’t fix this problem or make them feel better and companies trying to push sales just look ignorant. Similarly, some companies are using the crisis as an opportunity to ‘subtly’ market their products which is transparent and in poor taste. Profiteering from a pandemic isn’t a good look.
Marketing shouldn’t stop, but it should be appropriate. Content marketing – providing useful content to educate, engage and entertain is the kind of marketing that feels right for these times. Use your expertise to help people – be generous. Content marketing won’t get you any quick sales, but it will build trust with your audience over time, and when people are ready to buy, they’ll think of you. Survival is about maintaining presence so that you are in the front of peoples’ minds when the time is right.
Producing quality content for your website will also help you to build authority and boost your SEO rankings. If things are a bit quiet on the to-do list then it’s a great time to be reviewing your website, planning new content and giving things a refresh.
Bolster your website
Keeping on top of website content is a time-consuming task that lots of businesses push to one side when they’re busy. Now is a good time to audit the content on your site, make sure it’s all still relevant and correct, check that your social links work and that everything is an accurate (and attractive) representation of your business.
If you have a blog page, use this time to build up a bank of posts that you can publish later in the year. It might feel difficult to pre-write content at the moment, as the future feels uncertain, but focus on producing evergreen content that will still be relevant at any time.
Look up
Often, working life is so busy that we are constantly ploughing through to-do lists and ticking off tasks. Work can become very delivery-focused and because you’ve got your head down, you don’t look up to check you’re heading in the right direction or whether you need to adjust your sails.
This time presents an opportunity to step back from the day-to-day and begin to think strategically about what’s working, what’s not and how to realign your business and marketing operations with your goals and objectives.
Create a marketing plan for the second half of the year, or spend some time defining and refining your tone of voice.
Pivot your product, switch up your service
So many businesses have shown ingenuity, resilience and agility by tweaking what they offer and how they offer it, so they can continue to trade through this period, especially food businesses. Restaurants have become grocery shops and bakeries have begun delivering. Breweries have begun producing hand sanitiser.
Think about how you might be able to do business a little differently in the future – although some kind of normality will return, some of the changes we have seen will stick.
Collaborate
If there are any positives to come out of this pandemic, people pulling together is one of them. Now, more than ever, people realise they need each other, and we can see how interconnected everything is. The same is true of businesses – it’s a tough time for everyone and offering a (metaphorical) helping hand where you can, will be appreciated. If you can find any opportunities to collaborate and combine forces with other businesses, it might help you to get back up to speed more quickly.
Collaborating with a business that shares your values and ethos means you can share social audiences and ideas for content, and perhaps plan a partnership event for when all this passes.
Keep your sights set on the future and make the most of the opportunities that this moment brings. If you’ve got any questions for us, get in touch. We’re here to help.
