Life has changed for everyone. Businesses have begun to open up again but have become more cautious than ever. The pandemic left us with a lot of questions and a bruised economy, to say the least. Amid this confusion, we still don’t know what the post COVID-19 consumers may be looking for. On the face of it, it seems that the consumer today lacks morale. They are insecure, vulnerable, and do not have the purchasing power of the pre-pandemic times. They do not wish to venture out into the local community even to buy bare essentials. According to a recent survey conducted among people spanning seven countries, the following details popped up:
- Customers are looking to lessen their anxiety
- In general people wish to have more balance in their life
- Everybody wants to feel more connected with their loved ones
- There is a quest in their mind for purpose and kindness
- Nearly everyone has become much more mindful of the way they spend their money
- Your customers have begun reflecting upon what counts as frivolous and what as essential
How to revive and grow your business post COVID-19? Take heed of these 5 fundamental steps.
Update Your Business Persona
The customer that you were serving up until a few months ago has undergone a very significant change. Therefore the core of your marketing strategies – your messaging, product placement and promotion, branding, and outreach – should evolve as well. Revamping your business persona is only the first step. The next step will be reimagining your buyer personas which will include getting more relevant and current insights on the following aspects:
- Customer emotions
- Purchasing behavior
- Customer motivations
- Goals and objectives
- Frustrations of your audience
- Personality type
- Roles and responsibilities
Get More Social With Your Presence
Can you ignore social media? In the post-pandemic world, social media has proven to be the sole rescuer for around 84% of companies that took part in a study conducted by The CMO Survey. They have leveraged this platform for the purpose of brand building and a significant 54% of them have used it for successful customer retention. Use platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube for –
- Taking notes of the consistent questions of your customers
- Paying attention to their most relevant comments and suggestions
- Identifying emerging patterns and verbiage used by your customers that reflect their pain points
- Seeking out conversations with your customers based on those comments and questions
- Encouraging them to actively participate in polls, surveys and interesting questionnaires
Remember, your consumers are looking for authenticity more than anything else. Nearly 90% of the consumers report authenticity to be a deciding factor when it comes to supporting a particular brand. Social media is the most appropriate platform where you can prove to them just how caring and genuine your brand entity is.
Take Your Customer Engagement To The Next Level
Can you really avoid consumer engagement in the post-covid-19 era? If you are looking to bring your business back on track, it is all about getting your customers to engage with you. There are several ways to get in touch with your customers and knowing and understanding their problems just like a family member would. You can begin with meaningful conversations –
- How has your life changed ever since the pandemic started?
- How is your business doing since covid-19?
- What measures are you taking to bring your business back on track?
- What are the biggest pain points of your family?
- With the current budgetary constraints, do you think our product or service is within your reach?
- How can we make our offering more suitable for your current needs?
Customer communication goes beyond just direct messages or social media posts. It also goes beyond one-on-one calls too. You need to cultivate a mentality that is of valuing your customers across your organization. A sense of curiosity needs to be instilled in your employees and associates so that the entire company culture gets a new spirit. It is not only going to help you gather the most essential and relevant insights as to the needs of your customers but will also give your brand a completely different reputation.
Value Your Customer Sentiment More
We all are experiencing a complex myriad of emotions. We all are going through very critical times and this is where you need to usher in a wave of thoughtfulness. The habits of your customers have shifted drastically. They will probably keep on changing as the world gets used to the new normal. You need to track the decision-making process of your customers through trends and patterns gathered through analytics and predictive modelling tools.
Tracking the sentiments of your customers should not be that difficult if you have the following key processes and elements in place:
- Set predetermined benchmarks so that comparison of your results becomes easy
- Choose and implement the right tools along with the most appropriate processes for tracking and accessing relevant data
- Ensure that everyone across your organization is working with the same data sets
- You will also need to check-in and analyze the data consistently
With the risks attached to venturing out of the safety of their homes, the majority of consumers have begun interacting with businesses online. This has given businesses an opportunity to venture into the internet space.
Take Your Business Where Your Customer Are
In the present time and age, a strong brick-and-mortar presence is not enough. Businesses of all sizes have had to ensure that their digital presence is as strong as their physical stores. This is why relevant product descriptions, technical specifications, online ratings and reviews, the prevalence of videos and images, virtual walkthroughs and demonstrations have become so commonplace.
The only way to make the most of modern technology so that you can easily reconstruct your business and bring it back on track post the pandemic is to use every possible digital channel available to you and accessible to your customers. Remember, different channels are going to expose you to different consumer touchpoints.
Whether it is luxury clothing or sales of electronics, cosmetic products or home gym equipment, home decor, fitness-wear or any other product category, there have been significant changes in their buying behavior. This has dictated the need for a highly sustainable and more efficient e-commerce system that can ensure structured selling of your products and services.
Therefore, pivoting your traditional business 180 degrees and adopting modern technologies should also be one of the prime focus areas of your strategy aimed at reviving your business during and post the pandemic recession.
Final Thoughts
Working on personalization of your existing digital mediums and creation of new digital channels should be your priority at the moment. It will not just help you know and understand your post-pandemic customers better but will also assist you in creating customized offers for them. The current situation makes it imperative for you to create a safe and reliable space for your customers where they can easily look for products and services to fulfil their needs. It is time to leverage the present technology to boost your sales and enhance your overall consumer engagement. Make connecting with your consumers all over again post the pandemic recession a part of your hygiene. Follow these strategies and you should be able to bounce back before you even know it. For more such insights, do not forget to tune into Zapbuild again.
(Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Zapbuild)
Are you looking for a technology partner to turn your business idea into a successful solution? Get free consultation from top IT experts – write to us at connect@zapbuild.com or call us at +1 (779) 256-7779 or +91-80471-16600.
GET IN TOUCH NOWReceive Expert Insight By Email
You can receive more such insights, ideas, and solution recommendations from our IT experts – directly in your email, absolutely free – by subscribing to our blog.
SUBSCRIBE NOW