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It’s easy to be stressed out right now if you’re a startup or a small business owner. The economy almost everywhere is shaky due to the coronavirus pandemic curbing normal activities. Many businesses of all sizes are struggling to cope with the current environment, balancing the need to survive with things like worker and customer safety.  When business is slow, smart business owners don’t throw up their hands and say, “Oh well.” No, they think of ways to spark interest in their products or services, stir up business, attract new eyeballs, and generate more leads.  

If this sounds like you, here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Don’t think of these as a solution, though. Think of them more of a jumping off point.  

Spice Up a Webinar 

One approach that has worked well for a number of businesses, particularly those in service industries, is to host educational webinars. But webinars can be boring. People maybe sign up and tune in, but they might not be paying full attention. And too often, webinars don’t actually provide useful information; they’re just thinly disguised sales pitches. Plus, with today’s remote work environment, people are spending more time than ever in virtual conferences than ever before.  

So what can you do to make your webinars stand out, attract more people, and actually engage attendees? One way is to add an element that piques people’s interest by doing something a little off the wall. For example, there’s a very popular YouTube show called Hot Ones where the host interviews celebrities while both eat increasingly spicy chicken wings. The format works really well because a) it’s relatively simple, b) the host asks interesting questions, and c) the celebrities’ reactions are often hilarious.  

Now, we’re not saying you specifically need to eat spicy hot wings to engage your audience, though that could be fun. Rather, think of ways to make your webinar more dramatic and entertaining. Not only will this increase interest in your webinar, but it’ll make it memorable.  

Boost Visibility 

One challenge that many companies face is that their products or services just aren’t visible enough to their customers. How many times have you said, “If customers only knew we existed, they’d give us their business?”  

Of course, the purchasing process is more complex than that, but visibility is a key aspect of marketing your products or services. When more people see your brand name, the more likely they’ll think about your brand when the time comes to make the purchase. More eyeballs = more leads = more sales.  

In today’s highly digital world, there are more ways to gain visibility than ever before, and it can be dizzying just to compare channels. There are a lot of paid opportunities, but there are also free ways to gain visibility. But you need to weigh cost with effectiveness.  

And one way to measure that is by looking at cost of customer acquisition. For example, you might spend $500 on advertising on YouTube, get 10,000 impressions and convert that into 100 buyers (assuming a 1 percent conversion rate). That gives you a cost/acquisition cost of only $.80. Alternatively, you might also pay $250 for boosted branded content development on a website that’s widely read by your customers, but only get 5,000 impressions but convert at a much higher rate. Assuming a 3 percent conversion rate, you’ve effectively spent half the cost of the YouTube advertisement for a 50 percent boost in new buyers.  

Network, Network, Network 

There’s a saying in business that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And if you’ve ever done any sales, you know it’s much easier to sell to someone who’s been introduced to you by a mutual friend or acquaintance.  

Some professions in the past relied on face-to-face networking for business development. But as long as the pandemic is still raging, those face-to-face events have all either been canceled or moved online. This means you might need to adjust your tactics to more online approaches, including spending more time cultivating connections through social media.  

If your business is in a slump and any of these ideas appeal to you, Thankz can help. We can match you with highly qualified freelancers and remote workers who can help you market your business better than ever before. Sign up as an employer or try our concierge service where we deliver a curated list of candidates to your inbox.