Now that most states across the US are practicing social distancing, many business owners are finding it hard to focus and concentrate on building their business. While it is true that small businesses are going to have to do a lot of work to recover from the effects of coronavirus, savvy business owners will use this time to focus on building their business profile online. Instead of looking at the lack of exposure as a curse, take a minute to look at the many ways you can build your brand image in other venues utilizing other marketing outlets. If you build your online image and followers now, when the time comes to reopen, you will open to a much larger customer base. Here are five great ways to stay busy at home while social distancing.
Content Building
Even if your business doors are closed, your online presence is not. It is important to keep your online presence as strong as possible. If you sell goods or services that can still be obtained online, this is even more important as customers are running to the internet for all of their needs in the face of social distancing. The online side of your business will likely pick up drastically, so make sure your business is the first they see within your niche. You can do this by building content and keeping your website fresh and new. Offer your customers new content every day and you can increase the relevance of your website, and keep them returning to see more.
Reach Out Via Social Media
New content can also be used to build up your social media presence. If you haven’t had time to build a strong presence on the major social networks, now is the time. Take the time to reach out to concerned customers on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and answer customer complaints or reviews. You can share the new content you create on all of your social media profiles to help build web traffic as well. People are spending more time on social media than ever before, so refocus your marketing efforts there.
Beef up your Trade Show Materials
Of course, eventually, stores will open and people will venture out again. When this day comes, you want to be prepared and not hastily running around to get things right. Chances are that you will need to heavily market at trade shows and similar events to help boost the profile of your business after the long lull. A great way to get ready for this is by preparing your trade show materials now. Since you have free time, use it to build the best photo book of products to keep at your booth or create a new vinyl banner. Jump on the computer and create new leaflets, fliers, and similar marketing materials. Be ready when the country starts to open back up.
Review your Marketing Campaign
In general, this is a great time to take a step back and look at your current marketing efforts to determine if you need to step it up a bit or consider rebranding. While you don’t want to make too many drastic changes now, you can use this time effectively to analyze your current business practices to see what is working and what isn’t. This way when you get back to work you can streamline your business and make it more efficient and attractive to consumers.
