Pause, Prioritise and Plan: How to Manage Your Agency in Times of Crisis

By now, we’ve all seen the news. Many of us will have watched over the last few weeks as COVID-19 has dominated the headlines and quickly changed the way we live our lives. Although the road ahead seems uncertain, it’s comforting to remember that we are all in this together as a global community, and communities thrive in times of crisis.

There is no rule book on how to deal with the huge impact that COVID-19 is having on businesses - we're going through unprecedented times for which best strategies or practices don’t yet exist. So we recognise that, while we will do our best to offer advice on what could work for you as an agency or brand during these trying times, not all of our recommendations will be applicable.

Having worked with marketers and agencies, we’ve decided that the best way we can provide value is to try to answer all of the questions that agency owners, marketers and freelancers might have while going through this period of unpredictability. Our aim is to provide a framework for helping you approach this crisis as an agency or brand, as well as give you the confidence to look to the future.

How? Pause, Prioritise and Plan.

While we don’t have all the answers, we do believe that these three stages of decision-making will act as a starting point to help you work through the challenges the next few months will bring and guide you to make measured choices for the health of you and your business.

Step 1: Pause what you can and focus on your mindset

As a crisis begins to unfold and the news of what’s happened trickles in, it’s time to stop and think. Instead of springing into action and making rash decisions that could affect your business in the longer term, pause and take stock of what you have rather than what you have lost.

Try to consider only the immediate implications of the crisis. At this stage, no action is required. Instead, use this time to adjust your mindset and get your head into the right space to deal with the problems in front of you.

If you run an agency, you’ll be aware that amid a global crisis, clients may press the pause button on projects, pull out of events or cancel contracts, which can be extremely worrying. However, it’s important not to panic. Instead, try to slow everything down with the help of these steps:

Pause any promotions and adjust your social media strategy accordingly

Although launching campaigns and showcasing new work is the lifeblood of your brand or agency, in the midst of a crisis like COVID-19, this sort of activity just isn’t a priority, particularly on social media.

As a first step, take a look at your content calendar and pause any posts going out which may detract from the crisis at hand - the last thing you want is for your or your client's brand to come across insensitive.

Instead, try a more adaptable approach with your social media strategy and tailor posts to fit the situation that you’re dealing with - you could try reaching out to customers on social and asking how you can help them in their time of need, for example.

Over-communicate with your team

Whether you employ a team of two or two hundred, communication is vital to the smooth running of day-to-day operations, particularly during a crisis. Transparency and openness help to keep each team member in the loop as well as support them.

As part of the effort to combat COVID-19, many teams have been forced to go remote for the first time, which might be a little unnerving. But tools like Zoom or Slack exist to make communication between teams easier, so are a great way to stay in touch.

It’s also really important to inform your team of any management decisions that will affect them in the wake of a crisis. Designate a senior member of the team to deal with any questions employees might have, and if you’re an agency owner, make yourself available to your team to chat and provide guidance in any case.

Think about how your business might be able to help

Although it’s admittedly a risk for brands to join trending conversations, in cases of global crisis, simply ignoring what’s going on and continuing ‘business as usual’ isn’t an option.

With a situation like COVID-19, most businesses around the world have been impacted, so it’s worth thinking about how your brand or agency might be able to provide some relief and add value to customers' lives during the disruption.

Think about how your or your client's brand can offer advice to any business or person in need, and consider the best way to package this help so that it’s most useful. For example, you could run Facebook Live tutorials if that’s where your audience hangs out, ask followers how they’re doing and start conversations with them on Twitter or share business advice and tips on LinkedIn about weathering the storm.

What's important is that you're reaching out and encouraging togetherness, like social health charity, Joy.

Remember that communities are king in tough times

Uncertainty about the future can be worrying, particularly when your livelihood is at stake. Feelings of stress and panic are inevitable, which is why you shouldn’t have to go through them alone.

According to Michael Isbell, the Founder and CEO of content creation agency Michael B. Isbell Media, reaching out to others in a similar position and harnessing the power of communities is so important during times of crisis:

“A crisis provides the perfect opportunity to create a community, and offer your hands to see how you can make the people watching and following along your journey feel more at peace and able to move forward with their lives in this new capacity.”

Whether you’re using communities to ask questions, get advice or simply feel less alone, Facebook is the perfect place to start looking if you want to create your own community or join groups of like-minded people.

If you’re a social media marketer, you might also want to check out the Social Media Storytellers community on Facebook:

Remember: This is not a sales opportunity

It's natural to want to make the best of a bad situation like COVID-19. Our ambition drives us to want to come out of a crisis better than before. But we must resist the urge to treat it as an opportunity and rush into taking action.

The difficult reality of the current global crisis is that everyone is experiencing it in their own individual way, making it tough to truly comprehend the impact it’s having on people's lives. But that doesn’t mean we can’t put ourselves in their shoes.

If you want to better understand the concerns of others at this time, we recommend reading through this Twitter thread recently posted by freelance copywriter, Marijana Kostelac:

There's an element of all the "here's how you can not just survive this crisis, but also thrive" advice that I don't think we're talking about enough:

People are GRIEVING.

Not just literal death and the hurt of the world, but also their life as they've always known it.

THREAD.

— Marijana Kostelac ✏️ (@MarijanaKay) March 25, 2020

To echo what Marijana highlighted, some people are losing their jobs and worry about feeding their families, and others have lost all sense of accomplishment because their work doesn't seem meaningful anymore. For the younger generations, this is the first time in history we're experiencing this kind of global uncertainty over what the future holds.

That's why we must show deep empathy and be as supportive as possible to the people around us, our customers and fellow brands and businesses. This also means being mindful of the way we choose to use marketing going forward.

Step 2: Prioritise what can be done now and what can be done later

Now that you’ve taken a breath and considered your immediate options, you should have a clearer idea of the scale of the crisis and its direct impact on your or your clients business. This is a good time to shift your mindset and prioritise the work you need to do to survive this rocky period.

Gain perspective and order your priorities accordingly with the help of these steps:

Speak to your clients as soon as possible to discuss their crisis response plan

In the event of a global crisis, it's likely that you’ll need to alter the communications strategy for your agency's clients or the brand you work for. And since all strong relationships rely on communication, it's important to speak to your existing clients to see how they'd like to respond and decide which changes need to be made to current and future messaging.

Before you get in touch however, it's worth determining if their brand is likely to struggle or thrive during the crisis, and what initial adjustments to messaging may need to be made.

It’s important to remember not to force your or your client's brand into the COVID-19 conversation if there's no place for it. Explain this clearly to your client and provide examples of different brands who have adjusted their communications accordingly.

For brands who are minimally impacted by the crisis, for example, online shops and services, the change in messaging could be as simple as making a statement on social media about how the crisis is affecting their services and then returning to a similar posting schedule as before the crisis. Alternatively, they could focus on topics around remote work, social distancing, mental health or saving costs where possible:

For brands whose services are severely affected, for example, restaurants, gyms, and local shops, the situation is much more serious, as their future is the most uncertain. Now is the time for creativity, and there have been some great examples from other businesses, like restaurants offering takeaway and gift cards, personal trainers from gyms offering free exercises and local shops moving their businesses online:

Don't forget the Personal Trainers at PureGym are still available to help with your health and fitness. They are working hard to offer online personal training to support you while we're not in the gym. Find yours by visiting your local PureGym's homepage https://t.co/DgftSpecOj pic.twitter.com/F1csoNfki9

— PureGym (@PureGym) March 25, 2020

Finally, for brands who have the potential to flourish during this time, for example, those in the supermarket, wellness, games and electronics industries, it’s key to keep messaging humble. Remember to be helpful, remain empathetic and avoid being too salesy:

Thank you to all Asda colleagues for their continued hard work and support. #FoodHeroes https://t.co/HP5RfZVHA6

— Asda (@asda) March 29, 2020

Consider adjusting the services you provide and how you price them

It’s so important to know your worth and charge appropriately when packaging your social media services. However, during a crisis like COVID-19, with social media engagement for brands going down and the focus quickly switching to saving money and working with tight budgets, you may need to adjust the packages you're offering your clients.

It could be a better plan to create less content and do more ad-hoc work for your clients, or instead of social media, offer a different service altogether if you have the capacity and the skills required. You could even consider taking on pro bono work if you’re able to.

It's essential to figure out how you can best serve your clients during this uncertain time, and if there are any other marketing channels or activities you can help them with. For example, you could:

• Utilise your web development and design skills to build a website for a local business
• Invest more time in SEO to improve website pages in preparation for when business returns to normal
• Start writing blogs for clients who could benefit from this service
• Brainstorm alternative marketing strategies to generate revenue
• Experiment with different content types, like video

Yes! Couldn’t agree more. Today I had a call with the only client I have from the travel sector at the moment (huge co, very affected by Corona)... they have cancelled all providers/contractors *but* SEO, because they *know* this. It’s important to communicate this to clients. https://t.co/PL5XJYT9mE

— Aleyda Solis (@aleyda) March 16, 2020

If you do discount your services for new clients (or existing ones), make sure this is reflected in your invoices along with a deadline. For example, you could give a discount for the duration of three, six or twelve months, depending on each client's circumstances, to build on trust and give them the opportunity to work with you.

Deal with cancellations

The prospect of losing all or the grand majority of your clients is devastating. And although nothing we say can fix this, know that you're not alone. There are a staggering amount of freelancers, marketers and agency owners who are going through this too:

I am freelance, I have a limited company, many clients insist I work through one.
ALL company income is earnt by me, ALL through the books.

I pay corporation tax, dividend tax, VAT, personal tax.

I do not 'dodge' tax.

100% of future work cancelled.
From the govt - nothing.

— John Roder (@johnrodercomm) March 26, 2020

Many freelancers are having projects cancelled/postponed. Lots of businesses can’t work remotely. 😕

If you’re looking for work or sell a product, reply with details. 👇

Everyone else: look to see if someone’s offering something you need. Let’s see if we can help each other. 💪

— Work Notes (@_worknotes) March 17, 2020

Remind yourself not to get discouraged during this time. This is a global event where everyone is impacted - whether you're just starting to offer your services or are an established business in the industry.

We asked Devin Bramhall (@devinemily), the VP of Marketing at Animalz, to share how the crisis has impacted their esteemed content marketing agency. To not much surprise, they too have experienced churn, a drop in the number of leads, and their ability to close new clients: