16 Jun, 2020

Digital Considerations for a Post Coronavirus World

Yesterday, June 15th 2020, many non-essential shops opened their doors for the first time since the Coronavirus Pandemic began. It was a milestone for many businesses and individuals, as it marks the first significant step towards a return to normal.

With our fingers very firmly crossed that this return to normality continues, we thought we’d take a little time to outline the key digital considerations we think could make a big difference to businesses, in the post Coronavirus future we are now entering.
 

Continue your digital transformation


As the saying goes “necessity is the mother of invention” and for us nothing better sums up the relationship between the Coronavirus Pandemic and the demand for digital transformation. Already many businesses have been forced to digitally transform their organisations in some way shape or form, in order to accommodate things like online sales, virtual meetings and online events.

Even within our own business we’ve worked alongside homebuilder Strata to make online reservations for their new build homes a reality, integrating with third party CRM systems and developing bespoke forms on the website. We’ve supported a number of our hospice clients to embrace online events by improving booking functionality on their websites and at every turn we’ve relied on technology like Google Meet to keep in touch, deliver training, discuss reports and keep planning for the future. Now, even as some of us start to return to the traditional workspace that need for further digital transformation is still high.

With that in mind, one other area where we think continued digital transformation could be valuable, is within the realms of online learning. Universities, colleges and schools were the first to really walk this path during the pandemic, but we think it’s something more and more businesses can learn from.

There’s a number of opportunities a virtual learning platform could deliver for your business in the future; from remotely on boarding new staff, to accessing talent from further a-field (perhaps even overseas), from improving training communication, tracking and assessment to saving time and money. If remote working is something your business is planning to continue post Coronavirus, then other aspects of your business need to support that and online learning is a key one.

Be ready for the bounce back

One of the hardest things for many businesses over the last couple of months has been the lack of certainty, especially around timescales for things like the lockdown itself and key dates for businesses reopening. Now that’s becoming clearer, it’s important to get ready for the bounce back and in some cases a potential surge in consumer demands.

Scenes on the high street yesterday indicate that many customers are ready to get back to their normal routines of shopping and spending. That means the work you do now could and most likely will determine how well you can respond to stabilizing spending habits.

SEO is always a long term strategy and investing now is vital. Often businesses understandably look to cut costs in a recession and often marketing and advertising budgets are one of the first areas to suffer, however, refocusing budgets as opposed to reducing them is often the way to success. Making the investment to realign your search strategy with the changing needs of your customers as we transition back to normal, could ensure your business outperforms your competitors.

Now is also the time to recover revenue, in most cases as fast as possible, so identifying your primary sources of revenue and launching targeting campaigns to help recover loyal customers and find new ones will be key. You may also need to consider new pricing structures and promotions to help grow revenue in a time when many people are feeling the financial pressures associated with the lockdown.

Payment integrations like Klarna, which can help customers spread the cost of key purchases could be the different between your business surviving and thriving in a post COVID world. Long story short, now is the time to refocus your online marketing efforts not to necessarily reduce them!

While this period of our history has largely been a difficult time for many people around the world, we would encourage all business owners to look at the positive changes that can be made as a response to the restrictions, problems and changes the Coronavirus Pandemic has necessitated. With the right innovation and imagination, the things you implement now could make your business even more successful in the future.

Remember, “Necessity is the mother of invention”.