What business owners can learn from the 2020 shutdown

Amidst the thriving economy of early 2020, few people could have anticipated the shift that would occur less than three months into the year. It was a shift that would affect businesses across the nation almost overnight.

Businesses shut down due to COVID-19 quarantine. Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Many local businesses have been hit hard—the retail shops that provide a sense of pride and personality in their communities. You know the kind: the bakery on historic main street, the boutique full of one-off consignments, those mom-and-pop shops that’ve been in families for generations, and the shops that sprung up over the last few years as part of an individual’s lifelong dream.

The problem? These businesses often rely on face-to-face transactions. They want people in their stores—in person—because they’re an essential part of their business plans and culture. These interactions are an integral part of who they are and the value they provide that can’t be found in big box stores. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a problem at all. This kind of interaction provides a sense of connection and belonging for those running the business and for their patrons. It instills pride in a community and evokes feelings of nostalgia—a fondness for the slow-paced experiences of yesteryear. March 2020, however, was anything but ordinary.

The quarantine shopping experience

Because of stay-at-home orders, quarantines, the command for “non-essential businesses” to close in order to stop the spread of the virus, consumers have had to change the way they shop—and many have turned to online shopping because it provides a simple shopping process with access to (most of) the essential products they’re looking for.

Two ways this new shopping experience has made an impact include the disruption of:

1. Relationships consumers have formed with local business owners, managers, and the services they provide.
2. A consumer’s ability to support local businesses because many haven’t had a need before now to foster a thriving and profitable online presence.

Though moving some operations online may seem at odds with a business built on face-to-face interactions, it’s entirely possible to capture your organization’s unique personality, story, and offerings through the right website, with the correct features, explained through concise messaging that’s true to your company’s voice and tone.

We’ll go into this in more detail in just a minute.

Business “as normal” after shutdown

The COVID-19 quarantine won’t last a lifetime, but the shutdown will have lasting effects on both consumers and business owners. More than a year later, we still don’t know for sure what all of these effects will be, but one thing is clear: the need for a professional, functional, and profitable online presence has never been more important for local business owners.

Imagine what it could mean for your business if:

• You ran a deli with an established online ordering service available to anyone online.
• Your loyal customers subscribed to your newsletter long before you had to close down your physical shop.
• You had an established, online showcase of new arrivals at your boutique that attracted regular viewers from around the world.
• You already had the framework in place to host dance, martial arts, or other group classes traditionally taken in person.

Perhaps some efforts to move online could reduce the number of business owners pleading for consumer to “Please visit our Facebook store so we can stay afloat.”

Establishing your online presence

There are a variety of ways to enhance your local offerings through an online presence. While we can’t possibly go into detail about taking your business online in a single article, we can provide some tips to get you started.

1. Take inventory of what you can change. As you look at your business and how the shutdown has affected you, consider the following questions: 1) What can you change to minimize the damage of a future shutdown, whether it comes from the government, a personal emergency, or other unforeseen situation? 2) How can you position your brand, product, or service to continue to make a living even when physical locations are temporarily closed? 3) What problems can you solve for your customers that big box stores can’t?
2. Explore your brand story. Take time to understand why you’re running your business, where your passion came from, and the catalyst for taking the leap to own your own business venture. Write this down as a story—with details about the hard moments. You can use this story to connect with consumers on your “about” page, through a blog post, or on social media along with pictures to illustrate your journey.
3. Identify your audience. Dig into the attributes of your existing customers and find the commonalities between them. Are they from the same age group? Do they come from the same income bracket? Are they active on social media—and do you know which channels? Take time to understand them and to identify others in the community who fit that same “mold.” This is your target audience. These are the people you will need to resonate with online. These are the people you’ll share your brand story with. To get started, check out this free persona template.
4. Build your social media presence. Create a profile on the social media channel where your audience is most engaged. Share content regularly—at least once a week—that appeals to your audience. This content can include local happenings, bios on your staff, the history of the building your store is located in, why it’s important to support local businesses, and new arrivals or promotions. Remember, your audience isn’t on social media to be bombarded with sales gimmicks, so 80% of your posts should focus on their interests or the local community. And, they should provide real value. Only 20% of posts should lean toward self-promotion. To learn how to create better social media ads and posts, check out this marketing course on Skillshare.
5. Create a professional website. There’s a lot that goes into a professional website, including the layout, design, functionality, and the information you choose to share. Though we can’t tackle each of these now, here are some main points to keep in mind as you strive to create a good first impression on your homepage: 1) Make sure it’s well-branded. It should feel like your store—the same personality, voice and images. 2) Include a picture of you or your store so people can feel that connection. 3) Provide a clear call-to-action such as, “See our new arrivals,” “Subscribe to our newsletter,” “Meet the owner,” “Take a virtual tour,” etc. 4) Create a seamless shopping experience from homepage to final checkout, and ensure there’s a way for your consumers to leave a review after they receive their order.

As mentioned, this is by no means an exhaustive list. As a team of highly skilled software engineers, entrepreneurs, and marketers who are passionate about helping others live their best lives on and off the clock, we could create an entire series of articles devoted to each one of these tips (and then some)—and perhaps we will. Today, however, we wanted to provide some first-steps, some direction for small business owners who haven’t yet included an online strategy into their business plans and goals.

Optimizing your online presence

Crafting an effective online presence is an art, but there are a lot of self-help options available to guide you through the process. There are also do-it-yourself website builders. While these have some merit, investing in the expertise of a skilled team can save you time, increase your visibility, and help you make the best impression possible, so you can focus on what you do best.

Contact us today about our services including copywriting, SEO, and marketing.

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