Many of our clients needed to make a quick pivot in order to adjust to changes during the pandemic. Here’s how we helped them respond.
The pandemic has hit businesses across the country unevenly. While some have been forced to shut down, others have been put into overdrive. Others still have had to rethink their business model on short notice to find ways to bring in extra revenue despite the quarantine.
Our clients have spanned the spectrum. And, with so much of the burden of modern business suddenly shifting online, we’ve been in the thick of it with them. This has been exciting for our business, both because we like to see our clients succeed, and also because helping them during this time has felt especially meaningful. We’re far from being front-line workers, but we know that helping our clients stay online is a contributing factor in maintaining a resilient economy.
Here are examples from three of our clients who have worked with us to adapt their business to meet challenges brought on by the pandemic.
1. Launching new online products.
One of our long-time clients, The White Dress, runs a bridal boutique up in Brighton, MI. Due to the lockdown, they were unable to take bridal appointments for several weeks. We put their marketing retainer with us on hold so that they would have one less bill to worry about while their doors were closed, but they came back to us with a new plan.
The owner, Kristy, had been thinking of adding an online store to her site for some time. With her shop closed, she decided now would be the moment to put those plans into action.
We quickly built out the ecommerce capabilities for her site so that she could begin selling products online. Her first offering? Quaran-tees—T-shirts with quarantine-based slogans, from the humorous (“all I need is Jesus and another pack of toilet paper”) to the encouraging (“R-E-S-I-L-I-A-N-T”). They even offer a “Corona Bride” shirt, and are donating $5 off each sale to Blessings in a Backpack.
The online store offers a new source of revenue right now, but is also infrastructure that will outlast the immediate crisis.
2. Merchandise for Arbor Brewing Co.
Another client who wanted to an additional source of revenue for their website was Arbor Brewing Co.—a long-time stable of our local brewing scene. Like, The White Dress, they wanted to launch an online store quickly—this time with their own branded swag.
We were able to turn their merchandise store around within the month so that they could continue offering products to customers who wanted to show their support.
3. Launching new websites at record speed.
While we were excited to do our part to help local businesses get up and running during lockdown, we also had some clients, classified as essential infrastructure for the national economy, who needed to kick into high gear as they responded to increased pressure.
For one of our clients, Eagle Technologies, who specialize in high-tech factory automation, this meant building out an entire website at fast speed.
We’ve always been proud of our turn-around times on projects. When we get a customer who knows exactly what they want and is ready to review and approve decisively, we can deliver an entire custom website in a matter of weeks.
That’s what this project was. We went from proposal to fully-implemented website, complete with copywriting for the full site, within two months. And our work with Eagle is ongoing, as they continue to flesh out content pages and marketing materials.
We’re proud of the work we’ve been doing as we continue to look for ways to help our clients adapt to the current situation—and prepare for new changes in the future.
We’ve long stressed the importance for organizations to have an online presence that reflects the quality and professionalism of their business. Many of us reflexively turn to the Internet to look for key information about a business, and when a website is poorly designed or hard to navigate, it reflects badly on the company.
The only becomes more true with each passing year. For some of our customers, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed them toward expanding their site or refreshing their design sooner than they planned. But those changes won’t cease to be valuable once the crisis passes. Instead, these businesses will be well-positioned to continue thriving, with online infrastructure to support them.