As talks of easing lockdown measures gather momentum, we’ve been asking ourselves how can brands survive this pandemic and future downturns…
Diversify
Coronavirus has effected many businesses across various sectors, especially those reliant on physical contact. The lockdown restrictions have made it impossible for many industries to continue in the same capacity as they did pre-pandemic, and this is where diversification becomes critical. We’ve seen the health and fitness industry adapt very quickly by making their services available online, some starting with a freemium model to convert users with the goal of up-selling them onto premium services. With this expansion of services we’ve seen brands accessing new audiences they wouldn’t typically have in the past. While these new products and services may not generate the same revenue as the core business offering, they do ensure that you will always have something to sell.
Digital Sales
The virus has further cemented the need to have a digital offering even if the core business is brick-and-mortar. The perfect example of this is the restaurant industry. The restaurants who already offered some sort of delivery service are surviving at present and those that don’t have an offering are either shut or scrambling to transition to online.
If your business is service-led, there are many ways to generate income digitally. We’ve seen an increase in our consultancy projects during this crisis as we’re fitting in more meetings per day via video conferencing than we ever could with physical meetings. We believe that this way of offering services will stick around well beyond the pandemic, as it’s proven that while face-to-face meetings do have value, a Zoom call can be just a fruitful, as well as allowing for more efficient time management.
Step up your comms
As news of the virus started to hit, we were amazed at how slow some businesses were to communicate how they would be operating during the lockdown. Granted, the situation is unique in many ways and we’ve been drip-fed information throughout, but it’s still imperative to keep an open and clear channel of communication with your existing customers and your prospects. Not only will such communication increase your chances of generating revenue during the pandemic, it will put your brand in a good position post-pandemic. Those who have failed to communicate with their customers and their target audience will face an uphill battle to gain the same momentum that they had achieved pre-pandemic.
Digital commerce and presence will be the driving force for future revenues, as it was before COVID-19, but will now be even more accelerated and with a far greater influence. Our team are here to offer brands support through this time of digital transformation, so please get in touch, we’d love to get thinking for you…
