Why you should build up your business at this difficult time
This latest lockdown has left businesses reeling. Many were hoping for brighter days at the start of 2021 with the vaccinations being rolled out, but right now it’s hard to find our spark.
Yet rather than dwell on what you can’t do at the moment, this is the perfect time to seize the initiative by marketing your business. Your customers are still out there, and it’s more important than ever to let them know you are there, both during the lockdown and when the doors open again.
Follow my list of do’s and don’ts of marketing your business during lockdown.
Do: Communicate
Communicating clearly and regularly is critical during the lockdown. Done well, it shows that you’re sensitive to what’s going on and can empathise with your customers.
Digital tools such as websites, email and social media mean it’s easy and low cost to reach them.
Your communication should:
- Acknowledge the pandemic and its impact on your audience’s daily lives
- Empathise with your audience and assure them that you’re ready to help
- Discuss any changes the pandemic has brought about in your business and how this might affect them
- Reassure them of the quality they should expect from doing business with you
- Of course, you’ll also want to keep them engaged and interested in your products or services.
Don’t: Stop communicating with customers
Stop communicating, and your competition will plug the gap. It will be difficult to win customers back once the pandemic is over.
Do: Review your message
Has your business model changed as a result of Covid? Is your brand out of touch, or in need of a rethink? If you’ve made changes to your business, then you need to adjust your message across all your marketing channels. Read more here.
Do: Rethink your language
Even if your business model has remained unchanged, the way you market your business and in particular the language you use may need to be adjusted to reflect the changes in consumer demand, particular the keywords customers use – read more here.
Do: Rethink your communication strategy
Rethink your newsletter and re-evaluate your content calendar, perhaps putting some blog posts on the backburner while you focus more on articles that cater to questions related to the current situation.
Don’t: Stop creating content
Instead, use this time to produce more. Address key questions and concerns your customers might have and be creative with new ideas.
Don’t: Decrease your marketing budget
Pandemic or not, marketing to your customers is always an important aspect of running your business.
Now is not the time to put the brakes on your marketing efforts. It’s your opportunity to be more strategic than ever, put yourself in your customers’ shoes and market to them better.
Do: Bring in outside help
Business marketing takes many forms, websites, PR, social media and brochures among them. Underpinning everything is the need for clarity, consistency in message and well-chosen words. It’s not something that comes easily to everyone. And even if you consider yourself a wordsmith, creating consistent, quality copy across all your marketing channels can be a considerable undertaking.
Seize the potential opportunity of the lockdown and use a copywriter to get your marketing done so you can focus on business development and looking after your staff and customers.
