As lockdown eases and, we hope, the economy starts to pick up, small business owners like us need to work out how to survive in the long term.
Whilst there will be a return to face to face contact, for many businesses the way our customers go about buying our products or services has fundamentally changed. People are considering how much they need to go to the shops when they can shop online, or have their yoga class in their front room, or talk to their accountant via zoom. Equally for your business operations, staff may want to work at home more or you may have found the move to online selling is more cost effective.
Whatever is driving your decisions, it’s very likely your business and your digital marketing need tweaking to reflect the new world.
Be online
I probably don’t need to tell you why your business needs to be online in some shape or form. We’ve all had far too much screen time over the last few months, living many aspects of our lives online – from zoom meetings, to schooling, quizzes and get-togethers. And that reliance on online has changed the way we do business. So if you do nothing else, make sure you have some visibility online, even if it’s just a listing or facebook page, so people can find out what you do because otherwise you are massively limiting your reach. If you have yet to get a website, please read my guide whether to create one yourself or not – DIY vs professional website.
If you need help getting your business online, I can provide guidance on the best and most cost effective way to do that. Get in touch.
Understanding your customer intent
How have your customers problems and therefore their online searches changed throughout the pandemic? The searches they make and time they spend making their buying decisions will have changed.
For example, as we went into lockdown, people were scared – panic buying and working out what they needed to keep their family safe. People wanted lockdown tips on how best to work from home. Now lockdown is easing, people are thinking about getting out – holidays, days out, leisure. Business owners are searching for ways to prepare to get back to normality and want to know what the office of the future looks like.
Make sure you know how to understand what your customers are searching for – your customer intent – and therefore what information you need to respond with.
Digging deeper
There are some free tools that allow you to better understand your customer intent.
- Google Search Console – Access your search console linked to your website and look at your search performance report to see what queries searchers have used to click through to your website. (If you don’t know how to access it or need to set it up – please get in touch).
- Google Trends or Exploding Topics – These tools will let you see user interest in specific topics or keywords, highlighting opportunities. If you see a topic starting to peak in Google Trends that is relevant to your business, that should become your next blog.
- Use a keyword tool like answerthepublic.com to look for popular searches around your product or services.
What content will work well as lockdown eases?
The need for information suggests we should move away from our typical product or business-related content and shift more into blogs with advice and tips and articles on how your business can help them.
The last thing many of us want is a business trying to convince us to buy its products or services. So don’t. Your marketing should be mindful of the needs of your audience. Limit the sales talk and instead demonstrate what you can really do to make people’s lives that bit better. For example, sharing your resources or offering expert advice. It’s all about highlighting the benefits of your business, not the features.
Topical blogs, social media posts and email marketing will all work in the present climate.
Is it time to review your digital marketing content?
Are you giving the right messages? It should be about your audience and not about you. Listen, drop the jargon and adapt your tone of voice. Be the sort of business you yourself want to deal with in this crisis.
If you need any help with your website blogs, general content or emails, please get in touch.