The digital measures that could save your business during COVID-19
At a recent PwC Australia virtual event, Rowland’s team of communication and digital leaders led a discussion about the issues and opportunities posed by COVID-19.
In my comments, I suggested this could be the wake-up call many businesses needed to better prepare themselves for running their organisations virtually and in an immediately changing digital environment.
If you find your organisation behind the digital eight ball, there are some immediate measures you can take to digitise your operation in the face of this economic crisis.
- Activate online stakeholders
Wishing you’d been more proactive in creating dedicated stakeholder digital channels now that emails are being sent to the trash can? You won’t be alone.
The influx of COVID-19-related emails is on the rise and with many suffering information fatigue, now more than ever, businesses are finding cut through with their own dedicated channels.
But the old rules still apply. One channel’s audience may differ to another, so understand what your website needs to say to audiences during these times, versus social, apps and other platforms. - Target audiences
Lapsed client contacts on LinkedIn? Let them know you’re still open for business, and not only that, you’ve introduced new methods to deliver your services.
Highlight the benefits – cost and time efficiencies are possibly two of the most highly valued benefits right now. Now is the time to broadcast how well-placed you are to guide your customers and provide them the support they need.
This is not the time to regress and hide. Consider cost-effective, digital advertising campaigns to target new audiences looking for your services. In a recent corporate Facebook advertising campaign, completed this past week, Rowland was able to generate a significant uplift in its client’s exposure to key audiences at a cost of just $0.04 per result. - Be genuine
Come from a good and authentic place. This should be a rule we all live by regardless of prevailing circumstances, I know, but during this tumultuous time when we’re grappling with new procedures, engagement methods and service delivery, our collective time is no-doubt stretched.
So cut the sales speak and provide genuine support. Keep your customers and audiences up to date through regular web updates. Better still, prepare a dedicated landing page or newsroom to explain how you are not only open for business, but open for business-as-usual. - Fail forward
The brightest innovators fail, but what they do best is fail forward. A common agile methodology and approach is to accept defeat, but humble yourself to its teachings. Learn and improve on the next iteration.
Invariably you’re going to have to think about how you can deliver some aspect of your traditional communication through digital means. It might not be perfect the first time around, but it’s better to have tried your hand at disrupting yourself, than to have feared it and fallen at the start line.
From video conferences to virtual learning and 360-degree videos, we ourselves are broadening the spectrum of support we provide our clients to ensure they can continue to drive their businesses forward. - Track and analyse
Another common ‘nice-to-do’, which is fast becoming a ‘must-do’, is to track and analyse your digital audiences. Who is making enquiries through your site? Or even more basic than that – who is visiting your site?
Are you tracking sentiment or insights to your market as a whole? What are your customers looking for? When you know what their pain points are, you will be better placed to provide tailored content to meet their needs.
If you feel your digital channels are missing the mark during COVID-19, please reach out to us and we’d be happy to help.