Covid-19 has affected hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Not only people but it has affected businesses as well because of the lockdown laws the governments are imposing to stay safe. This is in public interest but businesses have a very unclear picture of what is going to happen.
The major concern is when will the situation become normal again and when can businesses resume their activities. Even after resuming the activities, the world is going to see a shortage in supply as the supply chain has been disrupted by the virus. This is due to factories shut down in China in Q1.
As of 29th March 2020, activities in China are resuming gradually but you can expect delays. The trucks which are used to ship goods from factories to ports are operating between 60-80% capacity. What does this mean? This means you can expect delays of about 8-10 days on their journey to the ports.
The prices which began to drop at the onset of the virus, is now seeing a increase which means the costs to operate business will rise.
Businesses that can reduce the impact of Covid-19 are (classified by industry)
1) Hospitality
This industry has seen a major fall as the dine-ins has been banned by the government amid the pandemic situation. The companies that are into events has lost their business as the lockdown laws do not permit to do so. What can be done?
In Australia, government is still permitting restaurants to offer takeaways and deliveries (employees are taking extra precautions). But, due to various lockdown laws in different parts of the world, a lot of people don't know that the restaurants are still functioning.
How can you reach out to people? Use your social media accounts to let your customers know that you are open and offering deliveries and takeaways. Wondering why will people trust you? To gain the trust during this situation, you can share pictures and stories of the employees preparing food on social media so that people know everything is being taken care of.
Post drool worthy pictures of food to keep the customers engaged on social media platforms. Add poll stories "this or that" by sharing your signature dishes.
You can also share some kitchen items that people may like to buy (probably not the toilet roles).
2) Finance
You can educate your customers on how to deal with their finances and give them some tips to reduce the impact of coronavirus on their pockets. Advice them on government support and funding and how they can avail it.
Get into the minds of the customers and know what are they worried about and try to give a solution for that. This can be done through your social media accounts.
3) Creatives
Create a new limited time offer and package your services that will be of value to other businesses during this pandemic situation.
Continue to show up as an expert in your field and keep doing what you're good at. A lot of businesses are shifting to online marketing. Make sure you advertise your services.
4) Retail
(Yes, the image is blurry)
Advertise your products online by creating a shop on Instagram or Facebook. Along with this, you can also share memes and quotes to boost engagement.
Offer free shipping on orders and extended return times. On your online shop, offer flash sales.
5) Health and fitness
Home workout ideas without equipment for the audience. Many people want to work out but don't have gym equipment at home and have no idea about exercises they can do at home.
You can also conduct LIVE classes on Facebook or Instagram.
Introduce healthy meals that is easy to cook at home and share pictures of it on your social media.
These are the few industries (not all) that can leverage online media during this situation. It is a great time to engage audience online as you know exactly where your audience is- HOME!
Feel free to contact me. We are offering 15 minutes of free consultation and reduced rates after. If not for business, do drop an enquiry to have a chat about the situation and the impact of it on your business.
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