As we turn the corner from the Covid-19 pandemic and look to fully reopen the economy it is abundantly clear that there is a “new normal” that businesses must adapt to. For example, many workers, especially younger workers are not interested in returning to the office five days a week. To help New York City small businesses adapt to the post Covid landscape, NYC Small Business Services released the Adapting Your Small Business Playbook.
At this stage, the key components are recovery and growth. It is paramount that small businesses build a digital presence. Incredibly, between 35-40 percent of small businesses do not have a website. This is corporate malpractice in the current environment. Companies must have a digital presence which ideally includes:
- Website
- Email marketing
- Social media:
- Content creation
- Marketing
- Search engine optimization
A company’s digital presence strongly ties into the changing consumer attitudes. As you consider how to adapt your business model and operations to the “next” normal, first consider these new trends:
- Customers are looking beyond wellness and towards true health and safety; they will want to support businesses that continue to be conscious of their health and wellbeing.
- Customers are looking for experiences that are interactive, experiential, and in real time, with a continued increase in demand for contact-free interactions.
- Customer demand is shifting from products to experiences (cooking classes), e-commerce, and the sharing economy (car sharing, task sharing)
- Customers seek community in their interactions; staying close to home has increased emphasis on local communities.
Looking into the future, more customers will have access to digital tools & services. Businesses need to adapt operations to react to this shift:
- How can you build relationships virtually now to build customer loyalty moving forward?
- How can you take advantage of a digital world through communications?
- How do you reinvent your products and services to be relevant in a digital world?
How do you maintain and elevate your customer and brand loyalty across your current and prospects?
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