Now... more than ever the web plays an even bigger role in our home and professional lives. With the ability to do jobs remotely and still conduct a large portion of business without leaving our homes is truly a paradigm shift. The real trick to keeping business going however is finding new and engaging ways to stay in front of your customers, guests, and clients. There are some tools that we all use, likely even more than before, and we are leaning on these various and ubiquitous technologies. Email, phones and the newest to the party... whatever telecom package that you favor like Zoom or JoinMe, etc. This will suffice for work that can be done in that manner but not all commerce translates to these virtual mediums.
We all have seen the issues that we have nowadays, from trying to go buy groceries, to filing taxes to just getting people to spend money with your business the way that they used to. There are numerous tools out there that we have all seen and used but never employed with your business for one reason or another. This is the time to reevaluate your business and ask some hard questions about how you can start to interface in new ways. Some are simple like blogs and some more complicated, like setting up e-commerce on your website. Either way, you will likely need to employ one or more of these in conjunction with a reimagined social campaign. The #aloneTogether quarantined masses are spending unprecedented time on their phones and social channels.
If you have a well developed social presence, that is great and you are ahead of most, but now more then ever, TONE is key. We have all seen what a tone-deaf post can do at the wrong time! You need to make sure to identify with your audience and come across as genuine because we are literally all in this together. It's not just a turn of phrase these days! Let them know that you are still here, still strong, and offer a unique way that you are positioned to help them, get them to feel normal or even have some fun during some really trying times.
Once you have compiled ideas for your posts, don't forget to do some hashtag research to become a part of the greater conversation. These should be related to not only the current issues but to your local area as well to target the people that you are positioned to help. If you are a service that can not operate currently, you should be offering deep discounts on future work or gift cards that clients and guests can purchase now in order to keep some revenue coming in. If you can continue to work, you need to remind your community that you are still operating and that you are here to help! Whichever path you take, you need will need someplace to take your viewers.
This is where some of these new tools mentioned above will come to bear. Write a blog about some useful items within your sphere of expertise that will have guests seek you out for consulting advice that you can charge for or something that will keep you at the forefront of their minds during this downtime. You can create a website that has chat features that will let you talk right to your audience and keep them engaged with your brand one-on-one. If you are selling hard products, then maybe a shopping cart is what you need to keep things moving. If you already have one, your social posts need to lead your audience to high yield products that are the easiest to deliver. If you don't have one... now... is... the... time! You don't have to start with your ENTIRE offerings to make it worthwhile. Start with your core item/s and then expand from there. Be quick as possible to market and let's get this moving!
There will be more information coming, but the moral to this story is simple... in uncertain and changing times, be ahead of the curve on reimagining how you do business. As a small business owner, you have the ability to be nimble and pivot as needed. Red Lion Media is here to help!
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