We want to take a moment to go over some practical things you can do for your business during a mandated quarantine. This may never happen again, so there may be some key things you could be doing while things are…different.
Strategy First
A pivot in your strategy now could be a crucial new part of your business after the pandemic.
Go Digital. Social media, digital advertising, online sales, email, automated messages, and chat bots are only scratching the surface of all that’s possible to make your business streamlined and a better experience for your customers. Utilize this time to empower someone from your team to champion these things, and why not learn them yourself too?! If it’s taken you a quarantine to realize you need to go digital, then this may be the best thing that’s happened to your business.
Target Local. As we’ve seen in this pandemic, there have been multiple stages of quarantine. We’ve seen it go from recommended travel restrictions to full-blown lockdown across the world. We may see some national governments keep their borders closed for a period after others go back to ‘normal’. If your country keeps its borders closed, you could change your business strategy to target local consumers. The key here, as with all of the strategies, is to not fold because of the circumstances. Think of possibility and get creative.
Use Influencers. For some businesses, it may take some time to see a surge in business again. If you are in the hotel & hospitality industry, it may take a while to get the bookings to flow in (even after borders open back up). Consider filling in gaps on your booking calendar with influencers to stay. They’ll get a free night or two and you’ll gain exposure instead of letting that room sit empty and not work for you. This is an example that can be translated into almost any industry.
Band Together
This Covid-19 pandemic has been a unique experience for the world. In a way, we’re all going through the same thing together. It’s this thing, this pandemic, that has sort of stopped time and caused us to realize we’re all in this together.
To underscore the idea that we’re all in this together, think about ways that you and your team can rally around the tragedy and do something good. There are many businesses donating medical supplies and such. Google has stood out to us by offering some of their services for free to businesses to help while quarantined. It’s things like this that are genuinely doing good and that will be remembered even after the quarantine. It also might make us more likely to buy/use their products after trying them for free. Just saying.
Get Ready
Now is perhaps a great time to get ready for the next surge of business…because it’s coming. Once we’re looking back on this, people are going to be motivated to make things happen and to get back to ‘normal.’
Here’s a short list of some other things that you can be doing to prepare for the boom that your business is going to have:
Invest in your team. Get them online courses, tutorials, etc. to help them do their job or to sharpen skills that will advance their career. Show them that they matter—even while they’re not physically in front of you. Cross train and develop a ‘deeper’ staff. You may not be able to ‘widen’ your staff right now, but making the team deeper will make your business better.
Update employee handbooks. Now’s the time to look over your current handbook and update your policies to curb all of those frustrating habits company wide.
Update terms and conditions (customer-facing). Has there ever been a better time to update policies or terms and conditions that you might not have thought about before a worldwide pandemic hit?
Don’t let this time slip by and make you wish you had used this time wisely. Stay safe, stay positive, and stay forward thinking. To discover possibilities about marketing strategies through this time and onward, visit here.
