We are all well aware that COVID-19 changed the way we do business drastically. But here’s the thing that many business owners aren’t truly comprehending… we are never going back to the way things were before (in terms of how we do business).
The new normal for operating is officially just the normal! Aside from the fact that many businesses are planning to keep the majority of their workforce remote moving forward, there’s no denying that reaching consumers and clients is predominantly virtual, too! With all that considered, it’s safe to say that we are experiencing a major digital shift. If you are a business owner, regardless of your industry, you will suffer if you don’t learn to pivot.
Shark Tank Celebrity Kevin Oleary just released a new book, Digital Pivot or Bust in a Post COVID-19 World. He writes, “The coronavirus pandemic has forced companies to reformulate tech strategies and pivot to Digital agility, resilience, and speed.” I took it upon myself to read this informative book and thought I’d share with you the main takeaways, pointing you in the right direction to make the digital shift in your own business.
Initially, You’re Either Going to Evolve or Bust
Oleary highlights time and time over that many organizations don’t have a clear path as to how to operate and promote their business. When a company is pushing out several initiatives at once, it not only creates stress but can also lead to under-delivering or just bad-quality business — which none of us want.
To a degree, every business should be following the trends and implementing new, sexy strategies… but let’s put an emphasis on the word strategy. In order to successfully evolve your business with new trendy initiatives, you have to create a clear, cohesive strategy that will actually bring results.
Words from the wise
“One of the most important steps when making a change in strategy is documenting where you started. Get very clear on your goal and what you, your team, and your stakeholders aim to accomplish.” – Digital Pivot or Bust in a Post COVID-19 World
Marketing is More Important Than You Think
There are some of you that think marketing is sleazy, some of you that think marketing is unnecessary, and then a select few of you that actually understand how essential it is to the success and constant flow of your business.
This is probably my favorite remark made in Oleary’s new book; he shares, “Too many businesses look at marketing as a non-essential arm of their organization. When times are good, they inject more cash into marketing. But when times are tough, marketing is often one of the first departments to get pulled back. This push and pull can lead to inconsistent messaging, customer sentiment, and hurt your brand.”
Being a digital marketing partner to my clients, I see this constant push and pull all the time. I completely understand that you want to ensure your investments are worthwhile — especially if times are tight. I, too, want to ensure my efforts are turning over profit. Hello, we’re all business owners here! The truth is, inconsistent marketing is almost just as bad as no marketing at all. Marketing is a long-term play. Marketing is essentially where you build a brand’s “like, know and trust.” In other words, it is where you stay in front of your people and you intentionally target them to like you, know you, and trust you with x service or product!
“It’s how you communicate with your customers and generate revenue — two things that are always needed no matter what is happening with your business or in the world.” – Kevin Oleary
(Okay, that actually may be my favorite quote from his book.) ??
I know what you’re thinking… “Okay, Laura. I hear you. I get it. But how do I possibly shift my business to this digital pivot?
Here’s How We Can Help:
Website Refresh.
If you have not updated your website in the past three years, it may be time to take a look and see what can be done to improve the customer experience online. An up-to-date website is the BEST way to show that you are playing ball in the digital arena, and you’re doing it well.
Our signature service, website design is kind of our jam. Since I’ve been building websites for 12+ years, I know what works and what doesn’t. I know what’s dead and what’s to come. Allow me to position you to evolve with ease.
Take our fun Do I need A Website Refresh Quiz?
Social Media Presence.
Maybe you never needed one until now, or maybe you have one but you are on a bunch of platforms and not really succeeding at any of them — we can help by creating a super clear and cohesive social media strategy that will make you stand out to competitors and be considered as the “trusted source” in your industry.
Our social media team knocks it out of the park when it comes to graphics. We can build out your social media calendar and prepare content wayyyy in advance so the job is done and you can sit back and reap the benefits.
SEO.
When you first created your website, it’s possible that your goal was not to attract search traffic but instead serve as a resource to send people to show them you were legit. It was basically an online brochure. Times have changed and if your site isn’t performing as its best, there’s a good chance you’re missing out on lots of business opportunities.
Did you know that Google is rolling out a new algorithm in May?
It will also include metrics in Google’s Web Vitals. The focus is currently on three facets: loading, interactivity, and visual stability.
- Loading: This is referring to your website’s load speed. In other words, how long the load time is to show all the main content per page.
- Interactivity: This is to gather the time it takes from when a website visitor interacts with a page on your site, either by clicking or tapping, till your browser processes that interaction.
- Visual stability: This has to do with preventing any annoying or unexpected movement of page content, ensuring that the visual appearance of your website is stable, regardless of the device it’s being streamed on.
Our SEO Audit framework is a great place to start. Just sayin.
Content.
This is the one that is rarely thought about when business is booming, so it is the one that needs the most attention when we need to attract new customers. Creating a reason for new people to visit your website means having something to share with them. They are looking for you, but do you have content that will bring them to your site for answers? Is the current content you have just a newsletter that is all about you and what you have to sell? Ist that working? Doubtful. Content is king in the digital pivot.
We have a team of writers who can help position you as a valuable source for information pertaining to your industry.
“Great page experience doesn’t override having great page content. Finally, this can’t be repeated enough: Focus on the content” – Kevin Oleary
Email marketing.
Can you believe that some people actually ask me if email marketing is dead? What!… Think about that last marketing email you actually opened? Why did you open that email and not delete it? Was it the subject line? Or was it just that you happened to be thinking recently that you needed something they were selling. (Ohhh, Nueske’s Bacon… You know me so well.) Long story short, no. Email marketing is nowhere NEAR dead and you are missing a HUGE opportunity to speak DIRECTLY to your people.
We have full email marketing packages where we can strategize what goes in your emails, how often they send out, write the content for them, and design them to be super pretty and clean. You really don’t even have to lift a finger!
Digital Advertising.
This is the big one, If you need more business, you need to advertise online. That’s a FACT. Boosting a post on Facebook here and there is not going to cut it and my guess is that didn’t really work either. You need to have a strategic plan in place. What are you selling (what is the goal of the ad), who is your audience, where do they hang out, what are they searching for online, and how can you capitalize on that.
Are you trying to get more book sales? Did you know you can run paid ads on Amazon to get more people to see your book exactly where they are searching for books like yours? Or maybe you have an online course that you know people are searching for… Your landing page, great SEO, or an awesome email marketing campaign are all essential steps in promoting your course but sometimes, you need a wider net. Facebook, Linkedin, and Google will help your course be found and for the cost of usually a couple of ticket registrations for the class.
Digital marketing is clearly our know-how so we can help you spend your money wisely, making your investment back in no time.
