What exactly is this ‘new normal’?
Unless you live under a rock or you just got back from Mars, you maybe have noticed that we are entering what can potentially be termed the ‘new normal’ – at least as far as business and interactions with clients, customers, staff, and others.
[LISTEN: 3 Reasons Why Mobile Works for #DistanceMarketing – PODCAST EPISODE]
And in this episode, we are talking mobile notifications, how those notifications can potentially help you restart your business in what’s passing for the ‘new normal’ – especially if it’s struggling or has been closed for weeks – while maintaining the required, or suggested – depending on where you are located – social distancing and safety measures.
How long will this last?
Oh, Virginia, if only we had a crystal ball, we could tell you the truth about Santa Claus. But we don’t, and in this time period that we are going to kindly refer to as the ‘new normal’, the only thing we can be sure about is that people, regardless of what they believe about illness, statistics, or government, are still a bit wary of going out in public around others; they want to see every business making an effort to adjust and provide a safe shopping, dining, or service experience.
In the meantime, you should familiarize yourself with #DistanceMarketing, since it’s entirely possible that we are going to be trodding this path for some time yet, especially in some of the areas that have had greater concentration of illness and more complete shutdowns that are still in place. That’s right, the ‘new normal’ is nothing close to normal, and some places still haven’t actually hit the new portion of the program.
FACT: Small brick and mortar business is taking the brunt of it.
The bottom line here is that small business has been subject to much more as far as closing goes than most of the large businesses. Big online companies, like Amazon, are doing bang up business. Grocery stores, big box home centers, wholesale clubs, and the like are seeing massive increases in their business. As are luxury online stores – we’re talking about it all this week.
We aren’t passing judgement – heck, we might not even agree with each other on the current situation or how we got here. But we know that small business owners who are being allowed to reopen are seeing low traffic, having a tough time adjusting to new rules, and are going to be lucky to be in business when the end of this year finally rolls into view. (Can’t happen soon enough, I think we can all agree on that part)
So, what can you do if you run a small business, are finally looking at opening again, and don’t have a strong online or mobile component already? This is the episode for you. Well, it’s one of them. We have been making our way through some ideas about #distancemarketing and how to start re-energizing your customers and prospects to pick up where they left off – shopping, dining, or using your available services.
The light at the end of the tunnel might not be a train.
It’s not going to be easy, and it’s going to take awhile to recover. One of the biggest things your business will benefit from by going mobile is that you’ll be better prepared to manage if there’s another crisis – whether it’s medical, climate, political, economic, whatever. You will have another tool at your disposal that you can use to reach out and engage with your community, and you will learn to create strong calls to action that increase your chances of success at the ground level.
For more information about the “next normal”, which might not be the same as the new normal, we suggest checking out this article on MediaPost.