1. Gather tenant and stakeholder insight by regularly reviewing social channels

Social listening can be an effective way to gauge changing customer and tenants needs. As the world returns to normality, our needs and behaviours have changed. By reviewing the questions and unfiltered comments directed towards yours and other housing associations social channels, you may be the first in your sector to identify an emerging need and opportunity that you can service.

2. Embrace social media channels

More people have interacted with social media than ever in recent months, scanning for updates and staying connected. As lockdown restrictions are lifted, this is the ideal time to regularly update your tenants and stakeholders with trusted content. Research shows that customers are looking for reassurance that organisations are safe and servicing teams ate adhering to government guidelines.  Mediaworks would advise that as you return to work you post photography, video, or animations to communicate your commitment to safety in the workplace and stand out as a compliant and responsible business.

3. Regularly review and update contact details for online and offline assets

As we continue to change our working locations, hours, and even services, a regular review to ensure all information remains accurate is essential. Inaccurate opening times could lead to wasted time for a happy customer, and the impact of this can be difficult to track.  This can easily be avoided with a regular review of your listings on Google Local and Bing.

4. Review analytics to inform marketing tactics

Previous trends can go out the window in times such as this as the world has changed at such a dramatic pace. Consider adapting and re-shaping your internal digital reporting metrics to make decisions based on shorter time periods. Bespoke dashboards in your Google Analytics is a great place to start to give you instant views of key metrics, or you can combine several datasets from internal systems to deliver a central view of your most critical operational data.

5. Digitise core products and services

It might seem obvious, however, now is the time to continue to embrace a digital first shift in your products and services. By diversifying more revenue streams from offline to online delivery methods, you’ll be better protected against future disruptions. Now may be the time to accelerate any projects relating to online payments, online customer support resources, or online service delivery.

6. Optimise your website as a organisational priority

We know that most purchases are researched online. The impact of social distancing has increased this information gathering so your website visibility is becoming increasingly significant to future growth. The quickest way to get a boost in your search visibility rankings is through on-site optimisation. Optimising your web pages correctly will provide a long-term boost in your website and business’ visibility and help you move up search engines’ rankings to stay top of mind in your stakeholders relevant searches.

7. Re-evaluate target markets

The economy and society has changed already and will continue to do so post-pandemic. The plans written with target personas before the pandemic may have changed. Audit the demographics of your digital conversions before, during, and post lockdown. You can start by analysing whether your target market has changed and identifying how each segment will react as we come out of lockdown. You can then align your services to their ‘new normal’ and consider plans to retain your new customer personas.

8. Expand into new markets

If the local market for your services have been affected by the pandemic, there may be greater opportunity further afield. Use online data to benchmark the online demand for your products and services, category growth, competition by category costs, and seasonality in new geographies. By analysing new markets, you could emerge from lockdown with a new marketing strategy to expand your footprint into untapped markets.

9. Emphasise value

With a percentage of the workforce furloughed and a period where many industries in the UK economy were paused, we believe consumers will start to look to maximise the value in their purchases. Expect an influx of promotions as high street stores look to offload inventories and make sure your paid search adverts, website descriptions, and content clearly identify the value you’re offering your customers during this time.

10. Plan for the rebound

Companies that master the delicate balance between adjusting costs to accommodate short-term changes while still investing in long-term growth are those that will succeed. We believe it is not a time for abstaining — it is a time for repositioning and capitalising on new opportunities.

If you need any further support or information, then do not hesitate to contact the Mediaworks team at info@mediaworks.co.uk.

Thank you and continue to stay safe.