We’re Living Through Something Significant
The world is in a crazy time right now with COVID-19. It'’s singlehandedly devastated the global economy. With the foot traffic coming to a near halt, many hourly workers find themselves losing their jobs in industries deemed “non-essential”(retail, restaurants, beauty & hair salons)… but this all changes state to state. Some states like California have implemented a “Say-At-Home Order”. What this basically means is that if you are not working for an essential industry, you should be at home to slow (and possibly stop) the spread of the COVID-19. This doesn’t mean to lock your doors, don’t take a step outside. What this means is if you are not doing something that needs to be done(seeing a doctor, going grocery shopping, doing a job in an essential industry) then you should not be going anywhere that involves seeing other people if possible. As this may be a safe way to help quell the spread of COVID-19, the economic impact is extremely powerful, especially for those who rely on people actually going to their brick and mortar stores.
In This Business Downtime, What Should I Be Doing?
Just because you may have had to close your doors or you’re operating but with extreme limitations (ie only serving dining items to-go instead of dine in.), doesn’t mean you should just throw your hands up and call it quits for now. There are several things to be doing in this downtime that are beneficial to your business that will not only help when the day comes you can open your doors, but more in the long run.
Some things you can be doing right now as a brick and mortar business owner are:
Updating your website if it’s out of date. Pictures, products, pricing… they may all be out of date with how you’re now operating. This could also be your opportunity to update the site to a new look and feel, as well as possibly new user functions (online store, gift cards, appointment/reservation making system, etc…)
Working on your social media. With all of this quiet time, you could be building up your social media. The most powerful things you could be doing to your social media is getting better content up. Whether you hire a professional photographer or do it yourself, this is the time to be getting creative with your content you post. On top of new content, doing engagement is now a bigger deal than ever since so many people are working from home and potentially are on their phones more. This is an opportune time to reach out and get new followers. Work on giveaways for your business to engage with current followers and to attract new followers. This is the perfect time to focus more time on your social media
Offer digital services in the meantime. If you can’t have people in your actual store, then offer digital products/services for customers to purchase to help generate income. If your business relies on people being there (ie a restaurant), offer digital gift cards with added bonuses. For example, for every $100 spent they get an additional $20 gift card. You ‘eat’ the $20 later when you’re open again, but in the meantime you’ve been able to generate revenue and guarantee that customer has to come in at some point. Other digital services are classes you can offer. If you’re a restaurant, offer a digital class on how to cook (insert X dish you’re famous for). They’ll find value, you’ll generate revenue, and they’ll never be able to perfectly imitate your star dish, so when the doors are open again, they’ll want the real thing.
Your Competition Will Be Fierce When Doors Open
Don’t wait for things to get back to normal to start promoting your business again. In this time you should be building the anticipation of people going back to your place of business. When the whole thing is over, people will be cautious at first. They’ll still practice social distancing (attempting to keep a 6ft distance from people in public) as well as hold onto their money at first. They’re going to be fearful and need time to recover from (many people) being out of work. There will be a relatively quick economic turnaround though. I’m not fortune teller, I’m not an economist, and I can’t see the future, but I see everything going back to normal in a few months(2-3) time once the thick of it passes. But until then, those customers who are willing to go back out into the thick of things will be big targets for your competitors. Get ahead of things now otherwise you’ll just be playing catch up to everyone else.
Just because you can’t be open to the public, doesn’t mean you can’t still engage with them. Your social platforms are a way to stay in constant contact with those who patronize your business as well as new potential customers. Don’t sit around doing nothing, make the best of this time. Turn lemons into lemonade in this economic slowdown.
If you’re interested in developing a stronger social media presence through proper engagement and content but don’t have the time, knowledge, or resources, give us a call. Brad James Consulting provides quality content and offers social media management for small to medium sized businesses to grow and turn digital users into real customers.