Branding During The 2020 Pandemic

Are You Meeting Your Online Customers Where They Are?

To put it bluntly, we haven't had a true global pandemic since 1918.

The internet didn't even exist in 1918.

A lot of things didn't exist then that are indispensable now.

When it comes to marketing during pandemic times, this is definitely a good thing!

Don't Go Dark: Your Branding Must Go On!

It can feel tempting to switch into "maintenance" mode until we see how the pandemic progress plays out, however, the Advertising Research Foundation says this is a big, BIG mistake - warning that going dark for any length of time can set your market share back by five years.

Five YEARS.

You worked hard to build your market share. Your customers still need you. They may not need you right at this very moment, but they will need you again. Soon.

Instead, make your goal a two-fold one:

1. Survive this temporary economic downturn (with emphasis on "survive").

You just need to get through it. It will pass.

2. Start planning now to increase market share as soon as the tide turns.

It will turn. When it turns, will your brand be ready?

Marketing Looks Different Right Now, But the Need to Do Marketing Remains the Same

Marketing during the pandemic age is different from marketing during business-as-usual.

Your customers are scared. How do you know?

Have you felt scared, as you've watched global events unfold with disbelieving eyes? If you answered "yes" for even five seconds, you can know you and your customers are much more alike than different.

So ask yourself what you need right now to feel better. Safer. Smarter. More secure.

It might not be information about the specific products/services your company produces or it might be information that is related to those products/services.

Here, don't think direct line-of-sight related. Think six degrees of separation related.

Is there any angle at all in your company's product or service line that relates back to the central core issues on every single human being's mind today? If you look deliberately, you will see the connections.

This might not feel like traditional marketing to you. The truth is, it isn't traditional marketing.

But it IS marketing. Marketing is anything that keeps your brand in front of consumer eyes.

Right now, strategic marketing is anything service-oriented, genuine and compassionate that your customers need now and will remember later.

Use the Tools You've Got to Connect and Continue Connecting

According to the World Federation of Advertisers, 81 percent of brands - including Google - have put some or all of their marketing activities on hold, slashing budgets by half or greater while the pandemic times play out.

But if you carefully read the fine print in this report, you notice something significant.

79 percent of those same brands have shifted their marketing efforts towards service-oriented messages targeting their existing customer bases.

Of the companies represented in the survey, 98 percent are committing to moving forward with marketing efforts, even if those efforts are an abrupt departure from what was previously planned for this year at this time.

In other words, companies are pivoting quickly and concisely to do more with less.

Marketers are finding creative avenues to use what they have to speak directly to what matters most to their consumers.

Free (Or Nearly Free) Marketing Tools You Can Use RIGHT NOW

Social media has become a huge connection point for consumers, suppliers, vendors and companies worldwide.

Social media is safe, speedy and eminently shareable. It gives you real-time connection with your consumers to address questions and concerns, provide updates and express compassion and empathy.

If you don't have a company blog, now is a great time to start one and link it to your social feeds on YouTube and elsewhere.

Here are just a few examples of how some of our thriving business clients have pivoted to use social media and blogging effectively during the pandemic.

Mackay Insurance Brokers

One of our business clients has started sharing videos of themselves working from home, offering messages of hope and encouragement to customers who are similarly sheltering in place while providing updates on how they can be reached during the pandemic.

SHIPTONS HEATING & COOLING

Another one of our business clients has begun making donations on behalf of coronavirus victims every time a customer makes a purchase.

Picton Golf & Country Club

Yet another one of our business clients is sharing information about how to recreate safely during this unusual summer season.

These creative branding campaigns are genuine, heartfelt and transparent. You won't see any fancy footwork or slick strategy in this type of messaging...thank goodness!

What every one of us needs right now is exactly the opposite. What we need instead is simply this: real people talking to real people about the all-too-real things that are going on right here, right now.

It Is Not Too Late to Relaunch Your Brand Strategy

If your business has put your marketing and branding efforts on hold, it is not too late to rethink this approach and re-launch your campaign.

Perhaps you don't have the money or the human-power you were anticipating when you originally crafted your 2020 marketing strategy.

This is okay. You are in good company.

Instead, work with what you've got. Prioritize based on walking a mile in your customer's shoes.

What would you most appreciate hearing, knowing or receiving if you were them? How can you give your customers, vendors, suppliers and staff something extra and supportive that they will remember long after this pandemic has passed us by?

Then do that. Give that. 

Join The Conversation

Is it time to take your brand identity for the ride of a lifetime? Smart pivoting now can position you for success and even stronger market share in the days and months to come. Need some advice on how to get started? Contact us online or give us a call at 613-969-0626 and we would be happy to point you in the right direction! 

Located in Belleville, Ontario, our team of creative professionals are in the market of getting your name out, telling your story and setting you apart from the crowd. We have worked with both small and large companies, continuing to grow their business amidst the global pandemic in healthy and successful ways!

We would love for you to join the conversation!

4 Key Website Pivots to Stay Profitable During COVID-19

From marketing to sales, supply chain to customer service, the unexpected global pandemic has impacted every single area of business operations today.

Companies that are surviving the COVID-19 marketplace slowdown are pivoting like crazy, working hard with what they've got and getting creative about how they reposition themselves in the new online economy.

One fact that tends to get lost in the chaos is this: customers, like company owners, are also pivoting madly!

Your customers are trying to figure out new ways to continue receiving the essential products and services they need while cutting back wherever they can to adjust for limited work opportunities.

This means that they are naturally going to search for you online. After all, if new and existing customers cannot easily or safely visit you in person, guess where they are going to try to find you instead?

That's right - your website. So you need to meet them there with online offerings that are affordable, solutions-focused, service-oriented and - most importantly - exactly WHAT they need WHEN they need it.

Is your website ready for its big chance to shine? Make these four key online pivots and it will be!

1. Do these 3 things to clearly communicate how your customers can reach you.

Many of the small businesses we serve have customers in several different demographics and age brackets. It nearly goes without saying that younger millennial customers will naturally seek you out online, and likely on their small-screen mobile devices.

This means the first thing you need to do is make absolutely sure that your website is mobile-friendly. This is a MUST to survive in our new pandemic business model!

It is equally dangerous, however, to assume that all of your customers will have the comfort level and skill set to connect with you online. They may not feel at ease navigating the internet to find what they need on your website.

For these customers, you want to be proactive and reach out to them.

- Many businesses are spending time each day calling their customers personally to find out what they need. Other businesses are choosing to send texts or emails to customers to do the same.

A word of caution: if you choose this latter approach, just be sure the customer has given you prior permission to use their email or mobile number in this way. Alternately, make it clear this is a one-time customer care contact due to the pandemic.

- Post a message on your website (like this one) to let customers know exactly how to reach you. Include mobile numbers if you are working remotely. Share your email and check it twice per day and respond promptly.

2. Adapt your product and service offerings for a contact-less experience.

The next order of business is to make sure you are up and running with contact-less options that are appropriate to your business offerings and your customer's needs.

If you are not "tech savvy" about setting up online payments, then it is time to reach out for help in this area. You can't afford to wait.

Offering "door dash" type pickup or delivery service is another great way to serve your local customers in ways they feel safe interacting with you.

3. Provide extras, discounts or payment plans if at all possible.

Far too many customers as well as businesses right now are suffering financially on several levels.

While it may feel counter-intuitive to discount your products or services when you need every penny and dollar you can earn, in this type of unprecedented situation, some sales are better than no sales!

If you can afford to, consider offering hardship discounts or a payment plan option. Alternately, see if you can bundle together value-added extras with your staple services at no additional charge.

Another great option is to hold a contest, raffle, giveaway or other type of community service offering in exchange for something that is of value to you.

Ideas might include sharing your business on their social feeds, referring new customers to you, donating to a charitable cause you care about or something similar that fits with your business model.

As food for thought, here are two examples of ways two of our longtime small business customers chose to pivot successfully when the pandemic hit:

- One of our long-time small business customers in the HVAC industry made a hugely successful pivot and decided to run a summer contest to find the oldest still-working air conditioner in their service area and gift the owner with a free brand new air conditioner!

- Another one of our long-time air quality customers quickly pivoted and launched a successful discount program to take 10 percent off the cost of any of their indoor air duct cleaning and sanitizing services.

4. Deliver proactive five-star customer service and support.

Finally, if there is one thing your customers need more than they ever have before, it is white glove customer service and support.

And by "white glove" we don't just mean concierge-style pick and delivery options, spotless uniforms complete with matching masks and gloves or even contact-less estimates, invoicing and payment methods.

We mean kindness. Compassion. Empathy. Listening ears. Friendly words. Flexibility and understanding. Creativity to work with each customer's unique comfort level and needs. Going above and beyond in ways that will be remembered for years to come.

Every customer that calls or emails or texts or visits you (where it is safe to do so) is taking a risk, making a choice, doing a juggling act and likely saying no to something else they want or need to shop with you.

If you approach customer service from this perspective, then the potential payoff is HUGE - in fact, the customer relationships you form and strengthen right now may just lay the foundation for your profitable small business in years to come.

Contact OSM 

Contact our team of marketing strategists, creatives, developers and programmers today if you are interested in learning how your business can pivot during COVID-19. Visit us online or give us a call at 613-969-0626.

Right now, many small business owners are facing a near future where operating remotely is truly the only option to remain viable.

Even as Ontario slowly and cautiously begins to open back up, many workers are scared to re-engage with customers and vendors at former levels. On top of that, many business owners are scared to let them.

After pouring your heart and soul into your business growth, this situation may feel nothing short of heart-breaking. Have you come this far just to lose it all to an opponent no one can even see?

No, you haven't. This is a time to get creative - not a time to give up.

For as many businesses that are closing their doors each day, there are still many others that are finding fresh ways to operate, serve customers and reinvent themselves.

If you have the will, chances are there is a way. In order to navigate this rapidly changing business landscape successfully, you will absolutely need to avoid making THESE THREE MISTAKES:

Mistake #1: Believing You Don't Have the Skillset to Work Remotely

The first critical mistake new remote workers and companies frequently make is to assume that some people have what it takes to succeed when working remotely and other people do not. 

The truth is, when working remotely is our only option, we all have what it takes. We have to if we want to pay our rent, our mortgage and buy groceries to feed our families.

It’s important to understand that expecting yourself to do it perfectly might just set you up to fail. Expecting your workers to deliver perfect productivity right out of the starting gate is also setting them up to fail (and thus setting your company up to fail in the long run!).

Now is not the time to institute punitive standards and issue harsh threats. Now is the time to get creative, invite continual staff feedback, celebrate small successes and build teamwork like you have never built teamwork before.

By engaging and empowering each worker on your team, truly listening to their ideas, implementing as many as you can and doing whatever you can to ease their learning curve and meet their needs, you may just discover your greatest strengths as a company hiding in the unlikeliest of places.

Mistake #2: Burning Out Due to Poor Boundaries

The second critical mistake new remote workers and companies frequently make is to think the boundaries required to stay productive will somehow be adapted to automatically.

Just to be clear, boundaries are limits, divisions and dividing lines. Boundaries are what tell you that now is work time and later is personal time. Boundaries are also what tell your co-workers, family and friends that same important information.

It is easy for boundaries to stay clear when you leave your home each morning and go to another place to get work done. Then you come back later in the evening. Perhaps you do bring some work home here and there, but you do this work casually while juggling personal chores and family time.

But now you are working from home - the same place where your personal chores and your family members are also located.

So many new-to-remote-work workers make the mistake of thinking it will be easier to get your work done remotely.

After all, there will be no time-suck conference room meetings, no annoying gossipy coworkers popping by for a mid-morning vent, no walk-in customer or vendor traffic to disrupt your carefully planned daily schedule.

On the flip side, however, it can also become hard to know when to put your work away for the day. Working remotely can make separating out clear personal time from work time feel nearly impossible. You may even feel guilty about it!

Burnout is far more likely when your worksite and your home are in the same place. If you have ever felt burned out in the past, now is the time to remember how hard it was to recover, to refocus and feel productive and fulfilled at work again.

Take the time to actually set the boundaries you need to do your job from home. Post a daily schedule. Let your family know. Then do your best to stick to the boundaries you have set up. Your sanity (and your family) will end up thanking you for this kindness.

Mistake #3: Failing To Set Your Business Up for Remote Success

The third critical mistake new remote workers and companies frequently make is to try to cobble together a set of remote work tools without taking time to sit down and really consider what is needed by all.

Do you have clear and consistent online branding? How about professional business email addresses for each worker?

How speedy and responsive (or not) is your website? What does it look like on small screen devices? Is your site SEO optimized to make it easy for new customers to learn how to reach you and get their needs met?

What about your online marketing efforts? Do you have any? How well situated is your company to connect with existing customers who may not even know you are still in business? What about your online store? Do you have one yet?

And what are your plans to keep in contact with your remote work team? Do you have project management software or a business communication portal that makes collaboration, meetings and connecting simple, intuitive and easy?

If your answer to any of these questions is "I don't know" or "what does that mean?" it is time to get serious about organizing for remote workforce success.

Companies that do will position themselves for long-term growth in our collective uncertain future. You definitely want your company to be one of them!

Get in Touch

The age of the remote workforce is officially here. Need help making sure your company is set up for long-term success? Our team at OSM is here to find solutions that fit your business needs in today’s market. We understand that these uncertain times can be nerve-wracking and unpredictable, but we can assure you that we have a solution that fits your needs! Whether that be design, web hosting, marketing, blogging, SEO, paid media, email servicing or branding, our one stop digital agency can serve you! Just need to have a conversation on your marketing scheme and tactics? We offer consultations as well! Located in the Quinte region of Ontario, we are supporting business both locally and beyond!

Let us know how we can help build your brand and grow your business today! Contact us online or give us a call at 613-969-0626.

As a busy entrepreneur, you don’t have time for time-wasting do-overs. You really need to get it right – whatever “it” happens to be from one moment to the next – the first time.

This includes trusting your employees. For example, you simply can’t be there every second to make sure your workers are taking great care of your company’s customers. You have to train them and then trust them.

This can be a tough balance to maintain!

The same holds true for your website, which is basically your online staff. Is your website doing a great job inviting current and potential customers to browse what you have to offer? Is it greeting people warmly – the way you would greet them if you were there personally?

Is your website giving them the red-carpet VIP tour, advising them of all the latest specials and making a plan to keep in touch? When your website serves your customers and prospects well, there is a much stronger chance they will be back.

If it doesn’t, you can bet they will take their business somewhere else...and likely for good.

How to Know When Your Website Needs a Facelift

Approximately 81 percent of customers go online before they make a purchase decision.

Take a look at your website and ask yourself, “If I were shopping online, would I shop on my site?”

Perhaps right about now you are thinking, “I don’t think my website is that great, but I don’t have money to do lots of expensive Google ads to bring people to us.”

Guess what? You don’t have to place pricey ads to generate more traffic! What you DO NEED to do is first make sure that if new visitors find you online, they will want to stick around and shop with you.

This is called “website optimization.”

It is what most websites need more of, so if your website has it, you are way ahead of the bell curve and much more likely to generate what is called “organic traffic,” which is the biggest generator of new business anyway.

So let’s talk about how to do this without having to invest a small fortune to make it happen.

Understanding Organic Versus Paid Website Traffic

Have you ever watched one of those televised awards shows where the stars show up on the red carpet and just look flawless?

They make it so easy to look perfect. But behind the scenes is another story. They might have spent all day, all week or even all year working up to that one big spotlight moment. The investment will be worth it if the cameras decide to turn in their direction.

But not all red-carpet stars get front-page features the morning after. The reporters choose of their own free will who to photograph, video, interview and feature.

This is the principle of organic website traffic in a nutshell.

Your website shows up. Your customers decide of their own free will whether to give you their attention or turn toward your competitors’ websites instead.

It is your job to make your website look flawless, effortless, perfect, to attract and hold your customers’ attention.

This means it is a misnomer to say that organic website traffic is “non-paid” traffic.

It is paid for in terms of how much time and energy and investment you put into your website behind the scenes. But once launched and visible online, a well-designed, optimized website will generate inbound traffic – new site visitors – without any help from Google Ads.

In fact, the most recent 2020 statistics tell us that up to 80 percent of people who use the internet to research or shop ONLY look at organic search results (i.e., they ignore the paid ads that pop up at the top, bottom and sides of their browser window).

How to Optimize Your Website to Get More Organic Traffic

The first step to optimizing your website is to identify where you are now and where you want to go. This is often the hardest step because it involves gathering data, analyzing that data and making sense of it to create goals.

Unless your business is website design or online marketing, you probably want to bring in an expert to help with this.

A five-star optimized website 

1. is rich in SEO (search engine optimized) keywords

2. is responsive and interactive on multiple platforms (mobile and voice search-friendly)

3. is optimized for local SERP results (SERP – search engine results pages, i.e., local organic traffic via Google, Yelp, etc.).

4. makes full use of email signup, social media, webinars and freebies to collect prospective customer data and begin building that relationship.

A website that is optimized to perform in these four areas is like a trusted worker you don’t have to micro-manage.

They are “you” when you are busy elsewhere. They are so good at their job you might just award them “Employee of the Month” or even “Employee of the Year!”

Getting your website to this point represents the bulk of the behind-the-scenes workload required to capture more organic traffic, or more visitors to your website.

Once you start to see results, with more online eyes turning your way, then the rest is simply about refinement, making small adjustments and tweaks to continue to improve your online marketing results.

Get in Touch

Are you ready to turn your business website into your online Employee of the Year? We can help!

Read our local business case studies to learn more about the kind of transformation that is possible with a professionally optimized business website.

Contact us online or give us a call at 613-969-0626.

No one launches a website these days just to have a website.

Sure, it’s cool to claim your own little corner of the web, but it won’t take long for that corner to start feeling lonely if no one ever comes to visit you there!

Plus, launching a website requires an investment. It will take time and finances plus mastery of new marketing skills, like SEO, or search engine optimization.

But why invest in SEO? What the heck is that, anyway?

Simply put, if your website is your business home online, then search engine optimization is the front door through which you welcome visitors who become new loyal customers.

You need SEO to make sure visitors who are seeking what you have to offer can locate you online and navigate their way to your front “door.”

Read on now to learn the four keys required for SEO business marketing success.

What Is SEO: A Non-Technical Explanation

Search engine optimization basically translates to “accurate directions.” Let’s say you head to the web because you need to get your vehicle’s oil changed. You aren’t sure where to go. So you type in the phrase “affordable oil change near me.”

In a flash, your browser detects your physical location and delivers several pages’ worth of information about the closest businesses that perform vehicle oil changes. With any luck, one of the first few listings will be an exact match for your needs.

Before you know it, you are on your way over to get your oil changed and on to the next item on your to-do list.

This is SEO in a nutshell: keywords on a site that Google recognizes as most relevant to your search and then suggests to you. 

So now imagine someone is heading to their website browser right now because they need your product or service. What terms would they type in to find you? Would those terms find you? Or would they find your competitors instead?

How to Get Started With SEO For Your Business

If we just did our job well, you are probably already feeling more informed and confident about why SEO is relevant and important for your business success.

But even if the explanation you just read sounds simple in theory, when you go to put it into practice, you will quickly discover it is not as simple in fact.

Successful SEO marketing is hard work!

This is where we come in.

Just as we wouldn’t dream of being able to walk into your company and do your job well from day one, so too do we realize most busy entrepreneurs and small business owners have neither the time nor inclination to learn how to do what we do well.

SEO, like any skill, takes years of education, training and practice to master. Our clients trust us to do what we do well so they can continue to do what they do even better.

Four Keys to SEO Small Business Success

When you work with us to grow your business, we will implement these four critical elements of successful small business SEO marketing.

1. Target Market Business Analysis

Target market business analysis is a fancy way of saying, “How close is your website to page one of Google’s search engine results? Are you on page one? Page 20? Can you even find your website online?

If you are ranking but not on page one, we can help you get closer. If you are not ranking at all, we can help you rank and improve your ranking over time.

There are three parts to target market business analysis.

1. Website analysis

2. Competitive analysis

3. Initial keyword analysis

By the end of phase one, we will know where you are now versus where your competitors are now, how far we have to go and which strategies are most essential to get you there.

2. Keyword Research

Keyword research takes the last part of phase one several steps further. We identify the keywords your competitors are using successfully to outrank you in search engine results.

Then we look at the most important search criteria and keyword combinations to reach local customers with your marketing message and increase new visitors (inbound web traffic) to your website.

3. Content Optimization

With phases one and two under our belt, the next task is to begin a process known as “content optimization.”

In a nutshell, this simply means taking what we have learned about important keywords and key phrases and strategically using them to beef up your website content.

The goal here is to make calculated changes to your online content that won’t look calculated to Google’s algorithms. This is how a website moves up in the search engine rankings and eventually becomes that website everyone else in the industry wants to copy!

4. Measure and Test

Once phases one, two and three are completed, your website will essentially become a smooth operator online, steadily attracting new site visitors, generating new customer inquiries, gathering positive online reviews and slowly but surely attracting new repeat customers to your business.

But it is not all smooth sailing from here – far from it. Because you can bet that your competitors will notice your share of the local market increasing and will respond accordingly.

As such, this is the step that can most readily propel you to the top of the local competition or send you back into online obscurity. From here, we will continually be monitoring your search engine ranking results, tweaking your content accordingly to keep your success growing.

Get in Touch

Done well, SEO marketing is a full-time job, and you’ve already got one of those! So why not give us a call to see how we can help you realize your business dreams?

Contact us online or give us a call at 613-969-0626.