So, with that in mind, we had a brainstorm session here at Hunter Bevan to come up with a few marketing ideas for small businesses who are potentially going to see a drop in traffic/sales…

• Be proactive, contact your client base with an email or phone call. Inform them of your situation and how you can still provide your product or service to them. Reassure them you are doing everything you can to maintain your service.
• If the decision has been made to cease trading for a while, then inform your clients of this … and keep in touch on a regular basis to remind them you are still a trusted supplier. You want them to come back when you begin to trade again!
• With lots of people spending more time at home over the coming weeks, it’s inevitable that social media will be a popular port of call – how about running a competition or other campaign to create engagement for your social media pages? You can build a solid follower base for later in the year.
• Print could potentially become a stronger means of communication if we are asked to isolate completely! Can you offer a home delivery service alternative and advertise this via a flyer drop? Perhaps you could produce an order form for people to leave on their doorstep for you to fulfil?
• The humble gift voucher – offering these to replace service appointments or cancellations could be a good way to keep revenue coming in now, and then increase footfall through the door when life returns to normal.

We’re here to help with any of these ideas, or to work with you to come up with specific solutions for your business or organisation.

Give us a call. We’ll be happy to discuss how we can help.