Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard of the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the public health, economy, and supply chains across the world. Much is being said about the impact of the outbreak on our lives, businesses, and our collective future – some good and some bad; well, mostly bad. Still, there are some silver linings to this situation.
But, let’s get to the bad news first.
A Brewing Crisis!
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic!
The Chinese government has frozen its economy, effectively bringing its manufacturing and exports to a grinding halt. The move threatens to bring down several thriving economies to their knees and push the world into a new recession.
Closer home, Down Jones is plunging like a free falling skydiver whose chute is showing no signs of opening up. A study performed a few weeks ago reveals that 52% of the businesses in the US are preparing and bracing for an economic slowdown.
Crisis situations like the ongoing outbreak make us realize that many of the things that we take for granted are not so permanent. Within a span of just a few weeks, we have already come to accept the emptying grocery stores, growing shortages of essentials, fear of public transportation, and school shutdowns as the new normal.
An Opportunity in Disguise?
As more and more businesses ask their employees to work out of their homes, it’s a wakeup call for everyone – businesses and workforce alike – that a bulk of the business operations do not require them to BE in the office anymore, thanks to technology.
For one, the mass quarantines will help people realize that they can perform many business operations from their home. This will inspire several enterprising individuals to try their hand at starting their own business.
Secondly, existing businesses – both physical and online setups – will be compelled to find ways to overcome the disruption caused by the epidemic. The resources, operations, and the very business model of physical businesses would be exposed to tremendous strain.
Some businesses will experience a drop in revenue, as people shut themselves in, while other industries (like retail and FMCG) may find it hard to cope up with an explosion in demand and an implosion of supply chains.
Several digital businesses may find themselves to be the recipients of a windfall of opportunities. Take entertainment, for example. With people shut-in day and night, they will pay more for quality entertainment. Likewise, instead of going out for grocery shopping, people will order groceries online. The fact that there’s already a shortage of disinfectants on Amazon tells us that there is a massive potential for improvement here. Then there’s the sudden and huge demand for webinar services from schools turning to online education.
There was never a better time for entrepreneurs to go digital. No matter what business you are running, the ROI for going digital is enormous and almost instantaneous. You don’t have to wait for years to break even.
How to Seize This Opportunity
This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for businesses to create or grow their digital presence by leaps and bounds. Here are some ways businesses can survive the crisis and come out stronger than ever.
- A Brilliant Website
Invest in your brand. A good website is one of your most important assets. It can help you attract the right audience, create brand awareness, and help you experiment with your product portfolio or service features until you arrive at the success formula. People don’t want to come to you because of fear? Use the website to reach them where they are!
- Online Advertising
The organic brand awareness strategies like SEO can deliver good results in the long-ish term. For faster, almost instant, results, you need a robust ad strategy. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, and other ad platforms offer you terrific growth opportunities that you can leverage to grow fast.
- Analytics and Insights
The most successful online businesses have a deep understanding of their customers – who they are, what they like, their decision-making journeys, and more. Understanding their needs, purchase patterns, and behavior helps businesses deliver personalized services that improve revenues. Therefore, it’s critical that businesses invest in reliable analytics.
We, at Avenue180, make use of a combination of in-house analytics and compelling, third-party tools to obtain sharp insights from your customers. By unearthing valuable insights, we can help you identify your best customer groups and their needs, and even help you target them with tailored marketing strategies.
- Explore the Power of Social Media
Most businesses have some kind of social media presence today, even if they do not have a website. Either the business owners use their own accounts to promote it or have dedicated pages profiles for the purpose. However, the results vary vastly from one business to another.
Success on social media depends immensely on two factors – relevance and engagement. Promotional content on social media is a recipe for disaster. Businesses must provide organic content – useful and highly relevant content – to their followers. Secondly, they must engage their followers in meaningful relationships. If your followers interact with your brand even once, then the next time they need what you offer, they’re highly likely to hop by.
- Be Useful and Creative
The number of businesses that rely on Asian production and supply chains is mind-boggling. As they fail to meet the needs of their customers, creative problem-solvers will find it easier to break the entry barriers in various industries.
Can’t have products shipped from China? Approach Mexican suppliers.
Stores running out of products as soon as the shelves are stocked? Utilize the existing drop-shipping infrastructure to deliver products to customers’ homes directly.
People everywhere are reeling under problems that they are not equipped to handle. Solve them, and they’ll reward you for that.
- Email and Mobile Marketing
As people stay indoors, they are likely to spend more and more of their time on electronic devices – laptops, smartphones, tablets, and the likes. Businesses can utilize this increase in screen time to send targeted and personalized marketing messages via emails and mobile ads.
With the right messaging, the ROI on these marketing strategies can be extraordinary.
Conclusion
Avenue180 has an outstanding track record of creating formidable digital presences for a variety of SMEs from different industries. Our deep understanding of the consumer psyche and digital tools enable us to set high expectations and consistently exceed them for our clients. To learn more about how we can help your business achieve rapid growth by helping consumers across the US and beyond, get in touch.
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