Welcome back!
The insights we’re sharing here are meant to open your mind to the possibilities available right now to any business, sector, or individual.
We know these are especially challenging, confusing times for anyone running an independent business or brand. We’ve had many questions over the past few weeks – from brands and clients wondering how to pivot, grow, and keep momentum (and faith!) over the coming months.
Each marketing strategy and business landscape is different, but we’ve compiled some great tips to help you sift through the noise. Let’s refocus to find a strategy that allows your brand to grow, balance, and thrive.
Here’s our second set of tools – so you can survive and thrive!
5. Offer free services or giveaways (we know this seems counter-intuitive, but we promise it’s a great idea).
This can take on many forms. We know that many of you are struggling to make rent or to keep business sustainable as our economic climate shifts, but exchanging services or showing kindness allows you to offer hope to your community and elevates your brand at the same time.
From a business standpoint, this gesture tells your clients that you stand behind values like kindness, community, and philanthropy – feeding into your ethos as an ethical brand. Aside from doing good out of the kindness of your hearts (we are all feeling so much love for our clients and peers these days!), it’s also a great time to try giveaways or a free service for those who engage with your brand online. This only increases traffic and attention. This is the time to grow your audience and expand your footprint; even if you might not see the rich benefits of these gestures now, when our worlds resume some element of normalcy, the companies who used this time to expand their audiences will be the ones reaping the benefits and climbing steadily.
6. Check in with your team more.
As a team who works remotely, we know how important good communication is when working from home. Even if your team is remarkably competent, set strong ground rules for check-ins – possibly more than usual. This gives time for community brainstorming and support. It also reminds everyone of your communal message and brand standards, which only benefits all of you. This also allows you to recognize those who are stepping up to the plate – while some people struggle with independent work, others may shine in times of crisis. Who is taking initiative? How could they help propel you further?
Encourage employees and coworkers to take healthy self-help steps and offer materials on working from home.
Here’s a great blog on that topic from our team who’s been perfecting this remote work thing for a while!
7. Think outside the box.
This may be the most sacred of all marketing tips at a time like this.Take some time every day to let your thoughts run without judgement, and explore ideas that you might not have tried before.
Encourage your team to dream big. More than ever, there are no silly ideas. Consider your target demo. How have their lives changed? What are they looking for? What do you have to offer that they don’t have access to yet?
This is a time for creative and personal growth. If we can intentionally access that despite an uneasy climate, we’re doing exactly what good marketing and a great business community was meant to do. Encourage training and learning new skills for all of your staff. Where are free courses available? Are there new skills you could learn as a team that could expand the reach of what you can do?
Ask your clients – possibly even the ones who are no longer with you. Perhaps they’re not buying what you are selling anymore, but what would they buy? Where do they see growth? What else could you offer them that extends to this environment?
What’s been helping your business acclimatize? Visit our socials to explore more ideas, tips, and updates on how our team is innovating and inspiring our clients these days.
Give us a call or email if you’d like to strategize with us or explore more ideas! We love dreaming up big ideas and creating new opportunities for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
