Small businesses saw first hand the impact of Coronavirus. Direct impact to revenue, trouble generating new traffic, and strong pivots to marketing strategies are a few of the largest changes we’ve seen in a recent research study we conducted.
According to our latest research study Resiliency of Small Businesses During COVID-19, small businesses needed to pivot their marketing strategy and digitize their products and services.
While small businesses have historically relied on the use of street teams, small business marketing has evolved. The need for physical presence is becoming less important to small businesses’ overall success.
The one thing that continues to be true about small businesses is their ability to pivot quickly and change with market conditions. This resiliency will continue to get small businesses through this pandemic.
With this resiliency, we have learned what worked well for small businesses. Here’s what we found.
Lesson One: Create a Cohesive Digital Marketing Strategy
Many small businesses have found it difficult to adapt their marketing strategies. They were used to a certain way of doing things and that involved a lot of manual work, which was clearly not sustainable during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Small business marketing has evolved from old-school street teams handing out flyers in plain sight on busy sidewalks to small businesses advertising on social media, in emails and through targeted paid ads. This small business marketing shift has helped small businesses generate more revenue from new channels.
Continuing to invest in digital channels is a crucial aspect of small business success during the pandemic because it allows them to reach new audiences when campaigning for new customers.
In our study, we found small businesses struggled most with generating traffic and managing their platforms.
For the businesses that created a cohesive digital marketing strategy, they established an immediate ROI that softened the pandemic’s impact on their business.
The small businesses that were able to successfully pivot their marketing strategies have found it easier to organize and execute tasks–including managing more platforms with less effort.
They learned how to better communicate with customers, run more targeted advertising campaigns, and increase the value of customer relationships over time.
Lesson Two: Establish Strong Community Partnerships
The second trend we found with small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic was the investment in long-term partnerships for short-term gain. Primarily, businesses focused on B2B Partnerships and Word of Mouth campaigns.
The small businesses that were most successful at establishing these partnerships had the advantage of acquiring new customers and increasing their revenue over time.
B2B Partnerships
We found small business B2B partnerships were a powerful way for small businesses to increase revenue by cross promoting synergist brands in the local community.
Small businesses that were successful with small business marketing had a strong understanding of their target audience and how to reach them. This allowed small businesses to invest in the right partnerships.
Successful businesses started by identifying and targeting key influencers in their community who shared similar demographics. This made it easier for small business owners to establish a relationship with these local brands and promote each other’s products or services.
Word of Mouth
The small businesses that invested the most time into creating word of mouth campaigns were able to generate new sources of traffic, which was crucial in small business success during this pandemic.
These small businesses created word of mouth campaigns that allowed them to easily spread the word about their products and services without spending time or money on pricey advertisements.
One beneficial way of creating a word of mouth campaign would be to create a small business referral program that offers small gifts or discounts to customers who recommend the small business to their friends and family.
Another way of creating word of mouth campaigns is through online reviews, which allow small businesses to use content from social media websites such as Yelp! for free. Most people trust these organic reviews because they are unbiased opinions from real small business customers.
Key Takeaways
During the COVID-19 pandemic small businesses needed to understand how their marketing strategy could help them grow during a time of crisis.
The small businesses that were able to successfully pivot their marketing strategies have found it easier to organize and execute tasks–including managing more platforms with less effort. They learned how to better communicate with customers, run targeted advertising campaigns, and increase the value of customer relationships over time.
The small businesses that were most successful at establishing these partnerships had the advantage of acquiring new customers and increasing their revenue over time.
