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This past year has been tough for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Even big brands are among the 340 U.S. companies that filed for bankruptcy in 2020, with sectors such as hospitality and travel and leisure especially struggling to come out unscathed.
With these very real rumbles in the ecosystem, it’s no surprise that those of us at the helm of more modest enterprises are quaking. Luckily, if you’ve managed to stay afloat until now, you’re through the worst. But, with lockdowns and tight movement restrictions remaining in place for indeterminate periods, there’s still a long way to go, and the business battle is all uphill.
Most pressingly, companies need to focus on the customer onboarding that has largely fallen overboard this past year. Sadly, even pre-pandemic, onboarding customers cost companies around five times more. That’s a significant hit at a time when company funds are already flatlining. But, failing to take this step will ultimately cost you more. So, what exactly does onboarding look like in an age where you’re unable to go out there and meet with new prospects?
Scale up your social media
Social media has been a lot more prevalent for business processes this past year, and onboarding is no different. After all, building a sound social media presence is akin to getting a shop front looking pretty these days. Get this right, and you’ll be able to find and convert customers that bit easier.
Namely, businesses that really spread their social media wings open themselves up to the largest possible new customer base. As such, setting up shop on Instagram alone isn’t enough. You also need to think about Facebook, Twitter, and, increasingly, TikTok.
How you can onboard through these platforms is ten-fold, meaning that success here really could be your onboarding oyster. Notably, hashtags, page giveaways, and targeted ads could all help you to reach those new clients who would never stand a chance at hearing about you otherwise.
Do note, though, that the vast majority of social media platforms operate using algorithms. These determine whether both your audience and potential new followers see your posts. Sadly, the algorithm is pretty hard to pin down, with Instagram accounts, especially, falling foul to unexpected engagement drops of late. But, while we can’t always tell what the algorithm likes, we do know what it doesn’t like, including -
Patchy posting
Repeating the same hashtags
Spamming
And more
By avoiding these and providing quality content on a regular timetable, you should at least be able to please the powers-that-be enough to get your name noticed on the front page.
Find advertising opportunities where you can
In some ways social media has been a business non-negotiable for a while, so the above is nothing new. What has changed more this past year is how many outlets of advertising we have available to us. After all, the ability to advertise through physical posters, billboards, and shopfronts is null and void right now. And, that’s a gap that even your social presence may struggle to fill. Yet, the further you cast your marketing net, the more chance you have of bagging those new customers!
This is why now is also the time to think about the scope of advertising opportunities that you do have, even offline. Something simple like wearing a branded hoodie to the shop or even leaving branded custom car fresheners in your windscreen when you head out could make ripples. Equally, sending merch like tote bags and branded pens with each sale you complete could see your brand getting itself out there in the world, even with the world at a seeming standstill.
Double efforts with your existing customers
Customer retention is and always will be easier than onboarding. As well as being substantially cheaper, this saves you from having to sell yourself as such. Rather onboarding is all about newsletters and loyalty offerings that remind customers why they already love you.
As mentioned, customer loyalty does have a limited print run in terms of value right now, but that’s not to say you can cast this priority aside. Where onboarding is concerned, especially, word of mouth accounts for around 13% of sales. In other words, buttering up the customers you do have could be the best way to find new ones without leaving the house.
So, you definitely shouldn’t forget to offer discounts, free gifts, and all those other things that make your customers love you so much. Pair this with the above point, and you could even see existing customers singing your praises, and inadvertently advertising your brand with that new tote bag!
Repower your coverage with SEO
SEO has been falling slightly out of business favor in recent years, but lockdowns have seen it back with a bang as online searches become the fruit of any business exchange. In fact, 63% of marketers predict that SEO is about to become more important. Companies who land in Google’s top five are especially liable to attract the new customers that they’re missing right now. After all, there were around 3.5 billion Google searches last year. What else have we got to do with our time?!
With this in mind, SEO focuses that can drive traffic such as quality web content, blogs, and keywords should all feature in your website design. Specifically, think about what customers are liable to search right now, and consider how you can make yourself relevant to that cause. Unsurprisingly Coronavirus was last year’s top search and continues to trend, so how can you turn this towards your services? Be sure, too, to update/upload online daily to keep yourself fresh and ready for all those new faces.
Conclusion
No one said that onboarding during a pandemic would be easy. In fact, this is about the hardest marketing challenge that companies have faced since the war. But, rest easy that if you can come through this, you can come through anything. And, trust us, you can do just that with these pointers to hand.
