Covid-19 has caused the postponement of many high-profile networking events and telecoms exhibitions, and the imposition of travel restrictions throughout Africa and the rest of the world. This has created a potentially damaging loss of face-to-face contact between our Sales team and their clients and prospects, and of face-to-face brand reinforcement opportunities. In order to bridge the resulting gaps, which could have negatively impacted our bottom line, our Marketing team re-strategised; realigning activities and refocusing efforts onto online channels.
As Marketing Manager, Linda Okal explains, “At the onset of the pandemic, our immediate challenge was to mitigate the short-term impact of missed networking opportunities on new business and the longer-term impact on brand awareness, as a result of reduced visibility. We chose to realign our sales support activities through our online channels, such as social media, our blog and our website, and refocused our advertising away from print media to online channels to promote our capabilities in the different geographical markets within Africa. To raise our business profile, we sought out speaking opportunities at strategic online telecom events such as podcasts and webinars.”
She continued: “As the prospect of face-to-face client meetings remains some way off, we have evolved our messaging to reinforce our partnership-style of working. We are achieving this by sharing client testimonials and personal experiences from our staff via our blog and social media accounts. One example was the initiation of an innovative ongoing social media-based campaign ‘Business as Usual despite Covid-19’ through which we have reassured clients and informed prospects of WIOCC’s ability to meet the sudden increase in demand for connectivity despite the restrictions resulting from the pandemic.”
“Our flexible, expert team has also developed internal campaigns to support staff in the new home-working environment, whilst continuing to implement new online-based sales campaigns and support activities to help WIOCC meet its objectives through this period of disruption to normal business,” she concluded.
