We are living in some uncertain times right now. One thing is certain, we are all in this together. It's important as business owners we all do our part to stay safe and support each other. Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) are the backbone of our economy, with the current social and economic uncertainty, it's our duty as an agency to offer our support in some way possible to our clients and future clients, please know that even though we are working remotely, our team is here to help you adapt and become agile to the current market. COVID-19 has certainly disrupted the world, it's become the daily conversation and we can all comfortably agree we were not prepared for this, but how we act now will determine what will become of this. I've put together below a few tips for our clients and anyone who owns a business.
01. Set up a remote office properly.
During uncertain times, comes the greatest opportunity for innovation, adaptation and business transformation. Staying optimistic is essential during these times. With so many distractions at home, it’s essential that you create a routine at home. Businesses now can use the following tools to operate remotely.
- Zoom or Skype for video calls & meetings
- Asana or Trello for project management or staff collaboration
- Tidio live chat on your website to speak with customers
- CRM to monitor the business performance and manage clients
02. Go social & connect with your audience.
With lockdown’s in place, more and more people will be consuming more content than ever before. Communicate with your audience about what your business is doing to adapt, with a shift in consumer behaviors it's important you guide your customers and potential customers how they can access your products or services during this period.
03. Go digital fast.
We believe in agile marketing strategies, this means you are able to make changes almost immediately, particularly during this period. If you sell only through your shopfront, it’s time to implement e-commerce into your website so you can process orders online. If you have a cafe or restaurant and want to avoid the substantial fees on Uber Eats and Deliveroo, then it’s imperative to implement a takeaway ordering section on your website.
Examples: Run a local cafe, restaurant or product based business servicing local customers.
Solution: Set up an online store on your website, making it accessible for locals to simply jump online and order, allowing for either pick up or delivery. You can streamline your business, this way you can avoid the fees Uber Eats and Deliveroo take, customers can get a better price ordering directly through you and at the same time, customers will be supporting local businesses during this period. Customers can choose to pay online, that way maintaining social distancing when they come into the shop to pick up, with no cash transactions and a pick up system in place. Make the shift for your business now, speak with our team to help you make the move online.
Operating a food brand but you only sell in stores? Possibly consider going online and reaching more consumers through social media, allowing them to directly purchase on your website, with the products being delivered directly to them.
04. Review your strategy.
If it becomes a matter of survival, and costs need to be cut in order to survive during this period, then business owners need to do what they can to survive.
If paid ads such as (Google Ads) isn’t working right now for you, it may be beneficial to reduce ad spend, and save some money during this period. Depending on the industry you operate in, you may face lower conversion rates due to this period, I believe it would be an ideal time to plan for the long term as well and invest in an SEO campaign that will allow your business to maintain Google's page 1 position now or possibly get you prepared to get to page 1 when the market goes back to normal, which we know in time it will, but those who innovate and take action now will be the businesses and brands of tomorrow.
With more eyeballs turning to social media, it may be the right idea to push your brand across Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin and other platforms. Building brand awareness, communicating with your audience and keeping your brand at the forefront of your consumers minds is a must.
Once we pass this uncertain time in our lives, a lot of businesses will bounce back stronger then ever, especially if they set up a contingency plan now.
05. Innovate now, pay later.
With the help of the government, businesses can seek assistance, speak to your accountants and see what you may be entitled to. We will be playing our part as much as we can. Our team have set up agile payment plans to support businesses during this period. Our agency will be offering new clients who require digital services such as custom websites, e-commerce implementations, social media strategies, videography and much more the opportunity to help them innovate or take their business digital now and pay it across a 4 - 6 month period, which will help ease any upfront costs. This will allow businesses to build for now and the future giving them the change to bounce back when this period is over.
06. Bouncing back.
Certainty is the enemy of growth. Certainty in business blinds you, it set’s fixed limits and creates automatic habits that become predictable and opens your competition to surpass you. We don’t know when this will be over, but eventually, it will and we need to act quick. Some businesses would have implemented new strategies, systems and streamlined processes so when they do bounce back they are more profitable than ever. Start preparing from now.
Speak with our team if there is anything we can help with now to support your business.
Stay safe and look out for each other. We are all in this together.
