Now more than ever, we are looking for ways to make the most of what we have. The pandemic took a huge toll on businesses of all sizes over the last year or so. Owners and directors across the globe have been forced to make some very difficult decisions. No one wants to find themselves in the position of having to make employees redundant, closing offices, or giving up on the company that they built from the ground up. For anyone still in business in the summer of 2021, the renewed sense of optimism that has come from restrictions lifting and vaccinations reaching more people have been tempered with a wary caution. The series of lockdown reversals and emerging variants has made everyone think twice about taking big leaps forward and keeping spending to a minimum has become a priority for everyone.
However, we also know that we can’t afford to stop growing. At a time when the marketplace is so competitive, with businesses fighting tooth and nail to stay afloat and battling for customers and clients, simply keeping our heads above water won’t be enough to make sure that we are still here this time next summer. We need to be thinking creatively, looking for those areas of opportunity and untapped potential. Some of these will cost money, others will simply require us to change our way of thinking and pivot towards new concepts. We have reached this point by getting by. It’s time to start thinking about how you can do more with what you have. Here are just a few ways that you can maximise your business’ resources and potential and give it a boost this summer without putting your sustainability at risk.
It’s Time To Build Your Social Media Brand
So many businesses have spent a lot of time coasting when it comes to their social media. In years past, it could be chalked up to a generational issue. Older business owners might have understood that it was something that everyone talked about and which they should be using, but they may not have had much of an idea about how to make the most of it. For smaller businesses, social media can seem like a luxury. Of course, it would be great to have a better social media profile, but who has time when there are so many more urgent issues to attend to?
Well, the pandemic has shown us that there really is no excuse for neglecting such a powerful way to connect with your potential customers and clients. Social media isn’t just about giving your brand a friendly face, it’s about making sure that your brand has a personality. It’s about discovering client and customer bases that you would not normally have access to and learning so much more about what they are looking for. It’s also a crucial element in any digital marketing strategy (more on that in just a moment).
Learn How To Harness Data
Harnessing the power of your data is one of the most important factors in any successful business. Every single interaction that you have with a customer, every single moment that they spend engaging with you or browsing your website, is telling you something. Every advert that is ignored or clicked, and how long the user spends on your site after they click through, is giving you important information. But a lot of business owners only have a very superficial idea of how they can access that data and what they can do with it. It’s one thing to look at hit rates and decide that last week’s blog post is not as popular as the one before it. It’s another to look at user data to completely overhaul your website and marketing strategy.
If you are one of those people who understands that data is critical, but you don’t think that your business is doing enough with it, you should think about looking at ways to educate yourself further. A data analytics course could be a good option, giving you context as well as the tools you need for a greater understanding of how to interpret and use data.
Think About How You Can Make Working Remotely Work Better
Since March 2020, a lot of businesses have been making do with their working from home situation. You can see it in all the laptops set up on kitchen tables instead of a proper home office set up, the myriad WhatsApp chats talking about every little task instead of a proper communication channel, and the last-minute Zoom meetings that are called to clear up who is actually doing which task. We’ve continued in this fashion because we assumed that things would go back to normal at some point, so why waste time and energy optimising something impermanent?
Many businesses will be returning to the office over the next few months, but many more are continuing to hedge their bets. If you want to commit to working as efficiently as possible, you need to make a decision. Certainty and continuity are two crucial factors in productivity, and telling your employees that they will be working remotely indefinitely will help them settle in properly and may just give their morale a boost. Talk to them about what they need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Research communication tools and project management software to smooth out those bumps and commit to this new normal.
Give Your Website An Overhaul
We have already talked about the importance of social media in building your brand personality and reflecting your expertise, but the role of a good website cannot be overlooked. To start with, we have all become much more discerning over the course of the pandemic. We have been shopping and conducting all of our business online since March 2020, and a bland templated site just won’t cut it anymore. If you want people to stick around after they click through, you need to make sure that you have a site that is eye-catching, accessible and welcoming.
But it’s not all about the visuals. Just as many businesses have a vague idea of the importance of data with no real sense of how to harness it, SEO is one of those vital elements that so many people struggle to engage with. We have all been to the seminars, and we have all got a passing understanding of the importance of using keywords in content, but you must remember that SEO is not something that you can implement in a week and declare it finished.
Your website should be regularly updated with well-written expert content containing relevant keywords, and you should remember that the most relevant keywords will change over time. Are you engaging with the talking points of the day? Are you offering your website content that is relevant to their interests? Google is constantly updating the software that it uses to determine search rankings, and you should note that user experience is one of the most important recent changes.
As mentioned above, analysing your website data will give you a much better idea of what is working and what isn’t, and help you to adjust your strategy so that your business continues to grow.
