The period of COVID-19 has thrown us into a world that we could never have predicted.
Businesses globally have been forced to change their service offerings, ‘pivot’ their business strategies, and operate under modified conditions because people are spending less, and staying at home more.
Transitioning to accommodate for the impact of the pandemic has not been easy for many businesses.
Regardless of what stage they are at, many are so busy trying to stay afloat there has been little extra headspace for considering tweaking the business model.
However, despite the difficulties small businesses and startups of Australia are currently facing, the good news is, there are tangible solutions out there that can fast track business growth, even during tough times.
Going digital, or taking a business online is one of the top ways to do so.
Throughout the past few months we have seen restaurants and cafes restricted to online delivery services embrace this change launching new menus specifically for home delivery and teaming up with other business to offer beverages and desserts with the meal.
These solutions have meant some businesses have been busier during the lockdown than they were outside of it and this would have all been impossible without taking the business online.
Here are a few tips on how businesses can go digital fast.
1. Get a good digital asset.
Invest in your own website domain, Facebook page, or Instagram and you’ll reap the rewards. In order to have your business stand out from the crowd online, a dynamic digital asset that you can add content to and promote is essential.
Having a digital asset means you can share your products, your customers can contact you on Facebook or purchase directly from your website and you can also have your own blog which in turn helps with search engine optimisation (SEO).
2. Remember that text is not enough.
Having a blog and a website that explains what your business is and does used to be all customers would expect but not anymore.
You need to promote a range of multimedia like graphics, images, GIFs and video.
If a graphic designer is not something you want to spend on just yet, try using Shutterstock, Canva or an app called Afterlight to assist with creating good quality and attractive content for your website.
3. It goes without saying, get on social media.
Even if you have your website up and running, for sure you need Facebook and Instagram business pages to help refer customers back to your website.
The great thing about social media these days is that you can easily run marketing campaigns via these channels. It’s not enough to just post content.
4. Advertise!
Allocating some advertising budget and targeting the perfect audience for your services is essential for getting people on your website and buying your product or service.
5. Don’t just ‘sell’ – make sure you ‘advise’.
Going with the tactic of solely ‘selling’ your product or service isn’t the way to go. Positioning yourself as a thought leader and expert in what you are selling or doing is a much better way to build trust with your customers.
Instead of only posting discounts, sales and or product-focused posts (whether that be on your website or social media), it’s important to touch on what sets you aside from other businesses in the similar space, and share your knowledge.
6. Speak to your customers quickly and often.
As customer service expert Shep Hyken once said: “make every interaction count, even the small ones; they are all relevant”, it’s a business founder’s priority to be keeping in touch with customers as much as possible.
Ensuring your business is active on platforms like Facebook Messenger is an excellent way to keep an open dialogue with your customers, and it also gives the impression your business is easily reachable for any customer queries.
But make sure you answer them quickly, before they lose interest!
Max Bluvband is the CEO and Founder of SaaS solutions provider for small to medium sized businesses, AppsVillage.
