How can I minimize the impacts of COVID-19 on my business?
Masks, alcohol gel, social distancing, prohibition of gatherings and closure of businesses in Brazil and several countries worldwide have been the scenario of 2020. How do we survive the global pandemic?
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has already affected more than 6.4 million people worldwide and caused more than 380,000 deaths at the time of writing this text (06/05/2020). Going beyond the disease itself, COVID-19 represented a drastic change in people’s behaviour as a society, upended the economies of countries around the world and generated data that can be frightening.
Schools were closed, airports had destinations blocked, and airlines and the tourism sector suffered severe impacts… by far, it is not the most encouraging scenario. Considering the entire socioeconomic context, treating this issue with the responsibility and truth it demands is essential. However, not everything is scaremongering and bad news: if, on the one hand, some sectors have had their numbers, data and estimates overturned, streaming platforms and companies that sell over the Internet have grown a lot.
Out of curiosity, during this period of global pandemic, Netflix, the series and film streaming giant, gained over 15 million subscriptions, doubling the projected estimate for the year, which was 7 million new subscribers. (With people isolated at home, there’s only a little left to do in our free time other than binge-watch a series we like, right?)
We also have some encouraging results when discussing online sales (the famous e-commerce). According to an article on the E-Commerce Brasil website, internet sales increased by 81% during social isolation, with revenue exceeding R$9.4 billion. This factor is also easily explained: people continue to need to purchase goods and services, even when isolated at home.
Okay, but everyone wants to know: how can you reduce the impacts of COVID-19 to survive the pandemic?
The first answer to this question is that there is no recipe to be followed: each company is inserted in a context, encompassed in a particular sector and has its income and expenses. As previously mentioned, sectors focused on airlines and tourism companies are being directly affected, and, in principle, there is no way to resolve macro problems (that is, those that are international in scope and depend on government decisions and recommendations from institutions such as the World Health Organization).
However, suppose the quarantine and the mandatory closure of businesses impact you. In that case, there are ways to circumvent and beat this system, ensuring that your business does not stand still and you have the means to make your sales. Contexts like this put companies against the wall, taking them out of their comfort zones and making entrepreneurs rack their brains.
The quickest and most obvious answer is e-commerce. Even before the spread of the coronavirus at a global level, this method had already been adopted by companies of the most varied segments and sizes as it has a relatively low initial cost, adapts to the reality and budget of each company and eliminates the costs that a company with physical space is in demand, click here and learn more about the advantages of e-commerce).
By relying on the e-commerce platform, your customers will be able to find your products or even services and hire them online, which ends up being an important tool to minimize the impact of the coronavirus on your business.
More is needed to have an e-commerce platform. She needs to be found!
Think about it with me: you open a physical store with a good structure, and your product supply is up to date, but it is located in a primarily residential neighbourhood without a large flow of people. Indeed, you may need help being found or achieving a significant amount of sales.
The same way happens in the virtual world. Numerous e-commerce platforms on the Internet are often adequately equipped with a good layout and products. However, they need to be better positioned in search engines. Working on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) so that your website is organically placed on the first page of Google is equivalent to taking your physical store out of the residential neighbourhood and onto the city’s main avenue.
Therefore, it is necessary to have an e-commerce platform and online store and work on search engine optimization simultaneously so that your website is easily found.
Have social networks as allies in your work, using Inbound Marketing strategies!
The use of social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, which are already prominent in an everyday context, was even more intensified with social isolation. These tools end up being one of the few ways to connect and interact with friends in a period in which shopping centres, restaurants, bars and clubs cannot open, and large shows give way to lives that, although they have a more intimate character, can connect thousands of people at the same time.
Investing in managing and creating posts on your social networks helps build a lasting bond with your customers. It is a simple and quick way to identify possible problems, preventing your consumer from waiting in service queues via email. Telephone. Furthermore, it is essential to post content that is relevant and valuable to your persona and not just talk about your products and services.
Providing rich materials to your target audience makes engaging and garnering likes, shares, comments, reactions and followers much more accessible. In this sense, it is essential to consider even users who are not necessarily interested in purchasing a product or service, as it is necessary to understand that each person is at a stage in the purchasing journey. You can educate them, transforming your qualified lead on the client.
Last but not least, value online sales!
Much more than an escape valve to minimize the impacts of COVID-19 on your business, e-commerce, SEO, Inbound Marketing and all other digital marketing strategies must be implemented into life. Once people who, at first, were afraid of buying online have good experiences with this method, e-commerce will grow more and more and represent a transformation in how products and services are acquired.
If you want to prepare for high performance and good results on the Internet, understand the importance of companies’ digital presence or contact agencies specializing in digital marketing that can help you!
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