Digital Transformation Lessons from Covid-19 Crisis

Covid-19 caught us all by surprise and the business world is one of its main casualties. It’s no secret that the world is changing and we are now rapidly learning the importance of the digital transformation.

The markets have never dropped as quickly as they have in the past month since the Great Depression with airlines taking the biggest hit of over 314 billion loss in revenue. Regardless of the uncertainties gripping the world today, here is our list of five key things every business needs to learn from this crisis.

Digital transformation starts with a website

One of the most important business lessons is to get your business online if you haven’t already.

Although some businesses will close down, some global businesses such as Amazon are growing. Their stocks have surged by almost 15% to a high of $2,283 per share. This has been due to the companies’ online presence as well as the ability to completely continue running online. Even as lockdown is implemented across many countries, people continue to buy straight from their website and order things into their homes.

If you still haven’t made that investment, now is the right time to take your business online as more and more businesses realise that they need to have a strong digital footprint in order to ensure their survival and potential growth in the market.

Invest in your brand

As you begin your online journey, now more than ever is important to invest in your brand. Who Are You? How do you want your customers to perceive you and how your brand interacts with your customers? What’s the personality of your brand? What’s the tone of your brand online – casual, professional or a blend of the two?

Deciding who you are as a brand and how you want to be perceived is integral when beginning your digital transformation journey.

Upgrade your digital marketing skills

This is one of the lessons that’s has become more urgent now than ever before.

This is the right time for your sales & marketing staff to upgrade and learn Digital and Social Media Selling skills.

While many jobs are becoming obsolete, there has been an increase in demand for digital type jobs with businesses hiring virtual/remote assistants, online consultants from around the world and digital marketers.

Be adaptable in your digital transformation journey

If you are following the news, there were several months before Covid-19 reached our shores. That was the perfect time for businesses to get into a proactive mode instead of a reactive one.

Luckily, there is still time to learn and adapt to the changing markets and the needs of clients. For example, designers who are making branded, reusable face masks for companies. The world is banding together and this is the right time for you to anticipate what your customers’ needs will be and be ready to meet them.

This is the right time to invest in marketing

Successful business moguls know that an important business strategy at any time is to keep investing in marketing. But many businesses will cut back their marketing budgets during an economic downturn as they see it as an expense and not as an investment!

But without marketing, people wouldn’t know about your brand or services.

Digital marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to market your products and services and you should continue to invest in it so you retain your customers, maintain brand awareness, and even improve the perception of your brand’s strength.

A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.
Henry Ford

To flourish, even in these uncertain times, it’s important for your business to become a part of the digital era and embark on your digital transformation NOW. Want to learn how? Enrol for our digital and social selling course today!

About Author

Nikolina is digital marketing trainer and mentor representing Digital Marketing Institute (DMI) in Zimbabwe and Zambia offering internationally certified certificate and diploma level courses in digital marketing, SEO, social media and digital marketing strategy and planning. Need more info? Email us on contact@nikolinakobali.com