Step by Step Guide To Reopening After COVID
COVID-19 has taken the world by a storm. It has probably caused many drastic changes to your business. After this long wait businesses are finally starting to reopen. Slowly we will all be able to bring our businesses back to their normal working conditions. With so many restrictions and changes, it is important for you to determine what is the best way to reopen your business.
In this article you will learn how to reopen your business not only physically but digitally. It is important that you take the correct steps to communicate with your customer base so that they know that you are opening your doors once again.
By providing clear communication and promoting your business you can get the most out of your reopening. In fact, a lack of information could cause your customers to choose to stay home rather than risk coming back to your business. That is why it is important to have a strong online presence to communicate your business’s attention to safety before a customer ever sets foot in your location.
How to Reopen Physically
Unfortunately reopening your storefront will be more complicated than simply unlocking your doors. Business owners need to determine a strategy that will account for many of their customers concerns. This includes your employee’s safety, your customer’s safety, and your businesses bottom line.
One of the first things to consider when reopening is having in place the correct PPE cleaning supplies, and procedures. Your business is going to have to communicate how your employees can remain safe as well as how they can ensure the safety of your customers. This is probably going to include social distancing practices as well as the use of face masks.
Signage
One of the best ways to communicate and broadcast your business’s safety message is through adequate signage. By displaying various signage you will be able to comfort customers and answer their most burning questions. Another benefit of displaying your safety procedures is that they will encourage employees to follow them more strictly. It will be much easier for your employees to remember and adhere to your safety guidelines if they are displayed. All of these different tools will help to keep everyone’s safety in mind and quell some of the nervousness. In addition to proper equipment and supplies, business owners are going to need to have cleaning procedures and policies. Having these precautions in place will ensure that all your employees and customers are using the best practices in order to minimize the risk of spreading any kind of illness. This will also help to reassure your customers that you are taking their security with utmost concern.
Keeping these new practices in mind, you should be able to reopen your doors with confidence knowing that you have taken every precaution you were able to. Of course every business is facing a different challenge which will require a level of creativity to design solutions to unique problems. Adapting to your situation will help get the ground running and avoid neglecting the wave of customers that will soon be flooding back into the market.
All of these principles are very important but this is only half of the solution. The other half lies with the different digital outlets that your business uses. Creating a strong line of communication through these will help new and old customers find and appreciate your business. Here is how you can kick off your start with a digital marketing plan.
How to Reopen Digitally
There are a lot of moving parts to consider when reopening your business through your various digital platforms. Some are more important than others but all will help your business to excel in next upcoming months.
Google Listing
Updating your google listing is possibly one of the most important parts
Updating your google listing is possibly one of the most important factors in digitally reopening your business. Especially if you own a brick and mortar location, your Google My Business listing is the life blood of your foot traffic. If you updated your store hours to inform the public that you were temporarily closed then now is the time to lift that notice. This will probably be one of the first things that your customers will check to see if your store is up and running again (I know that it is the first thing that me and my peers check).
Here is how you can easily update your listing.
Company Website
Updating your website is another great way to show your customers that you are back in business as well as show some of the ways that your business has adapted to COVID-19. If you change your hours on your website or created a popup to show that your location is temporarily closed then now is a great time to remove it. Consider creating something on your front page that shows, firstly – that you are reopen, and secondly -the changes customers might expect from your location. Do they need to bring anything?
They are going to have a lot of questions, here would be a great place to answer as many as you can.
Here are the steps to update the content of your website:
WordPress
Squarespace
Another important form of communication to utilize is Email. Send an email to your email subscribers and inform them of any important information surrounding your reopening. Let them know that you are back in business and ready to serve them once again. Keeping up a line of communication with your customers is a great way to build awareness around your reopening. Email marketing is one of the strongest ways to create a one on one dialogue with your customers. If you have never sent out an email before, consider sending your first one now. Use this opportunity to address customer concerns and worries. This will help them remember why it is that they love your business so much.
Social Media
Creating a Facebook update is another great way to reach out to more of your customers. Nearly every business has a Facebook and a fan group. Leverage this tool to create a Facebook post that will get customers in your door. It is important that business owners reach out through every tool that they have in order to get back to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible. Use Facebook as a fantastic communication device and let your customers know what is going on in your business.
Here is how you can make a reopening Facebook post
Digital Ads
If you are looking to accelerate your business at a faster rate a great resource is Facebook and Google ads. These are paid services that will push your content past just your regular audience and to potential new customers. This could be a great time to invest a little more in making your business heard. You can display ads to only those who are most likely to convert, saving you money and improving your results. If you have never run a digital ad before this is a great time to try and boost your reopening.
Here is how you can create digital ads for Google. Here is how you can create digital ads for Facebook