Consider your strategy
When was the last time you wrote a 12-month strategy for your business? Even if it was recently, we can bet that the landscape is significantly different to the one you projected. Questions you might be asking yourself are – how will your business recover from this downturn? What are your revised goals and objectives, and how will you achieve them? What are the tools you need to succeed? Now is the perfect time to create effective strategies and plan for the future – think about how you are planning on communicating with your audience when the dust settles.

Review your digital assets
Often, your website is the face of your business, so it’s essential to ensure that its functionality and design is up to scratch. The creation of new websites and upgrades can be entirely managed remotely, so this is an excellent opportunity to work on your brand’s digital health without leaving your home or office. Typically, a new website can take between two weeks to two months to create, which is likely to align perfectly with the COVID-19 slow down!

Is your SEO an SE-NO? 
If the term SEO sounds foreign to you, it’s time to get yourself acquainted. In short, search-engine optimisation (SEO) increases the quality and visibility of your website in search engines when someone searches for you or your related service/industry. If you want to see your business on the first page of Google (and it’s not already), then you need to seriously look into your SEO. Investing in excellent SEO will greatly assist in driving traffic to your website, however if you’re starting fresh, it can take weeks to index (or register) with Google. This downtime is ideal for creating searchable content, populating your site with stories, features, case studies and more, and ensuring your keywords are in place. 

It might be time to evolve
Brands build trust and loyalty, and it’s a huge (and often time-consuming) step to evolve and rebrand. If you have been considering elevating your brand to the next level but have been struggling to find the time, well – now you’ve got it! Alternatively, depending on your industry, an evolution in this current climate might be essential. We say, seize the day! Focus on the positives and use this as a reintroduction to existing and new audiences. Remember that your brand, both current and future, deserves time and careful consideration, especially when you are identifying your brand’s values, objectives and outcomes. Time consuming, but damn exciting. 

Learn, baby, learn
If you’re finding yourself with a fair amount of time on your hands, it might be the perfect opportunity to upskill. Regardless of our position and experience in business, it never hurts to further our education. As is particularly apparent at the moment, the world is a wild and ever-changing place, and we are constantly being challenged with new information and technology. Be honest with yourself and consider the areas that are holding you and your business back, then look into investing in further education, tutorials or new software that can benefit both you and your business in the long run. We’ve even done a round-up of online short courses here. 

Plan your re-entry
Remember how we promised that we would come out on the other side? You should already be considering your re-entry. Both your business and your industry will be marketing hard when this situation is under control, so we highly recommend starting to plan and develop your campaign strategy so you are ready to go. Your key objective will be getting customers through the metaphorical (or physical) door again and you will want to strike immediately, while the iron is hot. Pull together a bag of tricks to whip out once things settle down so that you are forward-thinking and ahead of the pack. 

Just like you, we are experiencing uncertainty about what lies ahead. There is one thing, however, that we do know for sure – Map Creative will continue to produce damn fine work throughout the crisis and after it’s over. Our team has the luxury of leveraging technology so it can keep the wheels moving even though you aren’t in the office. They’re not Netflix and chilling so you shouldn’t either – be productive and use this time wisely so your business, brand and staff will come out bigger and better than ever, on the other side. If you’re interested in having a free consultation with the Map Creative team about elevating your business, visit its website or email [email protected]. 

Image: Andrew Neel on Unsplash