Antonia Brindle, marketing strategist and digital content/PR expert, reflects on recent events for Northern Insight readers with a focus on what we can do moving forward in the region and whether bouncing back in the business world is possible.
No one could have predicted the events of the last month or so. We have all had a storm to ride, and amazingly, it looks like a lot of us have done that together. There is still a long way to go, and we need to keep that focus on the future.
‘Markets crashing, empty offices, madness in bulk buying’. It’s like something from a poor movie. However, if COVID-19 was a film, I suspect I’d have left the cinema at around the halfway through mark. Unfortunately, it is real life.
The struggle many are having with their health, the impact emotionally and on the economy is heartbreaking. So many people’s earnings and livelihoods have been hindered. But is there anything we should be doing whilst enduring the pain barrier as a business to survive?
Unforeseen circumstances throw business disciplines into the spotlight. Those who have business continuity planning have been and still will be testing their effectiveness right now. Risk experts are already saying that a compromise as large as the 2020 pandemic, simply eradicates much of the hard work put into being ready for a disaster. The only resilience a business could have had was to be financially prepared, cash rich or be in a sector that experiences a boom due to immediate need.
The resounding agreement from experts worldwide, seems to be that the only solution is to turn to future planning. Many firms in Wuhan have survived, despite staff not being able to get into work. How did they do this? And what are they doing now?
These firms survived thanks to robust communication and marketing planning. The businesses still standing distributed material, content, issued comments and reached out with information keeping customers and staff in the loop.
Internal and external communications alongside developing a robust marketing strategy is key. Whilst main manpower was under lock down or poorly, those who were well determinedly planned their businesses future. They didn’t survive through luck.
They invested time and money in better websites, built on video conferencing, focused on social media, looked for new digital adventures, and doggedly planned their comeback marketing attack.
In essence, those still standing maintained an effective voice, put in place PR and marketing tools to bounce back as soon as they could trade again. They acknowledged it wasn’t business as usual, but business in unusual circumstances.
This is not a time to go quiet. This will not last a lifetime. In a nutshell, this isn’t a time to baton down the hatches. This is a time to have your voice heard, clearly, reassuringly, and consistently. This is a time to plan, to strategise your target audiences, how to reach them, a time to build relationships through marketing to secure and build a pipeline for the future.
If your company has a board, make sure you have a strong marketing strategist on it. Someone with crisis management experience and a clear approach to recovery. Pull that expertise together and manage what is happening today whilst they focus on how to steer you to the future. All businesses should do that consistently, and not just in a pandemic panic!
Antonia Brindle is a marketing expert with over 25 years experience. She is a non exec director, vice chair of a charitable board of trustees and director of two companies in the region. She delivers PR, social media, creative digital, website build and design; and crisis management.
You can contact Antonia on 07702 214391 or on antonia@getbrindled.com
