Five Proven Ways to Pandemic-Proof Your Business

As the Omicron variant circles the globe, businesses face another round of shut-downs, if not from safety measures, from a lack of healthy employees. While we’ve evolved quickly since COVID first packed hospitals in early 2020 and remote work became the new normal, companies face similar problems as well as a host of new challenges in 2022. There is hope, beyond vaccines, masks and safe distancing, however. If you’re like me, you took the last ~2 years to make tweaks to how you work and run your business. This article outlines five areas on which you can focus to pandemic-proof your business through 2022 and beyond.

Optimize Processes

When COVID’s impact hit the US, I both planned for worse-case scenarios with our team and clients and looked for opportunities amidst the uncertainty and chaos. My first priority was to review our existing processes and look for improvement opportunities. We optimized, standardized and documented a vast majority of our important agency processes. We reviewed and streamlined our IT systems and refreshed our services. The net result was a ~20 percent increase in productivity, happier employees and better outcomes for our clients. Technology-reliant companies should consider utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to provide automation to key processes and reduce reliance on front-line employees that are susceptible to getting infected by COVID.

Protect People

Like many service-based companies, we moved to remote work in April 2020, to ensure the team was safe and healthy. Once everyone was fully vaccinated, we returned part-time to the office (until Omicron forced us back home in early January 2022). We also took the last ~2 years to evaluate each employee’s cultural fit and performance. This year, we’re focusing on long-term employee roadmaps with metrics and quarterly reviews for greater accountability and impact. While many companies are smartly revisiting benefits and compensation, including long-term hybrid work arrangements, mental health and childcare, our team appreciated the (somewhat nostalgic) well-stocked kitchen while back in the office 2 days a week. With increased economic uncertainty and supply chain issues, we’re also keeping an eye on inflation and making sure our employees maintain relative buying power.

Fuel Sales & Marketing

Since I read my first case studies about marketing during a recession while in school, I’ve witnessed the benefit of doubling-down on sales & marketing during economic uncertainty. Brands that increase advertising during recessions (going back to the Great Depression) saw exponential gains in market share (because a majority of competitors cut spending during the same time period). The same applies during a pandemic for a variety of industries, especially commodities and digitally-delivered goods. Increasing brand recognition and a sales pipeline is most affordable when your competitors are circling the wagons. In regard to spending your marketing dollars wisely, start with the fundamentals, then evaluate emerging marketing channels like TikTok, influencers, podcasting/webcasting and the metaverse.

Pivot Products & Services

At Anvil, we were quick to tweak our digital marketing service offering to be more COVID-friendly. We offered aggressive pricing, enhanced and expanded our core digital marketing services to include website development (to support the digital transformation), email marketing (its back!), voice search and NFT strategy. While the economic impact of COVID varied across industries (and PPP support helped many businesses navigate bankruptcy) we discovered enough businesses believed in investing in marketing that we navigated the past two years in decent shape. While some businesses experience greater success with a very narrow and deep service offering, we’ve found success with a broader set of services, but COVID has forced us all to re-evaluate our product mix and test novel approaches. Serious companies should explore the opportunity to refine or expand product offerings.

Tighten Financials

It’s often easier to cut costs than to generate incremental revenue. I prefer to do both. On one hand, trimming the fat is always prudent, but sometimes you can cut too deep into muscle tissue. As I’ve mentioned previously a surprising number of employees value perks like office snacks more than you might think, its often the first line item cut by accounting. For businesses with office workers, keep The Great Resignation in mind as you evaluate cost-cutting measures. Another area of opportunity on the operational side is to develop improved reporting (to help quickly identify issues and opportunities). Make sure you are tracking the metrics that matter and acting on any resulting insights gained from your reporting.

As an entrepreneur, marketing professional and agency owner since 2000, I’ve weathered my share of storms. Each time, I’ve revisited these core areas to fine-tune. COVID may be a permanent fixture in our lives moving forward, so businesses need to remain nimble and regularly optimize operations to maximize profitability and longevity. For more insights from my experiences as a marketer and business operator, check out a compilation of my past LinkedIn posts.