Businesses of all sizes across Canada are affected by the current health crisis and resulting emergency measures.
Cyberimpact is in a great position to observe how companies are adjusting their business models and communication efforts during these difficult, unprecedented times. We’d like to highlight one of these companies: Éducazoo.
Éducazoo is both an animal shelter located in Terrebonne, Quebec, and a centre that specializes in entertainment and education with the help of exotic animals.
How has the company changed their service offer?
Normally, Éducazoo travels to put on shows with wild, exotic animals. For example, they travel to private homes for children’s parties or for activities in daycare centres, schools and day camps. Currently, all these services are on hold due to the quarantine period.
In the meantime, Éducazoo launched a new service, children’s parties online (by videoconference). Parents can book a session for their child online and everything is done remotely. The response from clients has been positive. This initiative has opened up new markets (other Canadian provinces and Europe). The owner of the company, Joanie Asselin, plans to continue to offer this service after normal activities have resumed. It allows the centre to broaden their potential clientele geographically, and helps with presenting animals that are more difficult to transport. This new service was tested and launched in just 2 weeks.
Motivated by the success of this initiative, Joanie encourages all entrepreneurs to continue to offer services to their clients from a distance. “We wanted to find ways to continue fulfilling our mission and at the same time, continue to generate income to support the animal shelter,” she added.
How does Éducazoo communicate with clients?
At the very beginning of the crisis, Éducazoo received many messages from their community; people who wanted to support the cause and make sure that the shelter could still operate. The team set up a crowdfunding campaign to welcome this generosity. They shared the campaign on social media and emailed it to newsletter subscribers.
Then, Éducazoo’s management decided that they not only wanted to stay afloat, they wanted to stay true to their mission. They started doing live Facebook videos on their page. In these virtual events, the host presents the animals and the show proceeds like it would in person. It became a daily occurrence!
Live Facebook videos don’t generate any revenue, but it’s a great way to stay in touch with clients. It brings visibility and it’s also a great tool for families who arehome right now. According to Joanie, it’s more interactive than a pre-recorded video because viewers can ask questions and the presenter can interact with them. “We started doing Facebook lives, and that’s when our clients (from neighbouring towns) started asking for private sessions! Our new service was born.”
Éducazoo is very active on social media during the crisis, which allows them to keep in touch with their community and strengthen the relationship with their clients. Joanie says, “We also share educational resources about animals and positive messages of hope. At the very beginning of the crisis, Éducazoo received many messages from their community, from people who wanted to support the cause and make sure that the shelter could still operate. The team set up a crowdfunding campaign to welcome this generosity. Of course, this campaign was shared on social media and emailed to newsletter subscribers.
Then, the management of Éducazoo decided that they not only wanted to stay afloat, they also wanted to continue to exercise their mission. They started doing live Facebook videos on their page. In these virtual events, the host presents the animals and the show proceeds like it would in person. It became a daily occurance!
Live Facebook videos don’t generate any revenue, but it’s a great way to stay in touch with clients. It brings visibility and it’s also a great tool for families who arehome right now. ght now. According to Joanie, it’s more interactive than a pre-recorded video because viewers can ask questions and the presenter can interact with people. “We started doing Facebook lives, and that’s when our clients (from neighbouring towns) started asking for private sessions! Our new service was born.”
Éducazoo is very active on social media during the crisis, which allows them to keep in touch with their community and strengthen the relationship with their clients. Joanie says, “We also share educational resources about animals and positive messages of hope on our social channels.”
And of course, they didn’t forget to promote the launch of its new online party and entertainment services!
How is the company using email right now?
For Éducazoo, email is very useful to share news and current events to all of their clients with one single concise message (the crowdfunding campaign, free resources and new remote services).
Email has become more important during this crisis, as the need to communicate with clients has never been more crucial. Joanie explains, “We have improved our client lists and segmented our subscribers into different groups (schools, municipalities, homes) to send them the most relevant emails possible. We also use our newsletters to promote our social media channels. Email is the best way to get your message across when you have a lot of information and multiple announcements to segment.”
Key takeaways
Éducazoo is a good example of a company that has responded creatively, calmly and relentlessly to the challenges brought on by the pandemic. Here are some points to take away from this case study:
- It is essential to communicate with your clients in order to demonstrate drive and proactivity, even if your main activities are on hold.
- If you can help people get through this difficult time, you should do it.
- Can you offer your clients a remote service or deliver a product? It’s now or never!