You’ve most likely already reached out to customers, vendors and employees regarding your company’s ongoing operations during the pandemic.
While business operations might have been adjusted to accommodate employees working from home and to enhance plant and office sanitation, business goes on.
But questions can remain, especially as conditions change rapidly.
A one-time message to each stakeholder group might not be enough. Updates and reminders can be reassuring for all parties, especially customers and employees.
Along with direct communications to each group of stakeholders, increased social media activity will promote the message that you continue to fulfill customer needs.
Make sure to update your website to note your business status, ideally with a home-page message as well as more details on your newsroom page or in a blog. (Take this an an opportunity to refresh your website, making sure it has the most up-to-date, relevant information.)
If your business is doing something to support health care workers, food pantries or other community efforts, reach out to the media for potential news coverage. Then make sure to summarize any media coverage on your website, with links to the full stories at the news media websites.
No one knows when things will return to “normal,” but it’s a good idea to have your post-pandemic communications plan ready. The pandemic will pass, and the economy will rebound. It will be another opportunity to connect with customers and vendors, to thank them, and to tell success stories and lessons learned during the pandemic. As general business activity ramps up, you’ll also want your post-pandemic messaging to promote your basic products and services to gain visibility in search results.
Pandemic Communications Checklist
Business Operations Status- Initial Message and Updates
- Employees
- Customers
- Vendors
- Occasional Updates
- Direct to Stakeholders and Posted on Your Website
- Ongoing Status Updates
- Increased Posts on Regular Topics
- Situational Posts
- Such as How Your Business Is Supporting Efforts to Alleviate the Pandemic
- Inform Local Media of Special Efforts in Response to the Pandemic
- “Thanks for Your Support” Messages
- “Lessons Learned” Messages
- Basic Product and Service Promotions
