To all of the small or local businesses out there – we hear you. We know you are struggling right now, and that’s why we have created this marketing checklist for organizations to follow after the COVID-19 quarantine measures have been lifted. It is important that we, as a community, support local businesses during this difficult time. What to do after the COVID-19 Quarantine Policies are Lifted

1. 1. Update your website/ads for your reopening and new hours immediately! 
      1. Once businesses start reopening consumers will be checking your company website and profiles to see if you’re open yet and what hours they can visit you. Make sure that you have updated your website, social media accounts, google my business, and other platforms accordingly.
   2. Messaging. Consider your messaging when advertising post-quarantine. Now might be a good time to promote “Shop Local”, “Support Small Businesses” slogans. Odds are, your community wants to help – sometimes a simple reminder can be a great instigator.
   3. Track your investments 
      1. You’ve likely taken a hit from the decreased or nil business transactions during the quarantine. Make sure that your marketing efforts are fruitful! Here are a few resources you can use to monitor your online presence.
         1. Google Analytics: This is a free resource for any company with a website. This service can provide you with valuable insights on who your users are, how they have found your website, and how they use it.
         2. Social Media Analytics: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and Linkedin all have analytics reporting (based on your profile type) where you can track the progress of your online profile. If you are investing in social media marketing, you should be monitoring these platforms to see which platform/content performs the best and at what days and times so that you can optimize your engagements.
         3. Are you advertising on many or all of these platforms? Consider using a cross-platform analytics tool to access all the reports you need from a single app. Here are some tools you can find on the market to accomplish this: SocialReport.com (Our favorite), Vizia, and Hootsuite.
   4. Email Marketing 
      1. Every time you send out an email take a look at the campaign data. How many people opened this email? How many clicked through? How do these numbers compare to previous campaigns sent out? If you have an unnaturally high unsubscribe rate or low click through rate, you should consider re-valuating your messaging and content so that it is more valuable to the receiver.
      2. Side note: for anyone using email marketing, it is important that you are cleaning your data often. Make sure your contacts are valid and active. If you are using a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) that does not communicate with your email platform, make sure to add your unsubscribers to a Do Not Send list in your CRM.
   5. Consider the pain points your customers might be facing right now, and see what problems your product/service can solve for them.
      1. Right now, most people (we hope) are reducing the amount of times they go shopping to an as needed basis. Consider the things that people may have been without for all this time, and remind them of this need.
      2. For example, many people will have gone without haircuts during quarantine so, post isolation, barbers and hair salons should invest in social media marketing, PPC ads for location-based search terms like “Barber near me”, and email marketing to let new and prospective clients know they are open and available. See a need, fill a need.
   6. Sell Online. Do you sell products that you could list online for purchase? An effective way to reach new audiences that you couldn’t before is to set up an e-commerce site. Two popular e-commerce website platforms that we recommend include Shopify and Magento.
   7. Keep an eye on your reviews! A staggering 72% of customers won’t take action until they have read a company’s reviews (Hosting Tribunal). Monitor your business’ reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other places customers might be reporting on their experience. Address reviews promptly and with class. Responding to a negative review shows that you are progressive, and care about getting to the bottom of a problem if one exists at your establishment. Here are two review monitoring platforms that it make it easier to manage your online reputation.
      1. ReviewPush.com
      2.  Podium.com
   8. Offer your customers an incentive to visit your business. There will be a lot of competition to get clients once the quarantine subsides, so make sure your business has that competitive edge. Examples of offering extra incentive:
      1. Free item with purchases over x
      2. Themed sales. Ex: Taco Tuesday
      3. Valuable Content
         1. Gated content has been increasingly popular in the marketing world and there’s no question why. Create a valuable piece of content (this can be a webinar, tutorial, infographic, data, customer profile, etc.) that will benefit the customer who in turn, gives you their contact details so that they can receive the content. It’s a win win.
   9. Invest in PPC, especially for terms like “[insert service here] near me”. After the quarantining is over, we will have a flood of people looking to get out and about. Have your location ads on to take advantage of the traveling consumer.
   10. Keep moving forward. We know this has been a tough start to the year. We hope these tips can help your business thrive. Keep yourself educated when it comes to new best practices and trends in the industry.

About the author: Lounge Lizard’s BrandTenders always serve up something distinct. We mix a potent combination of digital marketing strategy with a generous splash of creative juices and blend in technology-focused, customized solutions as a chaser.