How Your Business Can Cut Through The Noise In 2021
We don’t need to tell you how competitive things are out there for business right now, whether they are big or small, local or international. The past year has not just been a rollercoaster, they have been like flying a plane through a hurricane on just one engine. If you have managed to keep your company afloat between March 2020 and right now, then you have done exceptional work. However, while there are definitely rosier times ahead in the coming months (finally!), it would not be correct to say that this is a good time to take your foot off the pedal.
The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic has still yet to be fully understood in every aspect of society. Whether it’s mental health, the environment, or the economy, COVID-19 has rained down challenges on every part of our lives and we are still some way of getting back to anything approaching normal. As hard as we have all been working over the past twelve months and change, we are going to have to continue going above and beyond to make sure that we can continue to put one foot in front of the other when it comes to our businesses.
So, with that in mind, how do you go from getting through each month to actually move forward with confidence? How do you go from getting by to thriving? We know that it’s been hard to find time to draw breath, let alone strategize, but now that we’re all feeling a little more optimistic, the vaccines are starting to roll out in numbers, and even the sunshine and warm weather are back, this is a great time to plot a course towards success for the rest of 2021 and beyond. Your business is going to need to cut through the noise, and here are a few ideas to help you get started.
Revamp Your Whole Website
For many businesses, a website is a functional thing, something that is there to fulfill a purpose. That purpose may vary, but typically you’re looking at a general welcome page, a few links to your services, your contact info, and maybe a testimonial review or two if you’re lucky. Well, one thing that the pandemic has shown us is that an unimpressive website is just not going to cut it. With everyone staying indoors and doing all of their shopping online, business websites suddenly became a lot more crucial.
You can’t afford to have people bouncing away because they can’t find what they’re looking for, or because they wonder if the lack of effort that’s been put into your online presence is symptomatic of a larger issue in your company. A big redesign may cost you money and it may take a little time, but it is one of the easiest and most effective ways to drive up those customer retention numbers and clickthrough rates. Think about what every piece of content is doing, what every page is saying, and whether or not you are happy with how you are representing your brand and your ethos. A seamless user experience is how you make a great first impression.
Rethink Your Marketing Strategy
For many business owners, marketing is not something to get excited about, it’s a necessary evil that grows increasingly complex and incomprehensible as platforms change and technology advances. If you take this approach to marketing, then it goes without saying that you are setting yourself up for a less than a spectacular campaign.
The right online campaign should not just be profitable, it should be reinvigorating, reminding you and your team what your business is all about and what it is that you have to offer that no one else does. While a bad marketing campaign can leave you lost in the wilderness trying to interpret impressions and clickthrough rates, a good marketing campaign will illustrate how best to convey your message to the widest possible audience and highlight new areas of potential customers and clients.
Now, while some marketing companies will try to achieve this goal with some kind of blanket advertising blitz, the best results can come through programmatic advertising. Simply put, programmatic advertising uses automation to decide which platforms are most advantageous, along with a specialized marketing team to confirm results and guide future strategy. War Room has been committed to this approach and has relationships with over 90,000 publishers to help their clients get in front of their target audience and deliver performance-driven campaigns. You can find out more at warroominc.com.
Give Your Social Media Presence A Shot In The Arm
If 2020 forced businesses to take a good long look at how good their websites were, it was an even bigger wake-up call when it came to their social media presence. As everyone went home and stayed there, the world logged on and screen time soared, and the online shopping marketplace became a battleground. Even if your business isn’t an online store, a great social media presence is absolutely crucial to making sure that the word about your company continues to get out there, and that the word is good.
Now, for a lot of companies the social media duties are often passed around the company or handed off to an intern, but if you want to start seeing real results and get ahead of the competition, you are going to need to get serious. It’s time to change the strategy from the scheduled links and the occasional motivational post every Monday and Friday, and start thinking about how you can better represent your brand.
It’s also worth having a serious think about where your clients and customers are. There’s absolutely no point wasting time posting on Pinterest if your business has nothing to offer visually, for example. Priorities the channels that drive traffic to your business and remember that there is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping things personal.
Address The Elephant In The Room
Speaking of keeping things personal, one of the most important ways that you can get eyes on your business and actually communicate with your potential customers and clients is by showing that you are not only aware of the big issues and challenges that we are all facing right now, but that you are actually addressing them. Think back to any time that you have been booking an appointment or checking to see if a store will deliver during the last year. If they didn’t have an announcement about how they were addressing safety concerns from COVID-19, did you think that they had probably gone out of business?
Now more than ever, people are looking for that reassurance that the businesses we trust are still out there and have a strategy for how to keep their customers safe. However, it’s not all about reassuring people that you’re all washing your hands and wearing masks. Talking honestly about how the pandemic has affected your business is a great way to show compassion and understanding, and that despite everything the past year has thrown at us all, you are still here. Of course, it is important to stay optimistic and to talk about all the exciting things you have coming up, but if there have been specific struggles that you have had to overcome during this impossible year to keep afloat, don’t be afraid to share them.
