It's been utterly inspiring witnessing the will of local businesses to survive and innovate through the Covid19 crisis.
It's not easy but many of our clients' businesses are ticking over nicely and some have even increased trade as a result of their willingness to diversify and adapt.
Following the government's recent announcements it's apparent that things are slowly starting to lift but we know it's still going to be a long slow road ahead - and there may be bumps along the way.
There has never been or more crucial or key time to shout about your services; to explain the ways you have transformed your business and to share your experiences and learnings and to thereby solidify your reputation and trust.
Your customers may well have questions about the safety of your business, your capacity to deliver on products or services and therefore support they need. Your customers may be fearful of engaging with you anyway. It will be your responsibility to work through that fear and give them confidence in you, your product or service.
The best thing you can do is to get out in front of this and address any possible questions, allay any fears and to communicate and continue to build your relationships. You can do this by keeping them updated regularly and also offering ways you can further support them.
Here's our Top 4 Business ideas to do just that right now!
1. Tell Stories
We have witnessed so many acts of kindness from local businesses even when they are struggling themselves. Some are offering discounted or even free services, helping local charities, providing goods to key workers...the list goes on. Be proud and tell your clients and customers about this. Everyone loves to hear the positives as many feel they are drowning in bad news. It will give your brand a human touch and portray you in a very positive light. Communicate your stories via your social media channels, to your database, via your PR or Marketing suppliers and your advertising partners.
We know it can be tricky to write about yourself so consider using a local PR and Comms specialist or marketing agency. We collaborate with a great local provider so just ask us if you'd like to be connected with Fiona Scott Media Consultancy.
2. Communicate
Pick up the phone, set up a Zoom video call, email, text and just check in with your clients and see how they are. No agenda other than caring. Ask if there's anything you can do to help them. We have found great comfort in speaking regularly with our clients and suppliers and have formed an even stronger bond than we had before. This won't be forgotten. How you make someone feel speaks volumes.
3. Embrace Social Media
We are all spending huge amounts of time at home, we are often juggling their jobs and homeschooling, we can't visit our loved ones and we're adapting to huge change. We're in this together.
By using social media you can stand out and build connections. Watch your tone. Now is not the time to be too salesy, too ranty or to judgmental. Just use the platform to promote your good deeds, share the good deeds of others, reach out to clients and prospects and to build relationships. If you've cut prices or have an offer that's fine to promote too - as long as it's cushioned around softer content.
Start utilising paid for ads - whether that's Facebook ads, LinkedIn Inmails - whatever is a good fit for your business. Have a tinker. You're likely to have a little more time now to test and to understand what works for your business. Plus, prices are keen right now and your audience have little to distract them at the moment.
4. Research your Digital Presence
Where some of your clients will be backing off digital marketing activity - or simply ignoring the opportunity to get started - you can get ahead now and it will be hard for them to catch you up. You may even grab some market share.
Get ready for an uplift - because it will happen. Put yourself in your prospect's shoes; can you find your company on Google when you search for your company name or key search terms? No?
Look at the content on your website, build links to external websites with high domain authorities, look at your meta data and your website's speed and performance - and if this is all Latin to you, get some training. Little tweaks can go a long way.
Do you have client reviews and testimonials on your website and social networks? Are there plenty of calls to action? Do you have a GDPR compliant client and prospect database you can keep in touch with through email marketing ? Could PPC work for your business?
The key question to ask is can your target audience find you and when they do, are they having a good experience and wanting to connect with you?
I hope you find this useful. If you'd like to find out how you can apply these tips to your business just contact Liz or Rach for a phone call or Zoom video call. We'd love to hear how you're all getting on and would be honoured to help in any way we can.
Liz@totalguideto.com / 07814 080119
Rachael@totalguideto.com / 07754 856949
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