Maintaining a business in trying times such as these during the pandemic is quite a challenge. This is no easy task even in peaceful times, not to mention the difficulties caused in the whole world in recent years. Nevertheless, it is these times that motivated the world of SMBs to go digital and it is virtually impossible to stay afloat unless you agree to play along. Having that in mind, here are some tricks to help you move up the ranks.
Determine your target audience
In order to even begin planning on expanding your business, you need to know who it is that you’re reaching out to. If you haven’t determined your target audience yet, it is high time you did. Analyze your own business, as well as your user profiles and determine which audience is your target. All others should not be a priority. After you determine the answer to this question, everything will get easier including fixing up your social media, designing your website, etc. Once you have a clear goal, it makes it easier to organize all other aspects of your work to be oriented towards that goal.
Rebrand
As already mentioned, your newly discovered target audience should dictate the way you handle all other aspects of your business. In order to do that, it is best and safest to wipe out everything you have so far and start anew. This means deleting everything there is to be connected with your business and reinventing your brand. However, it is not a piece of cake. It demands hard work and commitment, as well as imagination and creativity. Naturally, your old customers need an explanation for why you decided to rebrand. It should be some sort of an inspirational story that will impact your customers and make them keep being fond of you. These stories are also fetching to the new potential users that will come running to you with the right marketing strategy.
Use social media
After rebranding, it is vital to give a good presentation of the whole process and the new brand using social media. Now is the time to invest your time, money and staff into setting up your business’ social media game. There are rules to follow, each social network implying a different algorithm. Be wise and try to use each network best, to its full potential. Facebook is best for reaching out to your target audience, while Instagram and Pinterest are there to represent your brand. Instagram is the place to share the whole story of your business. Moreover, use the full services of each network including all analytics and marketing features. Of course, you need to make sure to do your part and prepare quality content on a regular basis.
Keep it short and sweet
In the modern age we live in, nobody has time to read long texts anymore. The pace of life is simply too intense for such activities. This is why successful businesses make short posts on social media. It’s important to be concise and to the point. You should never bore your audience as this is an instant way to put off users. Moreover, people are more responsive to more engaging content such as audio and video. Short and dynamic videos instead of long texts will go a long way in your marketing strategy. Incorporate reels and TikTok video, too. Keeping up with the trends will be well received, especially with your younger audience.
Ask for feedback
Circumstances change, as well as people, and the best way to keep track of the changes in your customers’ wishes and needs, is to ask for their opinion. Make sure to have mandatory short surveys after each purchase or visit to your website. Keep it short and always leave space for comments or suggestions. The feedback, both positive and negative, is always useful. It helps you stay focused on things that matter and keeps you from wandering in the dark. This way, you will know exactly what you are doing well and what aspects you need to improve. This information is just a survey away, it is easy to implement and has a long-lasting positive impact on the development of your business.
Be bold
Surely, all businesses in the same niche have many things in common. However, if you want to be truly successful, you need to have a special something that will set your business aside and make others notice you. This is where your creativity and originality play an important role. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. Do something brave and be yourself. It may be the best thing you did for your business. People respond to strong personalities and having an attitude. Of course, you also need to be careful since there is a lot at stake, but as Del Boy says – he who dares, wins!
Quality beats quantity
Maintaining a proper ratio of quality and quantity can be quite a headache. On one hand, social marketing rules dictate a business should create regular social media posts. On the other hand, the last thing you want is your users to be disenchanted with your annoying meaningless posts. Unfortunately, there is no universal recipe and you need to determine this on your own. A general advice would be not to post unless you have something to say, if circumstances allow you to make that choice. After all, if you do need to post, at least try to be funny, sympathetic or casual by posting a daily fun fact that is somehow related to your domain or something similar.
Following these tips will definitely help stir your business in the right direction. Having some guidelines is much easier than shooting in the dark. Nevertheless, the most difficult and challenging task is your responsibility. All these steps can be executed in a great or a poor manner and that it is entirely up to you. However, if you are inspired and focused, success will surely follow.
