We’ve entered some uncharted territory here as business owners and marketers. How can we continue or work and stay home?
For many of us, mandate has come down that we stay home an unspecified period of time (the service industry and entertainment sectors are seeing a massive decline due to the canceling of social gatherings, and general events in order to best promote “social distancing,” to combat the spread of infection.) It’s a pandemic, inciting fear, and, as a business owner, it’s definitely a cause for a serious sense of “unease.”
With that said, how do you continue to market yourself while staying home? How do you keep your brand visible and encourage people that are shuttered in to keep your business and it’s ensuing products and/or services from completely vanishing for good?
Social Media
Use social media to advance your business, keep messaging fresh, and tell your story so your customers and target audience know what you’re up to. Try to be positive. A lot of the messaging finding its way around is extreme, and, quite frankly, scary. It’s a product of the level of uncertainty we’re all facing during these times. Introducing Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These sources can be great ways to not only market your business but also network with other potential customers who also must stay home.
Video
Use video to showcase your current workspace and how you’re adapting to what’s happening locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. Give people an inside look into how you’re operating and offer up dialogue as to why you’re operating in this particular way. It can be fun, and, at the same time, educational.
Write
Utilize your “blog” (or whatever your calling it) to keep a “journal” of how business is going, and keep your customers and target audience engaged. Not only is this a valuable resource, but it will be an interesting study to look back at these entries down the line to look at how things unfolded during a curious time in our collective (and your company’s) existence.
Take Advantage of Technology
We very much live in a digital world, so do what you can to take your business online. Promote digital meetings. Host webinars. Broadcast live events. Sell your products and services online. Heck, livestream your workday. Use these platforms to your advantage. Social media provides another way to reach your audience and fill out your social channels. Good content will be found and is vitally useful.
Education
Educate your customers and target audience on the business’s sanitation methods your company is taking to ensure their safety and the safety of your employees. You can use any of the above methods to push this messaging forward. If you need help, we’re still answering the phone and our email.
Offer Digital Gift Cards
This might seem silly, but it’ll give you a literal revenue stream for people to come back to you when the dust has settled, and, if they’re not going to visit you in the flesh, let’s take it online. Right?
Use Emailing Marketing / Newsletters
Keep us in the loop. We want to hear from you. Provide us with some want some good news. Give us some feel good stories. Keep the network alive and well. Don’t stop communicating – it’s your best tool in keeping your marketing up to snuff and your audience engaged.
Final Thoughts…
In conclusion, this is going to sound crazy, but use this time to your advantage. Think of it as a breather to get caught up on things. Use the “downtime” to finish up back-burnered tasks. We know it’s easy to panic. We all are to some degree, but, use the time wisely.
Look to the future. Get ready to come out swinging. Put plans in place. Grab ahold and finish off the “low hanging fruit” you’ve been avoiding (or just haven’t had the time to get to). Get that old website up to speed. Focus on things you haven’t had time to focus on because of how fast-paced our society is. Things have come to a halt. It won’t last forever; so instead of getting worked up about it, focus on what you can do to better the organization. Take a breath. Keep in touch. We’ll all get through this together. And most importantly, stay home!
