Tag: small business

Undoubtedly, many small businesses have had numerous challenges to tackle over the past several months. To say these are unprecedented times is now an enormous understatement. Rather than dwell on the impacts of COVID-19, however, it might be useful to look at what’s next for small businesses.

In business, as in life, planning ahead is always a good idea. Even as you tackle the current mountain in front of you, be sure you’re taking steps to manage any future disruptions to business. 

Nobody can promise an easy road ahead. However, taking action is better than waiting around and hoping for a vaccine, a stimulus check or anything else that isn’t within your control. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t, and you’ll feel more prepared for any roadblocks ahead while preparing for what’s next in small business.

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The Current Outlook

Businesses of all sizes have already had to pivot as a result of COVID-19. They’ve taken business outdoors, switched to online formats, and implemented stringent safety and cleaning protocols, all while trying to keep employees on payroll and keep their customers happy.

Unfortunately, not all businesses have survived these trying times. There will likely be others that don’t as well, in the months ahead. Yet at the same time, there will be many that will do whatever it takes to make it through to the other side. In many cases, doing “whatever it takes” will mean a complete upheaval in the way they do business.

“Many small businesses in the United States will need to make extreme changes to survive,” states business consulting firm McKinsey & Company. “The broad themes are, by now, familiar and generally the same as with most large businesses: protecting the health and safety of employees and customers, adapting business models, investing in talent and technology, and adjusting staffing models and labor practices.”

Read more: Social Media Marketing, the Quarantine Edition: How to Pivot When Times Get Tough

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What’s In Your Control?

Smaller businesses that lack the deep pockets of well-funded companies will naturally have to make all these changes with less working capital. Faced with slim margins, many of these small businesses will be tempted to cut corners and slash budgets on anything that’s viewed as an unnecessary expenditure. They may be unwilling to invest in the proper resources required to survive the pandemic throughout 2020 and beyond. 

Here at Rallio, we’ve seen firsthand what’s happened when businesses decide that marketing and technology aren’t worth the investment. Whereas they may have had a robust social media following and high levels of engagement on social media, their numbers quickly plummeted when they stopped investing in social media marketing. 

On the flip side, the businesses that put marketing and technology at the top of their list of budgetary priorities have seen their numbers grow. We cannot stress enough how important it is to keep marketing yourself amid the pandemic. With social media usage at an all-time high, you can’t afford to hit “pause” on this area of your business.

While we can’t predict exactly what’s next for small business, we can say with certainty that social media and technology will continue to play important roles. If you make the necessary investments in those areas — along with other areas mentioned above — you’ll be better prepared and also feel like you’re taking back some control in your business.

Social media marketing and the technology used to manage your online presence are both within your reach as a small-business owner. While it might feel overwhelming to think about how to approach your social media marketing, fear not. We’ve got answers for you, straight from one of our Rallio Local experts, Eric Mitchell, who talks to small businesses and franchisees every day.

We filmed a short video with Eric to get his take on how small businesses can address the current challenges while planning ahead what’s next for small businesses.

A few key takeaways:

• The most pressing need for small business right now is the need for genuine content. Social media is the most powerful way to publish that genuine content and connect with your audience.
• Outsourcing your social media makes sense for small-business owners, who are often wearing many hats and lack the time needed to properly make an impact on social media.
• Now is the time to prepare for 2021. Your best bet? Stay engaged.

For more details on what’s next for small business, watch the full video below.

 

Becoming a small-business owner is a bit like skydiving. When you jump out of a perfectly good airplane and free-fall with the hope that your parachute deploys, you’re taking a huge risk, obviously. 

The same is true when you make the conscious choice to step outside your comfort zone for the chance at being your own boss. Whether you’re choosing to leave a job or simply pursue your passions, taking the big leap into entrepreneurship might be the biggest risk of your life.

Perhaps it’s this huge risk factor that causes many entrepreneurs to cling to ownership — not just of their company, but also of every aspect of running a business. Putting it all on the line has a way of making anyone want to manage it all and avoid delegating responsibility to anyone else.

The truth that many successful owners come to realize, however, is that there are numerous benefits to surrounding themselves with people who are experts in their fields. Rather than be a “Jack of all trades, master of none,” they make the decision to hire people who are the best at what they do — whether it’s accounting, sales, human resources, marketing or any other number of job functions.

So when a new client comes on board at Rallio, we’re always super excited to start working with them. They’ve recognized they can’t — and shouldn’t — do everything themselves. They’ve chosen to hire experts who will handle every aspect of their social media, online reputation, directory listings and even recruiting to an extent.

Known as Rallio Local, this in-house team consists of social media strategists who work one-on-one with business owners. Why is this important?

• Having a dedicated strategist puts time back in your day as a business owner. You can focus on growing your business, building a customer base and doing all the things you love about entrepreneurship — the things that made you jump out of the proverbial plane.
• You don’t have to lose sleep wondering if you’re doing the right thing on social media. You have trusted advisors who have your back.
• You’ll be able to grow your business faster when your social media marketing aligns with your overall marketing strategy. Your strategist will take the time to understand your goals and deliver on them.

“Sounds good,” you’re thinking. “But how does this all work?” We’re glad you asked!

Below, we’ve provided a quick rundown of the different types of services you can utilize with us.

Local Social Media Content for Small-Business Owners

The most important factor to the success of your social media pages is the winning combination of local content and targeted boosting. 

Local content = Photos and videos of real people at your business doing real things. It may include employees, customers, owners and any other real humans related to your business. It doesn’t include a bunch of stock photos, overly promotional posts and sales pitches.

Targeted boosting = Paying to get your content seen by your followers and your followers’ friends. It’s the only way to ensure your content is visible.

If all of this sounds like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, you don’t need to worry about it. Your Social Media Strategist will ask you for specific images every week. You upload them to Rallio, your Strategist adds a fun caption and boosts the post. That’s it!

Offers, Job Postings and Events

But what about my special offers, recruitment posts and events? Can’t I tell my followers about them?

You absolutely can, and your Strategist will work with you to get all the details and schedule them strategically. In general, about 80 percent of your social media content will be non-promotional. The other 20 percent may include your special offers and news about upcoming events or job openings. 

Your Strategist will boost these promotional and recruitment posts, too, to get more visibility.

With both your local content and other types of posts, we use artificial intelligence combined with science to help you decide what to boost and when as well as how much to spend. You won’t have to worry about blowing your budget or boosting the wrong content to the wrong audience.

Responses to Online Reviews, Comments and Messages

When you have followers, they’re going to engage with you. They might leave an online review, comment on a post or send you a direct message. Someone needs to be responding to those engagements if you want to keep your followers — and customers.

Rallio Local Strategists take care of all these responses for our small-business owners. If a new review pops up on Google My Business or Facebook, if a comment appears on your page, or if a direct message hits your inbox, your Strategist crafts a response. 

Anything that requires owner involvement is sent to you for approval first — say, if a customer leaves a negative review and needs a more detailed answer.

All of these engagements are handled within 24 hours. Can you honestly say you would be able to get back to your followers as quickly — and also try to run your business?  

Additionally, we can help you get new, positive reviews with our technology. You can choose to have your customers get a text survey after their purchase that asks for feedback. If it’s a positive review, they’re encouraged to leave a review on the review platform of your choosing. Negative reviews are handled offline instead of published on a public platform.

Updates to Your Directory Listings

When you have changes to your hours, address, phone number or other business information, your Strategist will make sure it gets updated across the web. Our Business Listings service is built right into the Rallio technology. Done and done!

During the pandemic, many of our clients have found this to be an invaluable service. They were able to easily announce any temporary closures or other business changes, and then change the information back once they reopened.

Employee Advocacy

One of the best parts about our technology is the ability for small-business owners to implement employee advocacy. You can get your team involved in creating and posting content, helping to build morale and extend the reach of your content even further.

As employees post content about your company to their own social media pages, it becomes more visible to their own audiences. They’re able to reach new followers who otherwise wouldn’t know about your company.

Technology + Team

The key takeaway here is that Rallio Local gives small-business owners both the technology and the team to be successful on social media. We understand the complexities of social media marketing and are able to navigate them on your behalf.

Whether you want a lot of help or just a little extra push, we can provide the right solution for your small business or franchise brand. Drop us a line at sales@rallio.com and we can set you up with a quick demo to show you how we can help your business.