It’s no secret that the COVID-19 Pandemic has forced businesses into different ways of doing things. Businesses have been pushed towards digital transformations with the need for companies and their staff to work remotely and communication now taking to virtual platforms.

Leads us to think, are we ready for the digital transformation? What does it look like? How will it affect the way we look at our operations, our communication and even our service delivery? Some companies have been more prepared than others, with the uptake of some of the tools used for virtual communication, project management, collaboration and even service delivery.


But what if your business hadn’t taken any measures to ensure a level of continuity in this virtual environment? Well, there’s something you can do now. Here are five of the easiest steps to implement to ensure a level of trust in your brand, compliance to government regulations and continuous productivity in your organization.

1. Keep your Online Communication Platforms Active

This is your first and constant prerogative! Your business shouldn’t go mute on your online communication platforms. These include your social media platforms, your email marketing channels, your website blogs and any other channels you use to communicate to your external stakeholders. Keep them up to date with the happenings of the business so your business can have a level of transparency.
Remember, even if there is a go slow due to the pandemic, people may still be looking for your products/services and when the crisis is averted, you still want people to keep you top of mind.

2. Have a Landing page on your website addressing COVID-19 in regards to your business.

A website is one of the few brand owned communication platforms that you can fully control and manage. At this time, it is crucial to use it to communicate your brands position in regards to COVID-19. This means creating a dedicated page which you can use to share this information. Best practice at current time is to update these regularly with content regarding:

  • The measures you’re taking in compliance with Government Regulations.
  • How your business and service delivery has been affected by COVID-19.
  • What your customers should expect while interacting with your brand.
3. Review all scheduled marketing campaigns to ensure that they are not be contradictory or tone-deaf to the situation.

Your organization may have a set out yearly marketing plan that has some campaigns scheduled based on certain seasons/times relevant to your business. It is best to review this marketing campaigns and check whether they may be contradictory or tone deaf to the situation that the market may be going through now.
For example, a restaurant may have had a campaign to celebrate the upcoming Easter holiday trying to drive people to it’s store location. As per the recommended quarantine, that would be contradictory and the brand may have to revise this campaign with a home delivery option one.

4. Use Digital Tools for Communication

With recommended practice that people work from home and practice isolation, businesses need to incorporate digital tools to help with communication. It could start as simply as having a work group on Whatsapp to more advanced tools that allow for video conferencing with multiple individuals.
This tools will come in handy to provide not only productivity check-ins and seamless communication but also help the social aspect of work continue as colleagues continue to be in communication and with video they can even check in and have a virtual human experience.
Companies like Microsoft and Google have made their communication and collaboration platforms free to use at this time. Microsoft with Microsoft Teams and Google with Hangout Meet have become a popular uptake while Zoom has also become really common with people even holding webinars to simulate the experience of a conference.

5. Take time to review how to incorporate digital tools and marketing for your business

This slow period could mean your business can review how to incorporate digital tools into your operations and even in your marketing. Could your business streamline some operations by using online project management tools? Is it more efficient to have occasional meetings with clients over video conferencing? Could your website and social channels be your biggest tool for external communication and marketing?
You can invest time to review some of this questions and more. Or even consult an expert in the field who can advise you on what’s the best practice and help with the implementation.