Web wizards keep businesses up and running There's been a 'huge burst of activity' in recent weeks to migrate online By: Katie May Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 16, 2020

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This article was published 15/04/2020 (1618 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Increasing emphasis on online ordering and pivots to offering products and services that are most needed in the absence of face-to-face sales has meant web designers and digital marketers are busy working behind-the-scenes to keep businesses up and running.

Work has been steady, in some cases even a little chaotic, at local digital marketing firms as many businesses rushed to deal with rapidly-changing public-health alerts about a virus most Canadians weren’t thinking much about two months ago.

“Oddly enough, I would say we’re as busy as ever right now because so many of our customers are leaning on us to just try and manoeuvre the waters, so to speak,” said Mike Betten, CEO of Unite Interactive, a digital marketing agency with offices in Winnipeg and Vancouver.

Companies were quick to realize they should ramp-up their online presences; many posted messages on their websites and social media pages to tell potential customers what they were doing to help slow the spread of the virus. Over the past couple of weeks, there was a “huge burst of activity” as some businesses recognized their online branding was weak or needed to be upgraded, said David Guspodarchuk, sales manager for Fresh Traffic Group.

“There’s definitely been a great urgency in ensuring that we’re getting these messages up as quickly as information is coming in, as quickly as things are changing. So in that respect we have to be very reactive,” he said.

“Oddly enough, I would say we’re as busy as ever right now because so many of our customers are leaning on us to just try and manoeuvre the waters.” – Mike Betten

But as the initial shock fades, and with all but essential storefronts closed in most places, many small businesses want to offer more online than ever before. Digital marketers have the task of making websites more functional — they’re adding online menu options for restaurants, curbside pickup details for retailers, or even designing entire online stores for manufacturers that still relied on trade shows or door-to-door salesmen.

(At least one hot tub manufacturer, for example, is now in the process of selling direct to home-bound customers online, a glass-industry professional is focusing on making protective shields, and a wine-tour travel company had its online booking system transformed into a grocery delivery service thanks to technical work from local web designers).

It’s all happening really fast, as design firms prioritize function over aesthetic and marketers try to strike a fine balance. Their goal is to help their clients let customers know they can still conduct business safely, but no one wants to be seen as profiting from a pandemic.

“Lately, more people are just focused on getting something done. So we’re not trying to pixel-perfect a website or a campaign right to the last detail. People are more worried about just getting it out there, because the understanding is that we’re buying people’s attention now. Nobody’s going to really criticize or critique your brand just because something is slightly off,” said Josh Hay, business development partner at Hello Digital Marketing.

“We’re not trying to pixel-perfect a website or a campaign right to the last detail. People are more worried about just getting it out there.” – Josh Hay

Sandeep Arora, department head of Marketing at the University of Manitoba, agrees “it doesn’t have to be perfect.” As companies embrace new technologies and new ways of doing things, customers will likely be more forgiving now — and they won’t forget which companies treated their employees well or stepped in to help during this pandemic, he said.

“People remember, society remembers,” Arora said. The most important thing businesses should be doing now, and always, is be transparent with their customers, he said.

“They have to be very clear about how things are. Suppose something doesn’t work, suppose they don’t have something in stock. Keep the line of communication open. That’s even more important during these times when there is so much rumours going around, there is so much uncertainty. I think communication is the key.”

“Keep the line of communication open. That’s even more important during these times when there is so much rumours going around, there is so much uncertainty.” – Sandeep Arora

To that end, local digital marketers have been recommending interactive chat functions for many websites, something their clients are now increasingly welcoming, to allow customers to communicate directly with staff even when they can’t show up in person. It’s technology that’s expected to stick around long after the pandemic ends.

“I think that everything we’ve put in place to help companies streamline their operations online, I think they’ll remain,” said Guspodarchuk.

“But I think when things blow over, I think people are going to have a real desire to connect… people are going to probably want to go out and just be in the presence of other people.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay

Katie May
Reporter

Katie May is a general-assignment reporter for the Free Press.

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