How to grow your online sales during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic took everyone by surprise, from politicians to small business owners, and we are all struggling to adapt to its effects, even now. It left many business owners with a grim view of their future, but that does not need to be the case.

In this article, we ask the question: can you still grow your business during a pandemic? Absolutely! And below, we aim to give you a few tips as to how you can do that.

The Internet is your friend

During a pandemic, cities and countries have shut down, and small brick-and-mortar businesses have been closed temporarily. This forces one to wonder, how else can you sell your services or products?
Naturally, the smart business owner will turn to e-commerce and the online medium to keep generating sales.

Now is the time for you to check your business website – is it SEO-friendly? Does it offer engaging content?

Want to start selling online? We have a guide for you!

Another important factor of marketing yourself online is your social media presence. It’s vital that any business has a Facebook page, at least. Why? Because it allows more customers to find you and learn about your services.

Even if you do have a social media account, that’s not enough. You need to post regularly and engage with your audience. You might consider paying for ads to be displayed, so that more people can hear about you. Pay-Per-Click ads are wonderful for this.

Quick delivery should be a priority

As we’ve all seen during the pandemic, most people will have a lot of spare time while they’re self-isolating, which pretty much means they’ll spend a significant chunk of that time just browsing online stores.

So if you’re selling something online, you want to make sure you’re offering your clients the best delivery options available. Delivery needs to be cheap and fast.
Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes for a moment. You’re stuck at home all day with not much to do, so you obviously look forward to a delivery. But if delivery to their door is super-expensive or takes many days to arrive, they might give up on the idea altogether, as it doesn’t satisfy their need for entertainment now.

Address the virus in the room

You might be tempted to pretend that everything is alright and that it will soon go back to normal. But it’s not all alright, unfortunately, and pretending so can make you appear insensitive to potential customers.

So first, reach out with a message of unity and hope. Show your community that you are a business to be trusted and relied on during this time of need, and that you plan to do your bit to help them.

And let the virus be your friend, as it were. Design an ad or campaign that acknowledges the virus in some way or another, instead of ignoring it. Your customers are thinking about it, and they want to see that you are, too.

It’s alright to be scared for your business, but it really depends on your attitude. You can give up, convinced that this is the end, or you can adapt and overcome. You can take advantage of this time to learn, optimize and ultimately, grow your business.