As COVID-19 infections continue to spread across the country, so have emails and communications about how businesses are handling this situation within their capacity. As fatigued as some of us may be in receiving COVID-19 related emails from businesses that we interact with, there is no doubt that in such uncertain times, communication is key.  This pandemic has brought upon unprecedented circumstances to businesses and communities worldwide. As the situation continues to evolve, some businesses have found it challenging to articulate a suitable message for their external stakeholders. Some of our clients have raised concerns about coming across too flippant, dramatic or even opportunistic if they say anything at this time. However, clear and concise communication during uncertain times can actually benefit the credibility of a business in the long run.  Talking to your audience is not jumping on the bandwagon A situation like the COVID-19 pandemic causes a lot of changes to take place at speed. As a result, uncertainty and confusion is rife. Taking the time to carefully communicate to external stakeholders allows a business to strengthen and maintain the relationships. It is important to remember that businesses are powered by people, to serve the needs of communities. Hence, this is the time to demonstrate the human aspect of the business to show that they are here to support the needs of external stakeholders. Something that can be easily forgotten during more stable times. Whether it is a blog post or an email, an effective piece of communication during uncertain times should at the very least, accomplish the following: Provide clarity where you can While there may be many things beyond a business owner’s control during an uncertain time, there are still aspects that can be managed. Factors like operation hours, service alterations, quantity control or even when remote working has been mobilised should be communicated. Providing clarity to external stakeholders where possible helps maintain the calm and reduces the risk of rumours that may be disruptive to operations in the long run.  Manage stakeholder expectations When circumstances change, it is important to communicate that the business has acknowledged them. This demonstrates that they are monitoring the pulse of the situation and doing what they can to manage it. If these changes affect operations, it is important to manage expectations accordingly in light of them to avoid any assumption of delivery, whether it is a service or product. It is important to remember that transparency and honesty is paramount in this. Avoid over-promising on delivery or speculating outcomes, uncertain times may bring unexpected eventualities. Recognise the silver linings where appropriate In the frenzy of an emerging situation, it is beneficial to take note the good things that have occurred. Have colleagues gone above and beyond to deliver service to the best of their ability? Has someone’s foresight saved the customers from more upheaval?  Taking the time to appreciate these things not only present the best out of an awkward situation, it provides the audience a sense of hope

Coronavirus (Covid-19) panic has led companies to rethink their marketing strategy for 2020. SEO is an important part of that strategy and in this blog, we are going to talk about why you need to rethink and adapt your SEO during the coronavirus pandemic. Most businesses have seen an impact in this time of uncertainty; in their website traffic, sales and leads. We are going to help guide you by making some suggestions that will have both a short term and long term impact on your 2020 SEO and marketing strategy.  Adapt your website to the current search behaviour You, your digital marketing agency or your SEO team needs to be on top of the current trends and users search intent in search engines. A good place to start is to create a page, a blog post, or a section on your homepage notifying existing and new customers about the operation of your business during the coronavirus crisis, and what you can do to help them.  Adapt your business to the digital era Coronavirus’ main impact is how it affects people in their daily lives. Now that face to face interaction has stopped, a lot of people and businesses are working as normal from home. In 2020, there is technology that allows you to perform almost all of your business operations from anywhere in the world, especially if your business is offering digital services or is an eCommerce business. You might want to use this time to future proof your business against future emergency situations and consider how to best digitise your business, products and services. In order for your business to make this available to new customers and reach new audiences, you need to have a solid SEO strategy in place that will allow you to be visible on search engines. You might want to consider taking care of that SEO strategy that you always neglected due to the fact that it is a long term investment. Adapt your content strategy  Updates A thing that you need to consider is creating content that will engage and inform your users during the coronavirus crisis. As we mentioned above, the key thing to do is update your website to include a new page or a section on your homepage in order to inform your users about the operation of your business. You can then create links to important products and services that you offer.  Video Video content is now more important than ever as more users spend time indoors and consume content from every source available. Video, as we have previously talked about in other blogs, is a good way of driving traffic and engagement to your website through social media networks. You might want to think about creating more video content and using SEO tools to have insights about content that is high in searches and optimise your video to rank for those searches. Blogs  Focus on creating content that influences people and reinforces your expertise, trustworthiness and authority. Users

Many industries at this moment in time are struggling due to the Coronavirus. When something like this happens, it starts a domino effect, meaning other industries eventually begin to struggle. One of the industries that has been affected is the photography industry. With the cancellation of events, the introduction of social distancing and the government’s intervention, many are finding themselves with a huge loss of income and demand, which will have an immediate effect on the entire photography industry. Companies in this industry need to be aware of the effect this may have on businesses and what they can do to ensure customers stick by them during this time. We’ve collated some top advice for companies within the photography industry, on what they should be doing at a time like this, and how it can be used as an opportunity. Content is king Creating content is vital if you want to ensure your community sticks with you at a time like this. It’s important to stay relevant and show the value you offer to your consumers so they’re still there at the end of this. Photographers will be at their workstations, not out on shoots, and will most likely be looking to improve their skills through training and other forms of information gathering, and you can be the one to offer this. Ensure your content is up to date at a time like this. You shouldn’t be sharing older content on your social channels if it’s not relevant to the modern day. Sharing or creating a blog highlighting the best places in the UK to go for a shoot will lose you followers. Try creating new content that gives your followers genuine advice and teachings at the present time. Tutorials, how-tos and informative videos can be extremely beneficial. You could also look at starting weekly competitions to create more of a community over your social channels. Sign up ambassadors to create content for you Maybe you don’t have the capabilities at present to create content? Or maybe you want to have more variety to your content? Why not sign photographers up as ambassadors and get them to write and produce content for you? After all, information coming from a fellow photographer holds more weight to the reader. By signing up ambassadors, you could get them to create content for you in exchange for free use of your products, or sometimes a small cash fee. In the current market, more photographers would be keen to work with companies, as freelance work might be harder to comeby. You could also look at signing up ambassadors who already have an online standing themselves (influencers) so their following are introduced to your brand and your community. YouTubers are really good to sign up as ambassadors as they can virtually create their own content, featuring your brand in some way. Run online workshops Running online workshops is a great way to interact with photographers and keep them engaged with your brand. It’s also a great

Keeping team morale high is a challenge that business owners face at the best of times, but in times of crisis and uncertainty, it becomes a priority. With many businesses having to suddenly switch to remote working in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, understanding how to effectively manage your internal communications is going to be more crucial than ever. We’ve put together our top tips to help you keep your team positive and motivated, no matter where they are. Be honest We’re big advocates of open and honest communication at Digital Glue – it’s one of our values, after all. At a time like this, it becomes even more crucial. With so many uncertainties surrounding the current situation, offering your team complete transparency is really important. Undoubtedly, your team will have anxieties about the future, and being vague and evasive will only add to these anxieties. Ideally, share updates with your team on a daily basis and try to make them as personal as possible. It’s easy to send out a quick company-wide email, but this can easily be ignored. Consider alternative communication methods, such as a daily video briefing or a short video call with the whole team. Don’t hide behind emails; to build trust during a challenging time, your tone of voice and body language are useful tools. Share the good stuff, no matter how small We’re all guilty of glossing over achievements and instead focusing on what could have been done better. It’s human nature. However, in a situation that is already bringing its fair share of doom and gloom, celebrating the positives is a must. If you’re a leader in your business, look for opportunities to congratulate team members on their wins, no matter how big or small, and share them with the rest of the team. Encourage others to shout about their own successes and share a round-up in your daily video briefings or on team calls.  Explore different communications tools Many businesses will be adjusting to a new way of working at the moment, which can have a big impact on both team productivity and morale, so ensuring your team have access to the right tools to help them get their job done is key. Of course, every business has different needs, but here are some tried-and-tested tools we recommend to give you a bit more than email: Slack – Beloved of team D/G when we’re in the office, and even more so now, the instant messaging platform helps teams collaborate through conversation, file sharing and much more. You can even conduct video calls through the platform. Google Hangouts – There are many video call platforms out there, from Zoom to Skype. It really depends on what your business and/or your clients prefer, but we like Google Hangouts for its ease-of-use and quality. For super simple minute-taking, you can add closed captions to your meetings and hit record. Trello –  While monday.com is our favourite team and project management tool at D/G, if you’re