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2020. What a year, and not in a good way. Let’s leave our direct references to it there, for fear of overdoing it, and reminding us of something we’d rather move on from. That said, it is true that the discussion of 2020’s consequences on the market holds some merit, particularly if you’re running a business and have to deal with those firsthand.
Many businesses are poised to offset some of the damages and limit some of the difficulty they have experienced in the past year, with the only (unfortunate) silver lining being that many companies are in the same position. What does this mean for you? Well, perhaps a new perspective is needed. Sure, you may have downsized, and it’s always tragic when people lose their jobs. Sure, you may have lost clients, and that’s always tough. Yes, we would never, ever use 2020 as a means by which to feel fortunate.
But is it possible to use these market trends in a manner that benefits us? Is it possible to find our own silver lining, only with good taste and fair play?
Someone’s going to ask that question. Let’s ask it ourselves:
Opportunities In The Market
It’s important to consider the potential opportunities you have in the market, and what they mean for your success. To use an example, it’s quite clear that certain industries have managed to thrive despite Covid, thanks to their unique positioning in the market. Could it be that fostering better B2B connections can allow for you to service those companies as clients, supporting them as they thrive? That might not be such a bad idea.
Furthermore, keeping an eye out for business failures or downsizes in your market can help you see where the market could be opening up again. It’s the nature of business to be competitive, and when you see open space on the playing field, moving into it could be a great idea. You might fulfill the hole left by another business, take inspiration from a process that is no longer considered proprietary, or simply listen to what their customers are missing. This kind of approach helps you meet a need, which is often the most grounded and important element of securing worthwhile market share. You can be sure that companies would be moving back into your space, too, given the chance, and so this is just the nature of taking inspiration from those around you, choosing your moment, and going for it.
A Renewed, Fresh Start Marketing Push
A renewed, fresh start can bring with it an amazing marketing push. To use a similarity that might not seem to have much import here - consider movies. People roll their eyes at big movie franchises ‘rebooting’ and perhaps renaming the first movie of the reboot after the first movie of the original series, but there’s a reason why studio after studio pursue this. It’s because it works, and it makes good on a known brand name, while also providing the creative ingenuity necessary to ensuring something new can be offered.
A renewed marketing push, in this spirit, can help your firm seem like a prized fighter after the difficulty of Covid. Showing how you are still here for your clients and how much they mean to you, and what the pandemic has taught you when curating your processes and product/service offerings - well, that can be tremendously powerful for customers to see.
This is especially true if you use a service like Unravel SEO, a company known for bespoke and highly effective SEO campaigns. When you boost engagement in this way and get your marketing seen, and do so at the right time, well, you have the chance for exponential exposure. That has to be a positive step forward.
Uniting In Struggle
Uniting despite the struggle is quite a difficult ask, but it can be done. It’s likely that your team have never felt closer, and if they have, then it might be worth bringing the troops together to discuss the year that has gone by, how proud you are of them, what you expect of them in the new year, and how you’re there to help them give the best of their professional selves.
This is great, because staff don’t want to feel like they’re being coddled. They want to feel like they’re useful, and that they can overcome obstacles. This doesn’t mean you should work them to the bone of course, it simply means that coming together offering your support (which is found in more than just words), staying present, considering the working atmosphere (even remotely), investing in their training and ensuring your HR department is there to help them when appropriate is very, very important. This way, you will curate a better and more impactful sense of belonging, which all firms can really benefit from in the long run. You will likely see how and why yourself.
Planning For Future Struggles
There are silver linings, even with any disastrous event. Perhaps one of the most present and uniform silver linings you can experience after hardship is realizing that this can happen again, and you better be prepared for it. We can only imagine how remote work, virtual meetings, cloud file access, online security and giving devices to staff will be utilized in this spirit from here on out, as the new normal retains its sense of possibility, and companies realize that if this could happen, it could happen again.
Planning for the future might mean that a company decides to curate a delivery service, or to enhance their consumer conveniences. They might consider that planning for future struggles means developing a more transparent and consistent image in the eyes of consumers looking for companies to trust. In other words, don’t fail to ask just what you can learn from 2020’s consequences. They could help you out from now, into the future.
With this advice, we hope you can use 2020 to your benefit in the best possible sense.