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Small-business owners have seen some challenging times over the past few months as restrictions relating to COVID-19 have impacted their ability to function and stay in business. If your store doesn’t have an online retail site, it’s possible that you have had to shutter your doors until such time as those restrictions are lifted.
Well, now it’s time to reopen your business. How should you talk about this endeavor, especially to your most important audiences? Creating a cost-effective marketing plan for reopening your business is not just possible — it can be easy, too. Here are some tips for making sure you’re doing (and saying) the right things to get and keep customers as you’re reopening your doors:
Create (or update) a website.
You may already have a website dedicated to your business, but make sure that before you open your doors after the pandemic restrictions have been lifted that you update and post on the site regularly. Potential customers find much of their information on local shops via search engines, and having a good, optimized website is a great way to get your info out there for folks to find. After all, one of the most well-known tenets of customer satisfaction is to “meet your customers where they are.
As you create your website content, remember to focus on the safety precautions that your business is taking in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Patrons are (rightly) interested in how your business is sanitizing surfaces and enforcing mask policies. Creating and strengthening trust in your customers is especially important in these uncertain times, so having this content front and center on your site will not only help them understand your policies, but also help create that trust. Of course, policies may differ depending on the kind of business, but it’s worth implementing these kinds of safety precautions and then making sure potential customers know about them.
Don’t discount social media.
Again, “meeting your customers where they are” doesn’t necessarily just mean a physical location anymore. Using social media to your advantage can help put your business in front of a wider audience and bring in new customers, while at the same time, strengthening your brand and keeping loyal clients in the loop.
But what do you post on social? For Twitter, shorter, more succinct posts are advised, with a more of a personal tone. Make sure to create SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based) for your metrics, and take steps to build a community on the platform.
This is also a good place to post your safety-related content. Make sure to talk specifics, such as when you determine that your water and ventilation systems are working properly or the fact that you are providing employees with personal protective equipment (where appropriate).
Team up with local businesses.
Along the same lines as creating a community on Twitter and Facebook, don’t forget to forge strong partnerships in your local community, as well. Team up with other local businesses to support each other through these challenging times — potential customers may be attracted to the companies in their area forming these kinds of strong partnerships. You may even want to invest in some guerilla marketing tactics that will put your business front of mind.
Stay on top of your finances.
Keeping track of the money flowing in and out of your company is essential. Your marketing budget may not be huge, but it should at least exist. A budget helps you track expenses to see where you’re spending the most money — and where you should be spending in the future.
In addition, relying on a basic balance sheet will allow you to see your business’s finances from a bird’s eye view — including your liabilities, assets, and total worth. This will give you a full understanding of your budget and allow you to make informed decisions about future investment and growth. If you opt for an online balance sheet template, you’ll be able to customize it to your needs for a more accurate snapshot of your business’s cash flow and income.
Contact the experts
Are you ready to get your newly reopened business’s marketing plan off the ground? Get in touch with the content experts at LJ Consulting for information about your marketing strategy. Call 845-332-8252 today!