As organisations move forward into an uncertain ‘new normal’, Nick Mathews offers five ways to help your business survive the pandemic shutdowns
As we move through re-opening into an uncertain future, it will be increasingly important for businesses to build a presence across all of these engagement channels to ensure that their sense of community remains, whether or not they’re in quarantine.
In addition to building a great in-person experience, which will be much appreciated as customers move into the ‘new normal,’ an ongoing cross-channel marketing strategy will ensure that a solid sense of community will remain long-term. Getting customers signed up for an email list, following the business on social media, and ensuring they have a positive experience with management will all go a long way to ensuring long-term success.
My organisation, MainVest is a community investment platform that focuses on the growth and development of small brick and mortar businesses.
While the company’s mission is finding investors to help businesses grow, during the pandemic our team pivoted toward helping small businesses stay afloat. Here are five ways that we recommend to help your business survive the pandemic shutdowns.
1Focus on engaging with your community
During the Covid-19 pandemic, community has become increasingly important. One thing that all consumers have had in common throughout the unique challenges posed by the pandemic is a desire for community and togetherness. Business owners have an opportunity to not only maintain relevance in a time where they may lose foot traffic and revenue, but foster a sense of community that is so desired by their customers and their network.
Community engagement is essential for businesses impacted by COVID-19. Some businesses, especially early on, were shut down completely. Retail shops without e-commerce offerings, restaurants and cafes without takeout, and gyms and fitness studios without online classes had their cash flow reduced to zero. However, the ones that listened to their community, innovated, and stayed relevant ultimately had a better chance of making it through the pandemic.
2Embrace new service and product delivery methods
Businesses found unique ways to serve their clientele’s new needs. Retailers set up e-commerce sites with the most important items, such as cleaning equipment, masks, or care kits. Restaurants optimised menus for take-out, ensuring that they could maintain positive cash flow despite the added costs of delivery apps. Fitness studios began offering online classes, which not only engaged the current community but also lowered the barrier to entry for new members. By listening to the needs of their customers, through social media, through direct engagement, or just through common sense, businesses that were quick to adapt fared better than those who tried to wait things out.
3Engage on social media
Even as re-opening begins, it’s important to focus on what the community needs and engage directly with them through any means. Customers are still nervous about dining out, for example, so a savvy restaurant will run polls on social media, pay attention to major industry trends, and set up calls with their top customers to ensure that the practices they’re implementing are satisfactory for the community. The same approach applies with any type of business facing a ‘new normal,’ as a business shouldn’t come off as tone deaf or uncaring about the ever-changing needs of their customers.
4Try out a virtual experience
Community engagement is also essential for fostering a sense of belonging. The pandemic created emotional turmoil for so many people. Some people were burnt out from working too much; others, unable to work at all. Many communities faced a terrifying death rate and may have lost family members. Others may have had to juggle multiple family commitments, while others who lived alone were in complete isolation. Businesses that continued to foster community online through great virtual experiences and through relevant products and services helped alleviate the pain and suffering felt by so many. From a lovely takeout dinner to a fun virtual happy hour or a great workout class, businesses that effectively built online platforms and communities helped their customers feel that much better about a difficult situation.
5Embrace digital marketing, and ‘old school’ marketing as well
Social media is an important tool for community engagement during and after Covid-19. Even mom and pop shops hesitant to learn new technology benefited by being able to speak with customers, share updates, and maintain relevance. Without foot traffic and the ability to rely on regular orders, digital marketing became the only way to stay top of mind. Social media is a free way to create consistent messaging and branding for any business. It can also be used to imitate other forms of engagement usually done in person: from networking, to posting information, to running polls and surveys, and creating good customer service experiences, social media really made a difference for businesses able to engage with their customer base. Other forms of community engagement during COVID include direct phone conversations, something that most businesses don’t normally do. Whether a business turns to formal fundraising, and needs to call potential investors, or just wants feedback on reopening practices or new product lines, one-on one-conversations with important clients can go a long way in fostering community when face-to-face conversations are impossible.
Email marketing is another important tool that is underused, especially in the small business space. If a business didn’t focus on building email lists pre-Covid, they were left with few options for disseminating information. Having a great website and multiple forms of outreach allowed some businesses to build these lists even during Covid and begin to share information in a more professional and sustainable format.
Conclusion: community engagement is the key to your business’s survival
Nick Mathews is the CEO and Co-founder of MainVest.
An expert in marketing and operational strategy, Nick led the team that launched Uber in Boston back in 2011. While launching Uber in new markets, both suburban and urban, he experienced first-hand local challenges around economic development. He founded MainVest in 2018 with the goal of empowering communities to determine their own economic development, using new regulations and novel investment vehicles to align incentives between local community members and small businesses.
