Written by Anthony Del Gigante
There’s little doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic is changing the way that we conduct our personal and professional lives and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. For businesses, the decisions made during these difficult times will have lasting consequences. According to the PR agency Sinclair, “The unprecedented crisis that we are currently experiencing is forcing businesses to adapt to a new reality.”
What does it mean to adapt your business model to the new normal? What’s the best way to position your business to survive the current crisis and thrive in the aftermath?
Here at MDG Advertising, we’ve been helping clients adjust their business and marketing strategies in response to changes in the economic and social climate. Our work in helping several large healthcare clients shift to telemedicine in response to the COVID-19 crisis offers three key lessons that can be applied to virtually any type of business.
Table of Contents
1. Be Willing to Embrace the New Normal Quickly and Strategically
The current normal of social distancing is especially challenging for businesses that rely on in-person interactions, including healthcare. As the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact large portions of the U.S., MDG helped its healthcare clients incorporate telemedicine into their business models. This was a major shift for both the clients and the patients they served. For example, data compiled by eMarketer prior to the pandemic showed that 14% of consumers had no knowledge of telemedicine, and only 28% of providers offered telemedicine services.
From a logistical standpoint, shifting to telemedicine meant that websites had to be updated to add the necessary functionality for virtual consultations. Brand messaging also had to be adapted to inform patients of changes in office hours and service delivery. Executing the new operating strategy with precision allows a business to implement and scale up its new business model as efficiently and effectively as possible. In the case of two large-scale healthcare clients with hundreds of locations, MDG developed control panels that allowed the clients to manage, update, and adapt messaging to specific office locations.
2. Use Creative Advertising to Make Customers Aware of Your Business Changes
It isn’t enough to simply adapt your business model to the new normal. You must also find fresh and meaningful ways to meet your customers’ needs and inform them of the changes. For instance, MDG helped an urgent care client launch an informational campaign across multiple channels to inform patients of their shift to telemedicine and how to seek medical care during the pandemic. Businesses must also be willing to look beyond traditional service delivery models to find creative ways to meet the needs of their clients. For instance, we helped another of our healthcare clients implement a chatbot to triage patients with possible COVID-19 symptoms.
3. Adapt to the Changing Needs of Your Customers and Your Community
Adapting your business model to the shifting needs of your customers also serves the greater needs of your community. For example, adopting a “contact free” model for customer engagement allows you to serve them and survive financially while also promoting public health measures designed to slow the pandemic. We recently helped one of our dental clients add teledentistry as one of its service options. The move was so successful that the client conducted more than 1,400 virtual consultations during the first three weeks of offering the service. The shift to teledentistry helped the client financially, met the needs of its patients, reduced the risk of disease transmission, and alleviated the strain on overextended emergency rooms.
The Key Points:
Surviving the economic and societal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic requires quick and decisive action:
- Companies must align their business models with the changing needs of society and develop a strategic plan for implementing them effectively.
- Businesses must use all of the applicable advertising tools available to spread the word about their modified business strategy and explain its benefits to consumers.
- In the face of a crisis, most of us want to feel like we’re doing our part to make the situation just a little bit better. Businesses should identify the ways they can serve their customers and their own business needs while also promoting the greater good, and share those efforts with their audiences.
By adapting your business model to the new normal, you can position your company to thrive when we finally reach the other side of the coronavirus crisis.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Anthony Del Gigante, Chief Creative Officer at MDG Advertising
Anthony Del Gigante is chief creative officer at MDG Advertising, a branding/traditional ad agency made digital, with offices in Boca Raton, Florida and Brooklyn, New York. Over the years, his unique talents in brand strategy, visual identity development, and brand activation have consistently delivered measurable results for a wide range of world-renowned clients, including American Express, Verizon, AbbVie, and Cushman Wakefield. A brand specialist, Anthony leads MDG’s creative development, working with clients to develop creative, strategic, and functional solutions for their brands.
