Businesses everywhere are shutting down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Whether your business is still offering services (limited or otherwise) or anticipating having to temporarily close, it’s important to stay engaged with your customer base.
Here’s how your business can keep customers engaged while your doors are closed.
Update, update, update. First and foremost, you’ll want to make sure you’ve adequately updated your customers on the subject of how your business will be adjusting during its temporary closure. Businesses across every industry are handling this in different ways, from waiving fees to offering free services to customers. It’s important to do what’s financially reasonable for your business, but it’s equally important to keep your customers plugged in.
If you haven’t already, update your website with a COVID-19 response. Send out emails and post to your social media. As the situation progresses, keep your customers updated. While I can’t tell you how long this is all going to last, things are constantly changing. Perhaps you’re going to start offering curbside pickup. Eventually you’re going to reopen. Everyone is constantly looking for updates about everything. Give them yours.
Keep the content going. If you have a content marketing plan in place, do your best to keep it going. Chances are, you’re going to have to make some adjustments. Fortunately, a lot of content can still be created remotely. (For example, I’m writing this article from the comfort of my home.)
In one of our articles last year, 4 Common Types Of Content Marketing For Your Small Business, I detailed affordable content perfect for small businesses on a budget. All of the content listed can be created remotely (with a few adjustments). Here’s the content I listed along with how it can be developed remotely.
- Blog. If your business has a blog, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve already got this one figured out yourself.
- Video. Producing high-quality video presents more of a challenge. But here’s the thing. People understand that you may have limited resources at the moment. One example of easy video content is to show off what your employees are doing at home during their self-quarantine via social media stories on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook (e.g. pets at the work desk).
- Podcasts. While many podcasts are recorded in-person, many (including some of my favorites) are recorded remotely. Courtesy of Podcast Insights, click here to check out their list of recommended podcast software for recording remotely.
- Infographics. In my article from last year, I linked to the following article from Small Business Trends: 25 Tools to Create Infographics for Your Small Business Website. Give it a read.
Stay active on social media. Even while you’re shut down, radio silence is never the answer. People are packed inside their homes, looking for something to do. They’re turning to social media to help alleviate often increasingly depressing circumstances. It’s important to treat the entire situation with care and respect, and maintain a sense of positivity.
With so many people at home, schedules have altered drastically. The typical workday isn’t so cut-and-dried anymore. Everything you know about social media timing needs to change completely. That means taking a long term look at your social media plans and examining how it can best fit the goal of staying engaged during these times.
Stay Engaged With CoGoBuzz
Keeping your customers engaged is easy with CoGoBuzz, our state-of-the-art digital marketing service. Leveraging advanced WiFi, SMS, and Email solutions, our service helps keep your customers engaged on the devices they use the most. Both in-store and out, our service keeps your brand and customers connected.
Click here to learn more about CoGoBuzz!
Whether you’re one of our current customers, or you’re interested in joining the CoGoBuzz family, we’re committed to helping businesses affected by COVID-19.
For current customers, we’re providing free text message service, allowing you to send a link to order online, purchase gift cards, and/or notify customers of new hours.
For new customers, we’re offering our hardware at cost, donating our services, time, and covering shipping costs. Prepare for the future with CoGoWiFi Free to collect your customers’ phone numbers. There are no contracts or monthly fees, and we offer unlimited customer data storage.
Click here for more details on how we’re handling the crisis.
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How is your business keeping customers engaged? Let us know in the comments.