Before the COVID pandemic, Brick and mortar businesses were finding themselves learning how to continue business without face-to-face interaction with clients and coworkers because of the rise of online merchants. Now, it’s all but mandatory to keep a distance while continuing business as usual. Online communication and technology have become of the utmost importance to maintaining business virtually. With this new normal we’re all living in, how can you improve your online business presence while still maintaining the core values that you started with?
People want to know they can trust your product or service, and their first impression is no longer you and your charisma. It’s your website and Google page. The design you choose, how user friendly it is, and how accessible you are online are all factors that come into play when building your online presence.
WEBSITES
Having a website isn’t always enough these days. You’ll want to invest in one that stands out from the crowd and professionally designed. If you have website design skills of your own, there’s no need to outsource, but knowing the difference between a functional website and one that pulls future clients in will make all the difference.
You’ll want to make purchasing products accessible, easy, and fun for your customers. If you offer curbside pick-up or phone orders, make sure your customers won’t have to search for that information. The website should be user-friendly to the point where they don’t have to figure out where to purchase or find out more.
Other information you’ll need to include on your website is your COVID plan of action regarding how you’re keeping your customers and staff safe from the spread and securing your website for reliability and responsible purchasing. You can use sites like Wixx, Squarespace, or WordPress, depending on your requirements, and MailChimp is excellent for creating landing pages.
If you don’t have access to robust creative programs like the Adobe Suite, you can use programs like Canva to design graphics for online use. Investing in good graphics and photography is entirely up to you, but it will go a long way when it comes to gaining attention online.
GOOGLE BUSINESS
This free business tool is pertinent to maintaining an online presence and gaining new customers; the Google Business Account helps customers find you, displays essential information about where you are, real reviews made by other customers, and your hours of operation. Since your business will be mostly online, you’ll even be able to extend business hours past the regular 9-5 if it’s feasible for the type of company you run. Google Business also helps you rank better and come up with more searches online.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to market to the masses is social media. All businesses should be on social media; it’s a great way to keep customers updated on the latest trends about your product or service. For example, real estate agents may want to consider Instagram or Facebook to help post their listings, keep in touch with existing and previous clients, and share virtual tours of houses they have available.
Social media can also help you track your visitors and engagement so you can adjust accordingly. It monitors traffic like Google Analytics and allows you to target ads to specific demographics, leading to further growth of your online business. If you haven’t used social media in part of your marketing plan before, it can seem daunting, but it’s an easy adjustment once you get the hang of things. You can schedule or batch posts for weeks or even months with Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social so that everything you need is ready to go in one spot. Social media also adds a humanized approach to your business, allowing you to connect with clients and customers on a more personal level. Building these online relationships is key to your business’s future success.
Marketing is something that must continue—to stop is to disappear. You need to adapt your marketing to the current situation and be mindful, ethical and be sure to soft sell. Now is not the time for hard sales; it will come across as insensitive.
COMMUNICATION
There are many tools available to you that can assist you in communicating with your employees, programs like Asana, Monday, Toggl Plan, Base Camp, Teamwork, and Trello. These sites are great because they allow everyone to be in the same place simultaneously. Even if you can’t work together physically, you can keep track of what needs to be done and when it needs to be completed.
Online webinars, meetings, and conferences can be moved to video through programs like GoToMeeting, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Join Me, and Google Meet. Each program has multiple options and uses depending on your needs. If you have hourly employees and need time tracking software, you can use programs like Slack, T-Sheets, Toggl, and Harvest.
Storing documents that can be worked on by more than one person from different remote locations is comfortable with Google Drive or Drop Box. These programs eliminate any size restrictions when it comes to emailing various documents to other employees and provides seamless collaboration for businesses that can no longer work together within the office.
Now you have some tools and ideas to adapt your business, get in front of people and get online! Communicate and do it often. If you need advice or assistance with getting started, please reach out, and we can guide you. Stay safe and be kind to one another. We can get through this and come out thriving.