Governments around the globe are limiting movement because of COVID-19.

Many businesses are being affected by social distancing, from toy shops and cafes to wedding halls or yoga studios. There are many ways to remain proactive despite this setback.

 

7 ways to make this time productive:

1. Review your Business Strategy
2. Optimize your Site
3. Create your own Blog
4. Refresh Your Business
5. Increase Your Marketing Efforts
6. Create Business Relationships
7. Take time for yourself

01. Reexamine Your Business Strategy

This is a great opportunity to step back and evaluate how your business is doing. Reexamine your goals and aspirations. To ensure everything runs smoothly, review the nuts and bolts.

Perform a SWOT analysis .

Analyze the Sweaknesses, Weaknesses and Opportunities of your business. This will allow you to identify areas for improvement and help you keep your marketing goals on target. What’s working? What’s not? What’s your competition doing? What competitive advantages does the business have? Are you utilizing them fully? What are your quarterly/yearly goals Are you achieving them?

Tip Determine where your company stands in your industry. This information can be used to help you strategize how to compete with industry leaders. You can create a list with ideas to increase your revenue in the next year.

Revisit mission statements

Describe the purpose of your business and the value it provides customers. A clear brand identity is essential. Do you have a clear mission statement? What products and services does your business want to offer? Which market gaps are your business trying to fill Are you succeeding or failing? Are you able to change your goals? Tip Update your mission statement to reflect your current goals.

Review your analytics .

Make the most of all the information you have to find out what’s working and what isn’t. Take a look at your sales records. What products are you selling? Which products are selling? What makes certain services more popular? Tip Use this information to decide what products and services you want to offer in your future store. You might be able to reposition slow-selling products to make them more attractive. You can update product pages and images to highlight the benefits of your services.

Assess your spending.

Take the time to go through all of your financial records. What costs can you reduce? Is there a way to reduce spending? Are your investments paying off.

Tip Take stock of your cash flow. Make sure that your business expenses have a positive impact on your ROI.

Get insights from your team.

To see the thoughts of your team, check-in. You can meet face-to-face if you are unable to do so, or schedule a conference call via Zoom or Google Hangouts, or Skype. Do you have any ideas for improving your business? Are there any customer concerns or requests that they have heard? TipYour team might have a different view than you. Listen to their opinions and be open-minded. You can review your work environment, workflow, and services, and make any necessary changes.

02. Optimize your site

Your customers can shop online from their couch. Now is the perfect time to optimize your online store.

• Update your product pages. Multiple product photos can be uploaded to show how the item looks in real-life. To express the item’s worth, use your product description.
• Review your company policies. Your customers should feel confident about completing their order. Make sure you clearly state your shipping, return, and refund policies. They should be updated to reflect current conditions.
• Reexamine your checkout process. Customers will find it easier to make their purchases. Reduce the number of clicks required to complete your purchase. Clear call to action on each product page.
• Add automations. Automated emails can be set up to reach shoppers who abandon carts. Update emails sent to customers when they make a purchase.
• Provide testimonials and reviews. Shoppers are more comfortable making purchases if they have read reviews. After customers make purchases, send automated emails to get feedback. Showcase customer reviews on your homepage or product pages.

This comprehensive checklist will ensure that your store has all the necessary tools to succeed.

03. Start a blog

Create a blog to drive traffic to your website. Blogs can be a great way to get new customers, and engage with your target audience.

• Your customers will appreciate you being a resource. To be a thought leader in your field, use your knowledge. Your target audience will be interested in topics that are relevant. Let customers know how to best use your products by sharing your professional insights.
• Keep customers informed. Inform customers about any changes in your business. Inform them about any special sales, discounts, or coupons.
• Create a community. Forums and blogs allow people to communicate with each other and create relationships based upon shared interests. Start conversations and build a community around you business.
• Attract new customers. Write articles that offer value to a wider audience. Refer to the solutions that your company offers, but keep it simple. Your blog should not sound like a sales pitch.

04. Refresh Your Brand

Have you ever had time to reflect on your company’s brand identity?

• Update your logo. Give your logo a facelift. Your logo should reflect the products and services that you offer. To restyle your logo, use Wix Logo Maker.
• Your brand’s identity should be solidified. Don’t stop at your logo. To ensure your brand is represented on your website, fine-tune the design. Your website and social media platforms should have a consistent brand that your customers can recognize and remember.
• Print-on-demand products can be created. Printful and Printify offer print-on-demand services that allow you to add branded products on your website. Make products that are relevant for your business. Your logo can be printed on t-shirts and totes. These products can be imported to your website or used as promotional items.

05. Increase your marketing efforts

Find the right marketing strategy for you business. Take stock of your marketing successes and mistakes and look at new possibilities.

Social Media

Create social media pages for your company if you don’t have one.

Millions of people around the world are at home, spending more time on social networks. Engaging content is in great demand.

Think outside the box. Make inspiring social posts and funny videos about products or services.

Make a social calendar. Create a backlog for posts to your social media channels. You can organize posts by campaign or target audience. This will allow you to get ahead of the curve in preparing social media promotions for major holidays.

Attract attention for your brand and your business. Wix allows you to create a Facebook ads campaign. Select the products you want to highlight and target an audience. Then let Wix’s artificial intelligence do the rest.

Email Marketing

To keep your customers informed about new products, promotions, or blog posts, create email newsletters.

Create different customer email lists and set up an email address for your business. Different groups will be targeted with different content.

Create attention-grabbing subject lines that encourage customers to open emails and click through to your website.

Find

Customers can find you online. You can rank higher in search engines such as Google by optimizing the site for SEO.

You can do many things to improve your website’s visibility. You should narrow down the keywords that people use to search for your products and services. These short phrases will be used to create your website’s title and description. Wix SEO Wizard can help you with this process. This tool will provide your business with an SEO plan tailored to your needs and guide you through its implementation. The Wix SEO guide provides tips and tricks.

Bonus Tip To keep your site members informed about promotions and any changes to your business, you can use the Wix owner app to send push notification.

06. Develop Business Relationships

You can reach out to clients, customers, suppliers, mentors, and others via email or social networks. Even though you may not be available for a coffee meet-up, you can set up meetings online or over the phone.

• Contact your role models. Your mentors in business will be more available to you now. Ask them for ideas on how to improve your business. Ask for advice, brainstorm, and revise the business strategy.
• Reach out to your business contacts. You can check in on your suppliers, fulfillment centres and other colleagues. Talking with others who are going through similar situations can be very therapeutic. You don’t have to be in business together right now, but it’s worth making an effort to maintain these relationships.
• Get to know your customers. Everybody is anxious. Transparency and addressing customers’ concerns will help you build deeper relationships. You can reach them via the Wix Chat or Wix Owner. Start a forum to answer questions from your community.
• You can partner with influencers. You can promote your products or services using influencer marketing. You can search social media for relevant influencers such as celebrities, journalists, bloggers, or content creators. Reach out to them to help promote your brand.

07. Take care of yourself

This tip isn’t directly business-related, but it should be remembered. It’s important to take precautions during stressful times to ensure your safety and that of your family members.

Use the World Health Organization guidelines, as well as those of your local government and health officials. Social distancing is a good idea. Stay at home if possible

You may have to leave your business for a while, but take the time to do some self-care. It can be difficult for anyone, so relax and take some time to enjoy the process.

You might consider taking up a hobby, or even starting an online course. Learn to code. Take a marketing course . Start a YouTube channel. You can recharge so that you’re ready to go when business is back to normal. Customers will wait.

source https://www.wix.com/blog/ecommerce/2020/03/coronavirus-business-tips-to-stay-productive