Good afternoon!
If you look at the date we wrote this post, you will know that we wrote it while Spain was in a State of Alarm due to the Coronavirus. So we will not go into the fact that you have to stay at home, not only for yourself but for others, you are already hearing this on every communication channel you can access.
But what we do want to talk about is the contingency plan of your hotel, or your business, whatever it may be. Have you prepared it yet? No? At this point we are already facing a serious problem, but better late than never, so here are some steps to follow:
a. Answer these three questions:
- What could happen? It identifies different scenarios, at least the mildest, a medium critical, and a severe one. But if you can identify more scenarios, do so.
- What can we do to respond to each of these scenarios? One response per scenario.
- What work can we advance for when this scenario passes?
- Administration and Finance
- Sales/Reserves
- Communication
- Logistics: in the case of business in Lanzarote, logistics will mainly refer to the reduction or increase of the island’s air capacity.
- Prepare an online and offline communication plan for your business by answering this question: What will you want to tell tourists so that they will choose your hotel (or your business, whatever it is) as soon as they can return to the island from their vacation? Are you going to prepare offers? Will you focus on communicating the attractions of your establishment, or its location? Both?
- Define the communication channels you will use: press? digital marketing? Which digital marketing channels? If you are not sure how to define a digital marketing plan, or how to carry out a digital communication plan, do not hesitate: hire a company to do it for you, it is not a cost, it is an investment to help you recover as soon as possible.
- Define a budget to be allocated to each of these items: to hire an external company to advise you, or to manage this communication; and to each of the communication channels you are going to use.
b. When answering these questions, study the impacts of this scenario – in the current case, the total confinement of your customers and the temporary closure of your business – from different perspectives:
c. While answering the questions “What can happen?” and “What can we do?” is critical to ensuring that your business is well organized and prepared to weather the current healthcare crisis, and the economic one that is just beginning, the answer to the third question (“What can we get ahead?”) is critical to ensuring that your business recovery is as rapid as possible:
In Digital Marketing Lanzarote we are optimistic people, and we want to believe that after the bad time that all businesses and tourist establishments of our islands will go through, there will come a time when tourists will want to celebrate that the Coronavirus is over, that they can live, and that they can travel. And it will be key for all our businesses to be prepared to talk to this audience eager to enjoy our tourist destination, connect with them, and convert them into customers.
Are you ready?
See you in the next post!