5 Ways Businesses Adapted To COVID-19

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic presented the most significant challenge that most business owners had seen in their lifetime. While the challenge was too much for some businesses to continue operations, those that were able to weather the storm and reinvent their business practices are well-positioned to capitalize on the rebounding economy. The following breakdown looks at 5 ways that businesses adapted to COVID-19 and how these adaptations will serve the business in 2021 and beyond.

1. Creation of Continuity Plans

When it comes to planning for personal financial health, people budget to have at least six months of expenses saved up in cash in the event of an emergency. Yet, when it comes to running their business, these same people were woefully ill-prepared to handle the COVID-19 crisis. As the pandemic was developing in March 2020, a Gartner, Inc. business continuity survey revealed that just 12% of respondents felt that their business had an adequate risk management plan in place. This led to mass layoffs, revenue shortfalls, and selling of businesses and business assets for pennies on the dollar.

As the economy begins to emerge from the pandemic, businesses are much better equipped to handle the next crisis, with 87% of small and medium business owners feeling confident that their crisis management plan is in a better place than at the start of 2020. Part of the beefed up continuity plans that have emerged include how to seamlessly transition to remote work, processes for fulfilling customer needs through a variety of mediums, and ongoing business valuation efforts should the need to sell a business arise.

2. Digital Marketing

The pandemic put some serious stress on most businesses' marketing budgets. When you consider that it costs a leading company like Netflix about $44 to acquire a single new customer, the strain that this created for many businesses becomes apparent.

Thus, businesses are turning to digital marketing solutions to help control costs while reaching the broadest audience possible. Paid search and SEO have become particularly popular because, after a relatively modest initial set-up cost, web searches essentially help generate free traffic. Businesses have also doubled down on their social media marketing efforts and have begun to host more digital events, such as Zoom webinars and product demonstrations.

3. Multi-Channel Distribution

With customers forced to boycott...

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