4 Unique Strategies for Small Businesses to Stay Top of Mind During COVID
It is fair to say that it is an unstable time for small business in every sense of the word. We are having to adapt smoothly, think on our feet quickly, and continue to maintain a high level of customer service. The biggest challenge for most small businesses is maintaining a sense of relevance and continuing to make significant positive impacts in their field. You may have already seen that many cafes and foodservice venues have swiftly established delivery and curbside pick-up, and have seen success with this process. It’s all about being innovative and thinking outside of the box. You’ll need to consider the needs of the customer but also consider introducing your audience to new things, in an exciting manner. Stuck for ideas. We’re here to help and share some thoughts with you below.
Bars Doing Live Stream Concerts With Musicians
With effective and targeted advertising, this can be an extremely successful way for both the musician and venue to bring in profit, whilst providing a sense of community and entertainment to their market. If your business is frequented often by musicians, such as the popular Thursday night gig, there’s no need to stop this at this time. It’s all about adapting to the changes. Musicians are eager to perform and need to make a living, so live stream online events are the perfect platform to provide this opportunity.
To get this kickstarted, it’s important to create a connection between the musicians and venues. If you’re a small business owner that had upcoming scheduled gigs at your venue, reach out to those musicians to see if they’d be interested in doing a live stream set. Live stream events appear to be most successful when aired via a Facebook landing page associated with the venue. The musician should also make sure to share and promote the event on their social media and Facebook page. These events work best when the musician interacts with the online audience as they would with a live audience. Responding to viewer comments and reactions and providing backstories to songs is definitely recommended for the ultimate viewer experience.
From a financial standpoint, we recommend providing a Venmo link in the live stream descriptor so people have the option to tip the musician. For the bar, offering a curbside delivery and/or home delivery service of popular drinks and merchandise can be beneficial. Why not set the scene, and offer viewers a drink bundle delivery deal for the night of the Livestream so they can sit back and enjoy the music with their favorite beverage?
Physical Therapy Clinics Providing Online Exercise Zoom Classes
Offering exercise classes via Zoom is a trendy new way to keep fit. People still value their health and fitness and seek a sense of normalcy in their daily routine. For many, this could’ve been attending a Yoga class or strength circuit session a few times a week. It’s a great idea to continue offering classes if you were doing so before-hand, and continue to have as much diversity in your offerings as possible. If you need to decrease the regularity of sessions, this is a better option than to cut classes altogether. For classes that require a variety of equipment, they can be adapted. Think outside of the box here! You could use chairs as a bench and books as weights. People are more open to being creative with their workouts at this time, and this trend is presenting on social media.
Provide your clients with a schedule of classes on your website, and access to a calendar service like Google Calendar. From this platform, you can send out Zoom invites to those who sign up for classes. It’ll mark it in their calendar with a link to access the online class platform. Let your clients know what they’ll need for the class (we recommend keeping it simple, like a yoga mat and towel). A quick tip, once your zoom class is in full swing, mute the participants so noise from other users does not distract the class. Offer answers to queries via direct messaging in the zoom application. You can also record the session and send out in an email chain to your clients/customers.
Crossfit Gyms Do Sip and Stretch
Ever heard of Zoom drinks? How about offering a stretch session and finishing with some zoom drinks? It’s a great way to destress and provide the desired social element. Many Crossfitters will still be integrating workouts in some form or another into their week, so facilitating a stretch session could be optimal for those athletes wanting an excuse to recover, catch-up with their gym friends and relax with a good drink. All participants need is a yoga mat or towel, a space to stretch, and a beverage of their choice.
3D Online Tours of Private Schools
It’s important to highlight that providing parents and families with the opportunity to tour schools virtually is an investment that will pay dividends now and into the future. By setting up a virtual foundation now, it will provide families with the opportunity later to select whether they want a physical or virtual tour. This is time, location and cost-effective. Families are more likely to consider sending their children there if resources and information is readily and easily accessible. Selecting a school for their children is a big decision, particularly if they are investing in private schooling options. From a geographical standpoint, 3D virtual tours reduce the need to travel to tour potential school choices. This increases the potential student intake particularly if the school offers boarding options.
How these strategies will persist after COVID
The effect of COVID will no doubt shape the way businesses operate in the future. It is likely we will feel the repercussions of this event in the near and distant future. This means that it is essential to establish platforms now that can grow and flourish over time. COVID-19 has essentially kick-started a technological revolution. By accessing and reaching out to online audiences, you increase your potential advertising market. It’s as simple as that. Think of it as a creative endeavor, that is exciting, slightly experimental and needs to be nurtured. It’s no doubt that people are becoming more accustomed to using the internet for social and entertainment purposes in light of the current world situation. This includes things we discussed above, such as telehealth, online exercise classes, online concerts, food delivery, etc. If small businesses strive to establish efficient online platforms for programs and resources that are user friendly, they will tap into a market and profit stream that originally might not have been considered. This establishes a technological foundation for the future and a new branch of potential growth for the business.
If needing digital brand consulting contact us today to help you scale and get creative for the new world we will be living in tomorrow.
