Episode 5: If you Act like you're closed you WILL be closed
Updated: Apr 17, 2020
These are really unusual times that we are living in. No one was given a playbook for how to navigate it, and quite frankly as business owners, we are making up the rules as we go. The critical step is to stay in the game, rather than throwing in the towel and sitting it out. The sad reality is 1/3 - 1/2 of all small businesses aren't going to recover. By being proactive and staying in front of your audience you will increase your chance of being one of the ones that come out the other side.
Here are some quick tips for ensuring your audience doesn't think you're closed permanently.
Check your Hours. If anywhere you've changed your hours to closed such as on your website or social channels - you need to change them to something else. Even if it's to by appointment only. People aren't going to try and figure out if you are temporarily closed or permanently closed. Keep the messaging easier for them to understand.
When is the last time you posted? If you haven't posted anything on your social channels since this all started (adding a post for Easter doesn't count) you need to stop reading and just post something - anything really. You need to get something on there. In the next episode, we will chat about what to post.
Pull your ongoing ads. At the very least take a look at them. Are they still valid for your audience? Is the message still applicable? I personally realized that on my own website, the message that I spent so much time on in February was completely inappropriate today. The message was no longer aligned with the struggles and stresses that my customers were facing. The result that we are still working to achieve is the same. We still want to work towards making them profitable. It just looks a lot different now in how we talk about it.
Double Down on Free Marketing. You can either buy your way into a room or you can work your way into the room. Right now if you're like many other businesses, you are looking to reduce expenses. Reducing expenses and stopping marketing don't go together. You can continue marketing even when you reduce the budgets. Currently, Facebook and Instagram are offering rates we haven't seen in a few years for the cost of reach.
If you want to listen to the episode check out it on your favorite platform or listen to it here.
