Many businesses would be fortunate to survive the pandemic, but for many, even that outcome might not be enough. Setbacks can be the start of a long and winding journey to the bottom and staying relevant is a good countermeasure to that outcome.
Loyal customers may not have traded with your company for a long time now, and it’s a sorry situation. Business partners may also have put things on the backburner temporarily too. Whether they decide to return to resume their dealings with you could depend largely on whether you stay relevant during all the chaos.
Still, this objective can be an all-encompassing endeavour that’s easier said than done. Below you’ll find a few tips that will hopefully set you on your way to brighter days.
Talk to Friends and Family
Asking for help from friends and family might seem like a desperate measure, but these are indeed desperate times for many.
Unfortunately, some people can be embarrassed to tell their friends about their business, but you should expect them to be supportive of your endeavours. If you’re subject to mocking or cruel criticism, it might be time to cut these people out of your life. After all, you will only feel like your business is truly relevant when it’s spared from overly harsh words from the people that’re supposed to have your back.
Friends and family can also be incredibly valuable resources also. It might be that they’ll put a good word in with their own network of business partners, share your relevant links online, or recommend a good hire or two as well. If they can spread the word about what you’re doing, it’ll at least keep the name of your firm in circulation and generate interest here and there.
Post Frequently on Social Media
An Ofcom study published by The Telegraph in June concluded that people were spending record amounts of time online, a predictable development when lockdowns are incurred. Still, the fact is an important one, and it’s a shift in behavior that could generate great things for your firm.
If your customers can’t come to your brick-and-mortar business, then you need to go to them in cyberspace. Post frequently on social media, and the steady inflow of content will remind customers that you exist. Types of posts you could publish on social media could include:
- Commentary on world news: More companies are becoming publicly upstanding regarding things like equal pay, worker’s rights, and a host of other issues in not just the workplace, but the world at large. If you make it clear where your firm stands on the issues of today, you’ll build your company’s sense of character alongside a trusting customer base.
- Replying to customers: Whether responding with humor to trolling or sincerely resolving a customer query, publicly interacting with your customers helps your business to stand out. Even the nasty comments might be worth a defusing reply, as it can demonstrate your business won’t hide from any issues and that feedback is taken seriously.
- Cute/funny memes: Depending on the tone and character of your firm, it might be worthwhile to post the occasional funny meme, just to display the humanity of your firm. If potential customers feel like they have something in common with you, whether its interests or sense of humor, they might be more willing to trade.
- Company updates: Hiring a new staff member, saying farewell to departing workers, introducing a new environmentally-work practice, or announcing a new product or service are all worthy topics of a social media post. It makes customers feel like they’re checking in with an old friend, rather than simply buying something and then vanishing forever.
In many ways, social media can be the digital face of your firm. It’s what people primarily refer to when keeping tabs on your company, helping them to gauge the personality, culture, and values of a firm. Instead of launching into long, jargon-heavy tirades of what your company is about, a portfolio of brief social media posts can paint an incredibly positive picture indeed. As more people are spending more time online, focusing your efforts here is highly advisable.
Optimize Online Marketing
While high concentrations of online traffic can be found on social media, you should try to expand your online marketing reach elsewhere too. Guest blog posts, for example, can send many potential customers straight to your domain.
This is where tools like search engine optimization (SEO) come in, helping you to generate more website visits and further all-important clicks. It’s what makes the difference between a popular online domain and a seldom seen website, so it’s an integral asset to have at your disposal. It will enable you to rank higher in search engine results, and make your firm seem like a far more credible resource in the eyes of web browsers.
If you want to consider SEO further, then Business Case Studies can tell you all about why it’s so important to have in your company. It’s all thoroughly explained and rationalized for your reading pleasure on their site, with their post explaining tracking, analytics, and how it boosts the user experience in an easy-to-understand fashion. It’s never been easier to familiarise yourself with all the latest SEO tricks, and Business Case Studies have you covered.
Go the Extra Mile
‘Going the extra mile’ is admittedly something of a vague term, so it’s worth breaking it down further.
These days, customers are impressed by how resilient some companies can be in fighting back against bitter misfortune. If you can keep employees in work, provide a good quantity of stock, maintain fast and cheap delivery, introduce significant discounts, and offer personalized customer service, it will all give your firm some shine while your competitors are (unfortunately) slowly rusting.
Adversity is the prime time where companies can prove themselves. It’s commonplace for businesses to understandably be under significant strain in these times, but the more you can fight back against that narrative, the more impressive and noteworthy your own enterprise will appear. Things don’t have to be perfect and everyone is understanding, but if you can publicly push your company to its absolute limits, it will certainly stand head and shoulders above others in the eyes of many.
Utilise Video Messaging Problems
It’s important to stay in touch with your clients and contacts throughout these uncertain times. If you fall short on ways to get in touch with them, then it stands to reason that, in time, the corporate relationships you worked hard to build will eventually dissipate.
Unsurprisingly, platforms such as Zoom have boomed in recent times, as more people utilise video conferencing software to reach out to colleagues, clients, and partners from home. Given its centre stage position in the working environment today, to be seen without it would be equivalent to your commercial property having no running water. It’s essential, and it always keeps you connected to your web of contacts.
It’s just as vital to not only use resources like Zoom but to use them properly so you don’t ruffle any feathers. Muting yourself when you’re not the designated speaker and turning your camera on so that everyone in the meeting can see you are just some of the measures you can take to make a more lasting, positive impression on whomever you’re interacting with.
