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We all know the horrible year we’ve been put through. It’s not over yet, there’s still quite a fair bit of time to go before the new challenge begins in January. So since we have time, let’s not give up and try to manage our expectations, in accordance with our strategies. Small businesses especially, have to consider what their comeback strategy is going to be. You’re not going to get help from the government forever. Stimulus checks from the FED and or BoE, or wherever you are, will eventually dry up. And if you have been given a recovery loan, then the clock is ticking on your repayment schedule. So, here is what you can do to make a comeback before the year ends.
Marketing, clear and present danger
You are in a niche club if you’re a small business. You have limited funds and you need to make the right choice as to where to use them, the very first time. Unlike medium and large-sized businesses, you suffer a lot more from making bad decisions. So, why not invest in an area where you can make more money?
SEO marketing is the best way to not just hold onto existing customers but to lure in new customers too. If you look at the services that SEO specialists offer, you’ll see that it’s not just about broad SEO marketing strategies, but local SEO too. Local SEO has become the calling card of marketing businesses since the pandemic took hold. Connecting with customers that are physically or geographically closer to you, is the most vital aspect of modern marketing. Ecommerce SEO is also the other aspect of modern marketing. The Ecommerce SEO strategies will include things such as product descriptions, keywords, product reviews, image search text, etc. Grabbing the attention of customers and giving them what they want, are not the same thing, so use this strategy wisely.
Think differently about content
We are in unprecedented times and in order to survive, we have to think differently about how we do business. Small business owners should rethink the way they do the following things.
Plenty of businesses would like to create the best content they can and publish it on their blog every week. But it’s not helpful to write new content every week when you should have a schedule in place. Writing content takes time, creative thinking, and a good structure when it comes to the writing style. So rather than rely on your skills to do this every week, make a content schedule and content model What kind of content do you specialize in? Can the content you make focus on just a niche? What angel is the most popular with your readers?
Export or import?
For a couple of decades small business owners have been told they are international. Or at least, they have the ability to be international. This has led to more and more SMBs importing and exporting. But since the global supply chains have been slowed to a crawl and in some cases just completely halted, what can you do now?
Again you need to think differently. Rather than import or export, why not look at expanding your links with the local region? Finding buyers closer to home is the new normal.
Buying in a nationalistic sense has become the new norm because supply chains can no longer fulfill your orders. So, going to online conventions on Zoom is very highly recommended. Zoom can host up to 100 callers. You can join sub-groups and that can mean, you virtually enter and exit from stalls. Speak with different business owners and try to make clients.
Create a Youtube channel
Now is the time to connect with your audience or rather, the customer. Since we mainly work from home, even though the work restrictions have been lifted for most people, watching content has become a normal part of our working lives too. Oh come on, you know you tend to watch the odd cat video every other hour in between finishing tasks! However, businesses that don’t have a YouTube channel are set to suffer because they don’t have content that can be viewed.
It’s important to have watchable content because you need to supplement those that are commuting, working from home, or just watching videos in their spare time. These eyes are up for grabs people!
So what kind of content should you make?
POV talks – Make 10-minute episodes just talking to the camera and going over some topics you are interested in and go over the tasks you are doing. YouTube makes it so that your video will only get ads if you make it longer than 10:00 minutes.
Work Diaries – This should be straightforward. Just film your day and condense the content into a 10-minute video. Show the viewers the types of things you do during the day. This content is really popular because customers are really interested in what it takes to run a business and the types of things you go through, such as emotional challenges, learning new skills and the feeling of success.
Brand positioning
Brand positioning is so crucial right now, because there are some businesses that are failing and leaving an opening in the market. That is sad to admit but it’s true, we are seeing lots of competitors collapse and leave a large portion of the consumers, unsatisfied. So, keep your head on a swivel and see how well your rivals are doing and if you can see any weaknesses, pounce on them if you can.
For example, your rival closes one of their branches in a location, can you sweep in and take over? Your rival is cutting spending on marketing, can you spend more to take over their virtual advertising space? Position your brand to fulfil the hole that has been left behind.
Small businesses have to be relentless and ruthless at times. Creativity alone can’t get you to the top spot. Keep an eye on content creation trends and brand positioning openings.
