Three Lessons Small Businesses Can Take into the future

Vista’s Erin Shea provides the advice with every small business owner needs.

This time last year, Vista surveyed Canadian small business owners (SBOs) about the pivots they’ve made to rebound from the pandemic. As the design and marketing partner to millions of small businesses around the world, we learned that SBOs were placing a higher emphasis on marketing. How do we help these business owners build on this and create a new path forward?

A look back to look ahead

When SBOs were forced to remain closed for months on end thanks to rolling lockdowns across the country, what were SBOs supposed to do to keep their business afloat and service loyal customers?

Well, 48 percent of Canadian SBOs started selling their products and services online. The shift to online opened doors to new business opportunities but also to areas SBOs might not be as familiar with. From website building, digital marketing, search engine optimization, and more, SBOs needed to navigate a whole new world.

While store closures changed how businesses functioned, they also shaped customer service. Customers were pushed to shop in new ways, putting pressure on product delivery. SBOs, some for the first time, needed printed materials such as stickers, labels, product packaging, and more.

SBOs adapted to their circumstances. But now what?

We can all agree that Canadian SBOs have been put to the test these past two years, facing myriad challenges with every new COVID wave. Now, as we cross our fingers and hope the end of the pandemic is near, we’re sharing what we’ve heard from SBOs, which has led us to explore three “pivots” from the pandemic that SBOs should consider building on for long-term success (pandemic or otherwise).

Next steps for success

As we look forward to the future, SBOs must continue to adapt while trying new things. In 2022, we recommend that SBOs leverage the following tactics for continued success.

• Listen to your audience
  Consumers have grown increasingly conscious of the brands they interact with. They want to know who they're supporting and whether a brand's identity aligns with their own. Ultimately, the onus is placed on SBOs to ensure they position their businesses to reflect who they are and what they offer, meet the audience's needs, and tell their unique stories when no one is around. To get to this point, SBOs need to spend time listening to their customers.
  The best way to listen is to ask. Whether that's through surveys, conversations, and online ratings and reviews, asking about things like speed, the purchase and delivery experience, and service offerings. Customer input provides clarity on what matters most.
• Rethink your online presence
  SBOs have already made the shift to online so why stop now? While the end of the pandemic seems to draw near, it forced a big shift in consumer behaviour—people are online more than ever, and things returning to “normal” won’t change that.
  33 percent of SBOs plan to continue offering their products and services online once the pandemic is over. However, SBOs need to reinvent how they leverage their online presence to drive traffic back to their physical locations in a post-COVID world. One way to do this is by sharing an in-store-only coupon for email subscribers or using other marketing efforts that incentivize in-person visits.
  Also, your online presence should provide resources that customers might need, like product details, contact information, and business hours. Marrying the two strategies is critical to small business success as society continues to open up.
• Leverage social media to build community
  We know SBOs have their eye on social media with 39 percent reporting that social media marketing has dominated with Facebook and Instagram leading the pack.
  We found that SBOs started investing more time and energy into social media, whether with higher-quality product photography on Instagram or live Q&A videos on Facebook. This is an area we’re seeing as a continued focus for SBOs as social media platforms grow to provide diverse marketing and advertising opportunities - from creating compelling and unique content to reach audiences organically to targeted paid advertising.

A strong social media presence will also help shift SBO's interactions with their customers from a transaction to a relationship, creating an engaged and loyal customer base.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the last few years, and one of them is that marketing, design, and a thoughtful digital presence are essential for small business success. The environment, market, and customer needs continue to evolve and SBOs need to stay flexible, creative and curious to stand out from competitors, reach new customers, and effectively communicate changes to the business.

Not sure where to start? Only one click away, there are expert marketing and design partners that can help SBOs through the process.

Erin Shea, Senior Director and Head of North America Marketing at Vista