How Small Businesses are Responding to Shifting Consumer Behaviours

Brands have been forced to innovate new programs to mitigate lost revenue, leading us into the ‘Recovery & Adaptation’ phase of crisis response. A recent report entitled COVID-19 Recovery & Adaption: For Brands & Businesses by Creative Digital Agency Inc. brings out significant new consumer behaviors and evaluates the effectiveness of the different tactics employed by major brands and small businesses in response to the crisis.

In the Recovery & Adaptation phase, the report lists out, brands and businesses must consider a few things:

1. Do I have a campaign that aligns with new consumer behaviors?
2. Can my plan be easily modified to changing timelines and market conditions?
3. How will I adapt my brand experience for a primarily–digital audience?
4. Does my content consider new media consumption trends?
5. How can I continue to provide value for my stakeholders?

Tactics For Small Businesses

Small businesses are being hit hard right now. While some storefronts might not be deemed as an ‘essential business,’ they are still essential to the economy, and our communities.

The first step for small business owners that have been struggling with the situation is to communicate with consumers about how their business is responding to these times.

Here are some strategies that can help small businesses mitigate revenue loss until shops can reopen.

• Convert to Online: Go to where your consumers are and provide incentives to drive them to your site
• Align with a Cause: People are looking for a way to give back. You can increase visibility and engagement by using your communications channels, including social media or an email list, to recommend organizations that your audience can work with to help out the community.
• Make it Virtual: Convert your events to live experiences on social media and make it a time for experimentation.
• Be Unconventional: Play into your strengths to help consumers at this time. Online shoe seller Zappos has let its customers know that their customer service will answer ANY questions–no matter how bizarre.
• Promote Gift Cards: Encourage your audience to do some early birthday or holiday shopping by promoting gift cards. This has the added benefit of giving people a concrete reason to visit your retail locations once the crisis is over.
• Look to Larger Brands & Partner with Less Affected Businesses: Schick, the personal care and safety razors brand started a social media campaign: barbers that are out of work can share tutorials of how consumers can cut their own hair at home. During the ongoing stay at home orders, companies large and small are having to revise their creative approach.

Check out a list of the top brand creatives produced in response to the crisis, respecting the situation while still achieving the brand’s business objectives in my next article.

[Gleaned from the eBook COVID-19 Recovery & Adaption: For Brands & Businesses by Creative Digital Agency Inc. You can download it here]