There’s no hiding from it, thousands of businesses have suffered in the current climate, you’re not alone. Covid-19 has swept across the globe, disrupting health and welfare, the economy, jobs and socialisation, which means businesses have to adapt quickly to survive if they have not already been forced to close, sadly through no fault of their own. 

Already, businesses everywhere have had to re-think their strategies, procedures, and services to protect their employees and customers. As businesses are aiming to operate as normal, B2B companies may not suffer the same consequences as B2C companies. 

If your business is going through a quiet period, we have put together a list of ways in which you can get ready for the post-lockdown boom, so let’s get to it!

1. Improve your website

Having the chance to take a step back and look at your website from a customer’s perspective highlights areas which need improvement. 

• Does your website give customers all the information they need? 
• Does it answer the most common questions your visitors have?
• Is your content and media up to date?
• Does your content directly relate to your target audience?
• Are you images high-quality, if they are, could they be optimised for faster page load times?
• Are you displaying good customer reviews, are they up to date and fresh?
• Are your forms/booking systems optimised for conversions?

Investing a little time updating your website can put your business can make a huge difference, ready for when times are busier. 

2. Turn internal frustration, into optimisation

Your employees are heavily involved in the day to day tasks that keep your business running. If anyone knows how to improve processes, can pin-point where time is wasted and understand the problems your customers face; its them, and the reality is, they may not mention to you what these improvements could be, unless asked.

Take the time during quieter periods to ask your employees to fill out an optionally anonymous questionnaire. If employees have the option to stay anonymous, you will get more truth about negative areas of the business rather than if they put their name to it. 

The opportunity to help improve business processes can also give your staff a real sense of value in your company.

3. Create valuable content

A consistent stream of interesting and informative content can be a great way for people to find your business when browsing the web for information, searching for similar services, or scrolling through social media. The types of content which are most useful for this are:

• Blog posts
• SEO pages
• Videos
• Images 

Blog posts and SEO pages which are keyword focused can help your website to rank higher in the organic search results for target keywords. The keywords you choose should be relative to the conversions which are generated through your website. 

Creating both text and rich media content is also great for posting on social media to help users find you. Your organic posts will only reach the users who like/follow your pages, so aim to encourage shares through high-quality content, competitions, and hashtags. 

Sponsoring your content can target a winder audience, by narrowing down your targeting setting to control who sees your posts. Ensure that the content your sponsor is made for and directly speaks to the audience you are targeting. 

4. Research, research, research!

Competitor analysis, ad analysis, social analysis, audience analysis, historical analysis, the list goes on. Sometimes its so easy to get stuck in the same routine of what you do, because you know it works. But how much information is missed due to a lack of research? An example of potential areas which could be researched are:

• Are your competitors doing something you are not (or vice versa) and does that work in your favour?
• Have you slowly lost followers over the past year and has that affected your sales?
• Is there is a gap in the market which none of your competitors are exploring?
• Who is in the top 4% of your customers?
• What is trending in your industry?

There are many more avenues to researching what suits your business model and future goals but stepping away from the day-to-day gives you time to valuable time to think and plan. 

5. Invest in an online store

Lockdown has provided an opportunity for businesses to increase their online presence. Simply put, more people are buying online as a result. Not only has this enabled businesses all over the globe continue running during periods of lockdown, but has also helped businesses realise the potential of eCommerce in the long run. 

If you previously ran all your business from a brick-and-motor store, then exploring the online avenue will open up a sales channel which will allow you to continue generating revenue when your brick-and-motor store has to close.