What you can do for your business during the national lockdown

While all businesses have had to pivot or reimagine where they stand within the economic landscape since the beginning of lockdown in South Africa - some have been hit harder than others. 

Closing your business's doors for one public holiday can be tough, but for an undetermined amount of time? It’s daunting. We especially applaud all organisations who have taken care of their employees to the best of their abilities, but where does that leave you?

Here are some ideas to tide you over until you’re able to open your doors once again, as well as how you can think about pivoting (or adding to) your business during this time:

Nurture your existing community

While your business might not be able to run at full throttle, your loyal consumers are still out there. 

Whether it’s by answering questions and upping your community management game, or by putting out content (such as articles) that will ultimately help them during this time, your audience still wants to hear from you. 

A study published by Twitter on what consumers expect from brands during this time shows that 64% of consumers want brands to continue to advertise as normal, with 77% feeling positive about brands making an effort to support society at the moment. 

Over-communicate with your consumers

Keep your brand and business top of mind during this time. This doesn’t mean post inauthentic content or content which isn’t cognisant of the struggles we’re going through at this time. 

It does mean, however, post content which lets your audience know you’re thinking of them, that we’re all in this together, and that you appreciate their support - before, during and after this pandemic. 

Let them know how they can support you, as well as vice-versa. Try not to go radio silent during this time, and create content that is meaningful and helpful, even if it’s not 100% related to your business. 

Relook at your digital marketing efforts

According to insights and consulting firm Kantar, social media usage has increased by 40% over the last few weeks. This can be attributed to country-wide lockdowns implemented by governments all over the globe. 

Is your business currently advertising and posting organic content online? If not, now is the time to start. 

Create a review management strategy

An easy way to keep your brand top of mind during this time is to tailor a review management strategy for your business. Use this time to build a credible online profile, and use past experiences to bolster your credibility.

A simplified review strategy can look something like this:

1. Sign up to a trusted third-party provider such as Hellopeter.
2. Collect new reviews from your existing consumers.
3. Respond to your existing reviews, whether they’re positive or negative.
4. Help correct any experiences which negatively affected your consumer. 
5. Now that you’ve dealt with your existing reviews, you can start using your positive reviews as content for your website, social platforms and other owned media. 
6. Continue to collect reviews, and use these reviews to assist you in gaining new consumers. 

We’ll be happy to give you a walkthrough of the different analytic tools and Widgets available to use on Hellopeter. 

Research how changing consumer behaviour will affect your business

This pandemic is changing many factors of life as we knew it. From online learning, how we interact with one another, to how and why we buy. 

The loss of many jobs worldwide and loss of income means we’ll be more careful about who we purchase goods from, and where we’ll spend our money. 

Social proof will play a bigger role than ever in getting your company sales. When researching a service, product or business - consumers will be more likely to go with the business who has a credible review profile, and active digital presence and community, and a strong brand. 

You can read about how Ikhokha used reviews to improve their conversion rate using Hellopeter and social proof here. 

Plan for the future

One thing is for sure, our business and economic landscape will fundamentally be changed going forward. Start imagining what the new normal will look like for your industry, and business. 

It’s possible that new business models will emerge from this crisis. Would your business be better off going fully digital going forward? Will your supply chain need to pivot to make use of local manufacturers? If you offer a service, what can you do to add more value to your consumers? 

While the pandemic has forced a shift within businesses and workplaces globally, it may be for the better in the long-term. Shifting to a digital space now may save you time, effort and resources later.