As the world is slowly attempting to stand on its feet, recovering from the blow the coronavirus pandemic has landed on businesses of all sizes, it is time for strong marketing strategies to be implemented quickly and effectively. What we all need right now is affirmation that we are resilient, that we will slowly but surely thrive under new, safer circumstances.
Small businesses needed now more than ever
One of the key indicators of how mankind is faring is the way they stay occupied. Are people working productively? Is the economic cycle of demand and supply working normally? This is one of the reasons why governments worldwide are slowly opening up business channels while repeatedly advising people ways in which they should protect themselves from the virus. A healthy economy is urgently needed everywhere, both for consumers and sellers. People need jobs to earn an income and manage their livelihoods.
Cautious small or medium business owners can ensure all the 5-100 employees under them have regular temperature checks every 4 hours a day, wear protective gear, and provide services or products in a safe manner. But it’s just not feasible for large businesses to maintain this level of detailed health precautions. So this is the right time for small businesses to adopt maximum precautionary measures and start handling consumers’ demands because several large businesses can’t afford the granular level of employee safety that they can.
In fact, there are several employees who have been laid off or put on leave forcibly without pay. Enterprising people have turned to alternative, even creative means of earning money to tide them over these turbulent times. But one challenge remains even today—what kind of tools should small businesses use to implement their marketing strategies?
Most people are fairly confident about the ways in which they would spread the word about their business. But just devising the methods is not enough. One must also have the right tangible or physical medium through which the message is spread far and wide.
Picking the right tools
Even today, people believe in some of the common advertising tactics when they decide where they would spend how much of their money. Let us examine an example that is very relevant these days—ordering food online. With an increased number of people working from home, yet unable to stay with their families, there has been a spike in food home delivery orders than restaurant dine-ins. The standard strategy of those in the business of preparing and delivering food include:
- Taste
- Hygiene
- Profitable quantity of food per order
- Diversity of dishes and cuisines
- Proper packaging
- Collaborating with food aggregating apps and websites
- Ensuring the required number of employees are kept safe and healthy in the kitchen and while delivering food
In some cases, this would be enough. But there may be hundreds of other small businesses in the same area that you have set up shop in that are doing exactly the same thing. So what would give you the edge over others? How can you market your products and services in a way that attracts a larger number of loyal customers to help you remain in business for a longer period of time, and remain profitable? The answer of course is marketing tools.
It would be pointless to adopt some of the traditional options such as arranging for a live band to play in the restaurant, or handing out flyers at a mall, or organizing a flash mob in busy commercial areas. People cannot go out as often as they want, and to the places that they usually go to. Office complexes, malls, bazaars, and even non-essential stores don’t have the footfall they used to have before. Another important thing to note is you need to save more aggressively for rainy days because it is likely there would be more of that for the next several months until a cure or vaccine for the virus is developed.
So the trick is to find a balance between eye-catching, impactful, and inexpensive methods of marketing your business.
Options that fit the bill
Luckily, there are several options you can still choose from when it comes to advertising for your business even today. But before you get to selecting the ones most suitable for you, you must work on your branding.
Branding in simple terms is the way you want people to remember your business. It is that element of your advertising strategies that will leave an impression on people’s minds, and help them remember the good, unique points about your business. Does your landscaping business take care of not just large lawns but even small, potted kitchen herbs? Does your hand sanitizer focus on important things like killing bacteria and viruses rather than focusing on frivolous things like fragrance and color? Branding will decide the tone of your entire marketing process, and as a result, also matter while selecting the marketing products.
Some of the marketing materials that are important across all branding options are:
Website: People are now reliant on online searches more than ever. They want to know what services and products are offered by an organization, what safety measures have they adopted, which is the most pocket-friendly option for them, etc. We tend to rely more on businesses that have a good, informative website, plus it is one guaranteed way in which people would know about your business.
Logo and tagline: Settle on an icon and a catchphrase that you can use while advertising on online platforms, as well as on visiting cards, gift materials, or even masks.
Business cards and brochures: A good visiting card even today is a valuable marketing tool. All you need to do is include it with all your orders during your initial days so the word spreads, or customers can share it with their contacts and expand your business base. Leaving brochures when you have completed a service call can help customers remember your business the next time they need the same service again or the additional ones that you have as well.
Banners: Even though people cannot visit your place of business, they can still get details of what it has to offer while they pass by it on their grocery or medicine run. So impressive banners that advertise details outside your store will help people know you’re still in business and how important you can be to them.
Gift merchandise: Keep a small supply of gift items such as personalized pens or mugs, or colorful labels and stickers, or even environment-friendly bags or clothing items that you can share to make customers feel extra special while being useful at the same time.
Brandmaximizers has all these and much more to offer when it comes to smart, personalized branding and marketing tools for businesses of all sizes. A small investment in these and you can give your business the boost it needs, so visit our catalog and see what we have in store for you!
