In these unprecedented times, many businesses are adjusting their business models and strategy in new ways.
How are you connecting with clients? If you are losing foot traffic or sales, how can you think strategically? Do you have a plan prepared to leverage the months ahead?
You may be thinking: I’m just trying to keep the lights on. I hear you. So we’re breaking it down and giving you some amazing ideas, so you stay top of mind for your customers.
We call it the Five C’s:
Cultivate relationships
Communicate clearly
Convert events
Continue to ask for business
Create content
Cultivate relationships
Continue to check-in and discuss how businesses are adapting within your network. Virtually continue your regular meetings and send messages out to your existing customers and leads.
DON’T BE QUIET RIGHT NOW.
Call your major customers, make a plan for how you will continue outreach over the next months.
Communicate clearly
Create a communication plan. It needs to be digital right now. What does this look like? A combination of website, email communications, and social media interaction.
They work well together, and you should repurpose your content across all these platforms.
Check on the health of your website? All information should direct people back to your website, and your website’s call to action. All of these digital tools are creating awareness and keeping you top of mind for your customers and leads.
To Do:
Check your website, in particular your home page, and make sure it is on point.
Consistently Show Up
Update your website with content 1-2 times per month. The content doesn’t have to be yours. For example, you can create one yourself, and share content from another source for the other.
Send out a regular newsletter, weekly or monthly. Don’t think too deep into this… keep the messaging simple.
Post consistently on social media (3-5 times per week is gold). At the WanderWeb, we generally recommend everyone have a Facebook page and select a secondary channel appropriate for your audience. Two platforms are enough!
If you’re feeling scrappy, create a blog or social media content to queue. You’ll thank yourself later.
Convert events
We will be living in a digital world for an unknown period of time. Leverage technology for virtual event- Zoom, Go to Meeting.
Jump right in and hold a non-event event- ideas include a virtual gala, scavenger hunt for something related to your brand, or a contest, like fanciest family or cutest pet. Encourage participants to tag your organization and themselves.
Continue to ask for business
We are living in an uncertain time, and we’re going to be virtual for a while. For many, it’s been 3-4 weeks already, and this has begun to feel like their new normal. How are your services needed right now? Consider updating your business plan.
- Folks are enjoying being home! Revisit work from home. Many companies have done this successfully for years, allowing their employees to thrive in work from home environments.
- This may allow you to reduce overall overhead, allowing you to reinvest in your business and take this opportunity to rethink your pricing model.
- Is there a way you can redeploy investment/ pricing models to make things more palatable, heading into what may be a recession? Flexibility on your pricing may be beneficial to you in the coming months.
- This might be a great time to convert people to a monthly payment program or create a low-cost offering to onboard customers you can cultivate over time.
This is not going to be your highest revenue sales period ever, but don’t hesitate to continue to reach out to customers and leads. Articulate how your business can help the community. If you’re well-intentioned and communicating from the heart, you are doing just what you need to do.
Create Content
It’s hard to carve out time when you are managing day to day operations of your business. Now is the time to create some great content that your customers will love.
Here’s the essential step to grow your presence online:
- Figure out what type of content is relevant to your industry and provide value to your customers. This creates a reason for them to come back. You don’t always have to have your sales hat on. Sharing content your customers want helps drive traffic to your site over time. This isn’t a quick fix. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) doesn’t happen overnight. SEO takes 3-6 months before you see traction. Starting today will improve momentum in 2020
- Creates micro pieces of content for social media. Copy-paste and post throughout your network. Shamelessly repurpose your content. The key is being consistent. For you, that might be once per week or once per month- the gold standard is three to five posts per week. Right now, there is record-high engagement across all social platforms. So get started, and be consistent.
- Allow customers to subscribe- capture email addresses. It comes down to providing value that brings people to your site. Allows you to reach out to build and deepen your relationship with customers over time
Bonus Tip
Having a storefront does not mean you have to sell online, but allowing for this regardless of location is recommended today. eCommerce opens up your target audience and helps manage overhead costs.
It goes without saying that eCommerce is cheaper than a traditional brick and mortar shop. You may be able to reduce overhead space, and personnel needs are low. eCommerce can be a complementary strategy to your overall business model, especially with the way things are shifting today. Creating an online shop used to be complicated, but there are now lots of tools and resources available to you.
Here are some tools to get you started:
eCommerce- we recommend WooCommerce.
Content creation- SEM rush will give you keywords, recommendations on phrases you can create content to target your audience. This information is at the tip of your fingers, don’t recreate the wheel to get in front of your customers
Lead generating- add opt-in availability on your website using MailerLite
What are your goals
Need to brainstorm how to leverage the internet on how to move your business forward? We are happy to provide any assistance to guide you through meeting your goals.