Thoughts on what COVID-19 Means for the Future of Digital Marketing, Personal Branding, Remote Working, and Us

My home residence is Milan, Italy. While I am (happily, luckily) in quarantine in the Canary Islands, I have thought a lot about what this virus will mean for the future of the sectors related to my work (digital marketing, personal branding, remote working, and us in general).

While we are all facing a lot of uncertainty, here are my predictions (which I promise are not all negative, I think we need to focus on extra positivity right now :)):

1. Digital Marketing is Going to be More Important than Ever, But With a Focus on the Areas that Are Actually Working for Businesses

Many events have already been cancelled for the rest of the year. People are traveling at some of the lowest rates ever. And we all know that when the economy goes downward, people buy less.

Nevertheless, while people are in quarantine, they are online. And no one can really do event marketing or trade marketing right now, meaning that there could be in many cases some budget to re-allocate.

And now, more than I've ever seen before, there is a chance for brands to stand out online. While many go quiet, those that don't have a chance to be relevant, timely, and offer advice to their audiences (in a way that allows them to make real connections).

I don't think that this is the time to slow-down digitally for most businesses.

However, as budgets are going to be limited, businesses will most likely only focus on what is already working for them.

If Instagram is your thing, now is probably the time to double-down and increase your presence there. If articles work great for you, now is the time to write more and up your content marketing strategy.

Ad budgets may be reduced if less product is being sold, but I actually think that those that have the ability to spend more right now will benefit the most as the space is going to become less crowded, and more people will be watching online.

So, regarding my predictions and what you should do right now for your business: audit what is working and double-down on the digital strategies that are the best for your industry. Make sure that your messaging is COVID-19 relevant, so don't spend ad dollars on hard sells. Change your tone to offer free advice/content that can help your audience.

Key example of digital success right now: the brand Hiki by Arfa, launched amid this pandemic and changed their strategy to actually giving away their products for free. This was a great way to be relevant, update brand messaging, and I am sure that all of the buzz and brand awareness they are creating will lead to increased sales down the road.

Any digital efforts implemented now will get better results during this time from the increased online traffic we are already witnessing, so audit what is working, focus on your strengths, and change your tone for success.

2. Crises lead to Distrust - Those with the Strongest Personal Brands will Still Thrive Because they Evoke Trust & Credibility in a Chaotic World

Spam-y sales strategies never really worked, but now they are long gone.

Here's a poor example I saw last week, with no personal branding presence:

This pandemic is causing a lot of fear and distrust, and consumers will not buy/interact/listen to anyone with a profile that they are not getting a clear sense of the "who" behind it.

Having a strong online presence during this time is going to be more important than ever - it will evoke credibility, authority, and trust and that will definitely make a difference in any decision-making process as we move forward through potentially turbulent times.

My advice: spend extra time updating your website and Linkedin, collecting testimonials, and creating valuable content on your top platforms so that your credibility is stronger than ever.

Personal brands are going to become even more key.

3. Remote Work Will Become Even More Prominent, and Businesses Will Go Through Digital Transformations to Ensure that They Can Support It After This Pandemic

I have been an advocate of remote working for a long time, and it is actually the reason I started my business. With 4 employees working remotely around the globe, I haven’t had to change anything to adjust my way of working during this pandemic.

The only problem we have encountered has been a few slowed internet connections from increased usage.

This is a time where companies, whether they like it or not, are having to get comfortable with the idea of including remote working options into their businesses.

I predict that a lot more companies will move to the cloud if they haven't already after this crisis is over. 

And I think that many businesses will move to strictly performance-based evaluations of employees.

As this pandemic may last for a while, remote working will become even more common, and a lot of us are going to get used to communicating over tools such as Slack, Zoom, G-Suite and Skype.

4. An Extra Prediction: The Businesses that Really Help Their Communities, Employees, Peers, Potential Clients and Customers without Expecting Anything in Return Right Now Will Thrive in the Long-Run

As entrepreneurs, I think we often have to remind ourselves that we are in this for the marathon, not the sprint.

This pandemic will one day be over and I think we will have learned a lot about ourselves in the process.

(I myself have moved to a home yoga practice every single day that has provided many insights that I would have never expected).

A lot of people need help right now. If you offer your service, time, product, whatever it may be - for free or with a special offer, people will remember that.

It may be that you keep your employees on even if you can't really afford it. Or it may be that you offer a smaller version of your service for free right now to a potential client. Or that you slow down and really change your product marketing strategy to offering value of some sort to your potential customers as opposed to pure selling ads.

Whatever it may be, people will remember how you helped them during this time. I don't think I have ever been as inspired to help the communities around me (in big and small ways). And I would encourage you to be open to serving others during this time as people will remember your actions, and this pandemic won't last forever.

The number one thing that I hope everyone reading this can do is, of course, to stay safe.

Try to give remote working a try (if you can) during this time. Update your personal brand, and invest intelligently in your digital marketing.

And lastly, I’d love to hear about how you are changing, updating, or evaluating your business right now.

This isn't the time for you to stay silent, but it is the time for you to provide value.

With gratitude,

Kimberly