Countries enforce mass closures to stem spread (BBC)
Arsenal manager infected (Mail One)
Asia markets dive after Wall Street crash on coronavirus panic (The Strait Times)
These daunting stories have become regular headlines on daily news since pneumonia of unknown cause was detected among 44 individuals in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China, on 31 December 2019. Healthcare experts reported a new strain of coronavirus was the cause.
The novel coronavirus spread fast and it’s deadly. But, more than the rapid transmission from human-to-human, absence of a vaccine to fight the virus and medicines to cure infected individuals, and the fact that isolation, hospital care, and basic protective measures are the only recourse to cling to, to contain the virus, is what’s raising fear and panic among people.
COVID 19 continues to cause havoc to the world, and a path to market recession looms as businesses in many affected regions close down. But, we can’t just sit still and wait for the next victim to fall. We need to act now and find recovery paths back to growth. As the old cliche goes “business must go on”.
Below are business continuity initiatives that can be adopted amid the coronavirus crisis:
Database Profiling
If you’re not getting enough sales traffic at the moment, focus on other productivity tasks and reboot your business resources by running a Data Profiling campaign: data cleansing and scrubbing, verification, deduplication and database management. This will rid your records with decays, gone aways and duplicate entries, as well as validate contact names, numbers, addresses, postal codes and social media accounts, resulting in complete, accurate and reliable information to use for your next marketing campaign.
ABM Lead Generation
The coronavirus crisis is halting businesses’ normal functions, opting for a work from home or suspending project-based or non-frontline jobs, but you can continue to scale up your numbers despite manpower trim down. Outsource an Account-Based Marketing lead generation campaign from a firm that can provide a well-profiled database and technology to capture interested customers. This will allow you to nurture potential leads into warm prospects and create a special route to sales after everything turns back to normal flow.
Appointment Setting
The WHO encourages social distancing at the moment so you might need to excuse yourself from courteous acts of meeting prospects face to face and shaking hands with them like you used to, to avoid further transmission. And the best and safest way to connect with prospects is via an Appointment Setting campaign which can be rolled out through telemarketing, teleconferencing or video calling. Avoiding close contact with others will ensure you and your prospects are safe from the risk of COVID 19.
Event Marketing
Major events have pulled the plug on their scheduled shows due to the growing concerns on coronavirus. Though some have opted to continue, but without a live audience in the venue. Sales and marketing events, however, can definitely go on as planned. Run a Call-to-invite campaign and hold your event online via webinars, virtual events or live stream and generate authentic leads at reduced costs.
Email Marketing
Disruptions can happen anytime, so it pays to have backup strategies that would help work business continuity plans out, and Email Marketing is just what you need at this time. It’s one of the most flexible sales and marketing tools that you can integrate with other B2B lead generation tactics like telemarketing or social media. More so, make your email marketing campaign more interactive by adding links, videos, and social media buttons, aside from having an appealing subject line and converting content.
Social Media Marketing
Social media, along with chat, is the core channel of communication next to mobile. It’s a go-to platform for information, updates, education, and trade. In unforeseen circumstances such as the 2019 coronavirus that’s causing market drawdown, it’s best to keep your target buyers aware and updated about your product. Run a Social Media campaign, maybe a stand-alone or integrated with other lead generation tools like appointment setting, to keep a steady flow of inbound traffic.
The cause of the 2019 coronavirus remains unknown and its trajectory is uncertain, but its impact is apparently lashing the global economy. We’ve experienced the worst before, but we coped. This simply tells us to draw optimism amid the crisis by focusing on risk-reducing tactics, planning and preparing for both the best and the worst, and leverage on strategies and tools that can help keep the balance between disruption and foreboding legacy.
