The news has been fairly grim of late. It’s true. COVID-19 has changed the world scene in a matter of months and businesses are taking a real hit as a result of the worldwide pandemic. Whether this lasts for 3 weeks or 3 months, businesses around the world are being forced to evolve in unexpected ways in order to keep their doors open.
“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.”
~ Sigmund Freud, neurologist
Normally, slow periods are a great time for a business to refocus and take a look at its brand. What processes are working successfully, and which ones might need some tweaking or elimination? COVID-19 has forced us into reflective periods with a pre-determined focus: Whether our digital presence and remote capabilities allow us to keep working?
Let’s look at a few areas of our digital presence that are worthy of examination and refocus.
Your Social Media Presence: Birds, Cameras, and the Big “F”
A great place to start examining our digital presence is in how use social media to promote our business and build our brand. While many businesses have taken to social media over the past several years, millions of businesses still see it as more of a nuisance or estranged obligation than a valuable set of marketing tools.
Social media allows us to build a community that we can leverage and reach out to when changes in our business occur. The community you build via social media are what is referred to as “brand advocates”. These individuals are interested in your brand. They subscribe or follow and support the evolution of your company. That can be a powerful relationship.
If this pandemic has taught us anything it’s that communication with the public is essential. Social media allows us to inform and interact with our communities, sharing important information and updates. I had a conversation earlier this week with a client who mentioned that her husband had decided to indefinitely postpone trips to his chiropractor because they had not posted any information on how they were working in the face of the outbreak.
Communication and transparency is essential to consumers. By building, curating, and maintaining our social media presence, we are building a loyal group of followers who care about our businesses and will root for our successes and support us during our failures.
If you’re not building your social media presence, start today.
Your Website Content: The Who, What, Where, and Why
When we begin talking to clients about the benefits of a well designed, well-written website we often start with an analogy:
Imagine your website is the newest member of your sales team. Unlike a physical human salesperson, this one has the ability to work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year promoting your business and building stability through a constant supply of new leads. This salesperson does not get tired. They don’t get bored or become unmotivated. And they don’t (and won’t) up and leave you when they get a better offer. How much would that be worth to you? What would you be willing to spend on an employee that was dedicated to your company? How much money would you commit to training someone who could deliver that level of service?
I hope you’re starting to see the point. A well written, well designed website will cost you money (fact), but when it’s done well it’s worth every penny you put into it because of what it can deliver to your business over time.
When we’re living in a COVID-influenced business scape, which member of your sales team is going to be on the front line acting as your first point of contact? You betcha! Social distancing is a killer, but your website has the ultimate immunity—allowing your clients to get up close and personal while learning about how your services and products can help them.
A well written, well designed website will cost you money (fact), but when it’s done well it’s worth every penny you put into it because of what it can deliver to your business over time.
Spend your downtime examining your website content. Does it say what it really needs to in order to generate business? If not, then it’s time to get to work.
These are just a couple examples of where we can refocus our efforts to build a competent digital presence. As businesses transition to remote work environments and continued online growth becomes a necessary focus, having a strong digital presence is crucial. A comprehensive funnel that allows us to effectively communicate with our existing customers while working to enticing new ones is the future of business.
- - -by Erin Lynch // Business, Content Strategy, Digital Marketing, Social Media
