The last year has been unusual, to say the least.
Most business owners and market leaders have had to make significant changes to their development strategy, focusing more heavily on the digital world and a changing consumer audience.
The good news for companies everywhere is that the world and the economy are starting to recover.
Audiences are beginning to look for new opportunities to build relationships with brands.
Now that your focus can finally go beyond simply surviving the complex business environment, you can begin to work on really growing your organization.
Here are just some of the ways you can make a real difference to your company before 2021 is over.
Enhance Your Online Presence
An effective online presence has been a must-have investment for decades now.
It’s tough to find any major or fast-growing company without a good website, social media presence, and content strategy.
However, if you’ve only been doing the bare minimum online until now, this could be the perfect time to make a change.
Start working on your SEO by picking some keywords and phrases you want to rank for.
Focusing on local customers will give you a fantastic launching point, so you can avoid taking on too much competition.
Once you have your keywords, you can start writing blogs and sharing links on social media to gain more attention.
Speaking of social media, make sure you’re active on all the right channels. Find out where your customers spend their time and start investing in your presence there.
Work on Customer Relationships
Going forward, customers are going to be looking to work with and buy from companies that understand their needs and expectations.
Right now is the perfect time to upgrade your user personas with what you’ve learned in the last couple of years.
Go through your social media channels and find information about your audience based on the things they’ve said when @-mentioning you online.
Check your website analytics for insights into which content and blog posts your customers visit most often.
You can even read through reviews and testimonials for insights into what you need to change.
If you’re not collecting reviews and testimonials yet, make sure you start encouraging your audience to leave feedback as a form of free online promotion.
Attract New Employees
If you want to thrive in a new digital environment, you need the right team members.
Think about the kind of experts you’re going to need to have on board in the years ahead.
For instance, if you’re now using more digital tools in your company and tracking results through the collection of valuable data, maybe you need a data scientist.
If you want to boost your chances of attracting the best talent, you’ll also need to make sure you’re working on your employer brand.
Determine how much work/life balance you’re offering your employees and consider giving them more control over their own schedules.
Look into the kind of hiring processes you have in place and determine if they need to change.
Rethink Your Offers
The world has changed a great deal in recent years. Maybe it’s time for you to offer some new products and services?
For instance, a digital marketing company that has thrived on bringing its strategies to companies around their country might decide that it’s time to go global with their service.
Today’s digital world makes this much easier.
You could also look into creating courses and webinars where you teach your customers how to do what you do—to a certain extent.
This has become a very popular offer throughout the pandemic, with many businesses providing online events, demos, and learning experiences.
For instance, as a financial consultant, could you advise customers on how to do part of their own audit themselves online?
This could be a great way to make some extra cash and ensure that your clients are ready to provide you with the right information when they come to you for help.
Look for New Ways to Reach Customers
These days, it’s much harder to connect with your customers on an emotional level by connecting with them in person.
Instead, all companies need to focus more of their efforts on creating immersive digital experiences.
This often starts with a website and social media strategy, but you can also reach your customers in other ways, for instance, by creating your own video series, podcast, or online events.
One particularly impressive way to connect with an increasingly digitally-oriented audience is to create a mobile app for your business.
Here, you can provide your audience with a hub of information and entertainment whenever they need it.
Your app could be where you post information for customers to troubleshoot their own problems, issue requests for support tickets, or connect with them by sharing important company news.
An app can also be where customers can track their orders, or search for products they want to purchase in the future, without having to log into their account with an online browser.
Make Your Business Thrive This Year
It’s time for companies of all sizes to start looking forward to the future after a complicated year. With the tips above, you can discover new ways to bring your company to life, unlock new profits and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
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Lisa Michaels is a freelance writer, editor, and a thriving content marketing consultant from Portland. Being self-employed, she does her best to stay on top of the current trends in business and tech. Feel free to connect with her on Twitter @LisaBMichaels.