The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home orders have ushered in one of the most challenging times in our history as a country. Many small businesses have been severely impacted by the shutdown and now face a whole host of new challenges related to reopening.  What is the best way to let your customers know about reopening? How do you talk about the safety and sanitation measures that are now in effect? How do you get enough customers through the door to recoup the losses of the past few months? Will business ever get back to “normal?” What does a small business marketing strategy post-pandemic look like?

Well, I don’t have all the answers – no one does. However, that doesn’t stop us from making some educated guesses about what may happen when small businesses start to reopen.

Small businesses will need to be prepared for several situations that may emerge after Coronavirus:

1. Less foot traffic/fewer customers… or
2. MORE customers than you can handle because of pent-up demand
3. Confusion over store policies, safety measures, and policies, etc.
4. Fewer sales due to customers’ restricted budgets
5. Increased website/social profile visits/searches – customers will be looking for opening info/safety info
6. Expectation of convenience – more curbside pickup, deliveries, or online/phone orders
7. Shopping closer to home – customers may not be as willing to shop downtown
8. People looking for low-cost and low-risk activities and entertainment
9. Increased interest in supporting local businesses
10. More personal interaction – your customers missed you!

These potential developments pose challenges, yes, but also opportunities! The nature of small business has changed, and if you want to thrive in a post-pandemic world, you will need to make changes to your marketing strategy.

These are the 5 changes you need to make to your small business marketing strategy post-pandemic:

The traditional marketing funnel no longer exists. So here’s what you should focus on right now.

#1. Send more emails

I know, I know. Email isn’t sexy anymore. Social media is the hot new thing. But how would you feel if I told you EMAIL still has a 4400% ROI, while social media’s ROI is difficult – if not impossible – to calculate?! Conversion rates for email are 6.05% vs 1.9% for social media. AND…based on OptIn Monster’s research in 2019, 60% of users claim that their preferred channel for brand promotions was email.

Does this mean you should abandon your social media strategy? NO. But it DOES mean that if you aren’t sending monthly (at the very least) or weekly emails to your customer list, you are missing out on a major opportunity.

Email is a marketing strategy that you must implement and use consistently in a post-pandemic world to effectively reach your customers and get them back to your business.

Email should be the primary method you use to communicate with your customers and clients. Customers EXPECT to hear from you in their inbox – especially now that we have spent months at home, checking our email multiple times a day (or an hour!).

But your emails cannot be the same as they were in the past. Straight up promotions or sale info might not work in this new era of small business marketing. You need to GET PERSONAL, keep it positive, make customers/clients feel safe, position yourself as an active part of your local business community, provide valuable information, and offer products and services that help alleviate your customers’ current pain points or satisfy their needs or cravings.

Here are some ideas for emails to send over the next few weeks:

• Announce your re-opening and safety precautions that you have in place to keep customers and staff safe
• Send a personal invitation to visit your retail business – customize the email with first names
• Highlight a few of the products/services you have that your customers might want right this minute or might have missed over the last few months
• Send a quick 3-Question or less survey to get feedback on what your clients are looking for from you. What are their pain points?
• Provide a coupon, discount, or bonus gift to be redeemed in celebration of your reopening
• Share a customer story. How did you feel seeing/working with them again? How did they feel? What products or services helped them? What was the outcome? Include a picture, if you have one!
• Provide value. Give them tips or timely information related to your business or your industry that they might find useful.

Want to make your email marketing even MORE effective? Here is a hot tip:

Use animated GIFs to increase email ROI by 21%. Brands included animated GIFs in their emails often or always experience an ROI of 46:1, compared to an ROI of 38:1 for those who never have. (SOURCE)

#2. Post authentic messages and video on social media

Most Americans are spending more time than ever before on social media. Online interactions have nearly completely replaced personal interactions. Business marketing is founded on the idea that you need to be where your customers are. So if they are all on social media platforms, then you need to be there too!

But gone are the days of the generic, product-only posts! After Coronavirus, customers need more from you – they need to see your face. The people who are following you are following YOU. They can’t easily see and visit with you in person but seeing your face in their feed is the next best thing. Post pictures of you at work in your feed to remind your followers that you are back and open for business! Keep your posts positive and upbeat. Look like you’re having the best time and people are missing out by not doing business with you.

Videos and live content are also more important now than ever. Don’t worry about creating a slick production. The key is to be authentic and to be present.

Not sure what to post? Here are some ideas for social media posts for small businesses after the pandemic:

• A happy picture of you in your workplace – happy about reopening. In the caption, give safety & sanitation information and explain your hours and process for doing business.
• Post a Boomerang of you flipping a sign from closed to open. Be sure to list your operating hours and policies.
• Post a video on your Instagram Stories declaring that you’re open for business and explaining what you’re doing to keep everyone safe, etc. Save the video in a highlight on your Instagram profile so customers can access it later.
• Celebrate your customers! Take a picture of your customer in your business and post it (with their permission) to your feed or to your stories. Talk about how happy you are to see your customers again.
• Show off the products or items you have for sale by filming a video with your commentary and posting it on your social media platform and/or in your Stories.

Also, here’s a hot tip:

Be sure that you have message notifications for your social media profiles ON. Research shows that even though consumers want you to reach out to them using email, THEY prefer to reach out to YOU using social media. Don’t miss an Instagram or Facebook message that could lead to a sale! (SOURCE)

#3. Update your website and online listings, especially Google My Business

After Covid-19, customers will be checking your website and your online profiles and listings to see if you’re open and to check your hours, your safety precautions, etc. This information MUST be up-to-date and easy to find on your website.

Edit your home page with relevant information or install a pop-up

Consider updating your home page to add the relevant information and notices, or install a pop up that notifies customers of your policies and status when they visit.

Update your Google Listing and if you don’t have one, create it ASAP

For small businesses, one of the most critical pieces of your online marketing strategy should be your Google Business Listing. This is the BEST and most expedient way for small businesses to rise to the top of the Google Search rankings. If you do not have a Google “My Business” Listing, set one up ASAP. Here is a handy guide to get you started!

Check all online listings for your business and refresh the images

And don’t forget about the other places online that list your business information. Yelp, Instagram, Facebook Business Pages, etc. will all need to be updated. While you’re at it, consider uploading a few updated pictures of your business to your listings. It helps keep your business listing fresh and ensures that your pictures are the primary ones associated with your business – instead of random customer-posted images.

#4. Offer new products and services (or reframe existing ones!)

 If your current business or way of delivering services doesn’t work in a post-pandemic environment, it might be time to pivot. For instance, a retail business that traditionally sells sports-related clothing might need to diversify and start selling masks, tees with inspirational messages, and products that customers want wear right now in their homes.

Add “bite-sized” offerings to your service-based business

If you are a service-based business, think about adding more “bite-sized” services or introductory sessions. With unemployment surging and budgets cut, clients might be more willing to invest in a more targeted service at a lower price point than in your full-service offering. For example, I offer a full range of marketing services and support for small businesses. But during Coronavirus, I created a 1-hour consulting session focused on marketing during the pandemic. This helped small business owners strategize their monthly tasks and stay on track with their marketing and social media messages during the crisis.

I also created a free guide to Communicating During Coronavirus, a social media caption guide, a sample conversational social media calendar, and a list of engagement questions to help overwhelmed business owners figure out what they should be posting on Instagram and Facebook. Because of these more bite-sized and useful resources, a number of small business owners signed on for monthly consulting and strategy services while they rebuild after the shutdown.

Add a product section or online store to your website

If you have physical products for sale, this might be a good time to add an online store to your website. If adding an online store seems overwhelming, consider adding a product page to your site that features some of the most timely and relevant products for customers. Think about what your customers and clients need or want right now. How are they feeling? What are they missing? What products do you have that can satisfy those needs? Take pictures and write a description of the products and include information on how to purchase them (over the phone, come into the store, etc.).

#5. Collaborate with other local businesses

Traditional advertising might not be as effective as it was before Covid-19, and if you were impacted by the shutdown, you might not have the funds to invest in a big advertising campaign. Small businesses may need to look for other ways to reach new customers and provide value to their existing customers. One of the best ways to do that is to collaborate with other local businesses and use your existing marketing channels to introduce your audience to another business and vice versa.

Cohost a webinar or live presentation

Collaboration can be as simple as co-hosting a webinar or Facebook Live with another business and both promoting it to your customer base using email and social media. Since the other business is also promoting the event, you will get maximum exposure which could lead to new sales or clients down the road.

Cross-promote your products with local businesses

For retail businesses in a local shopping district, you could offer a collective discount to customers who visit both of your businesses. Or for a non-competing business, you could place a selection of your products in another local business and provide them with a portion of the sales as a thank you. Or better yet, put their products or information in your store as a trade promotion.

Collaborate on social media posts

Collaborating on social media an easy (and low-cost) way to get your business in front of a new pool of potential customers. Here’s an idea… To celebrate your business’ reopening, film a video of you and another business owner declaring that you’re open and to come visit. This video can be posted on both of your social profiles to increase exposure. Just be sure that you tag each other in your posts! A simplified version of that idea is to highlight another local business on your social media to help raise awareness. They should be willing to do it for you too! This creates goodwill and a sense of solidarity in your business district/industry.  

Last thoughts…

These are just a few of the changes that I’ve been recommending to my clients to make their small business marketing strategy post-pandemic. I hope that one of them rang true for you!

If you need help or want feedback on your small business marketing strategy post-pandemic, please contact me! I want to help you thrive!