In the usual day-to-day hustle and bustle of running a business, it’s easy for certain tasks to slip down to the bottom of your to-do list.
Let’s face it, as a business owner, there’s rarely a chance for you to catch your own breath, let alone spend significant time working “on” the business.
However, a lot of us are now faced with new challenges; some are being forced to connect in new ways with clients, some have had to alter current services/products and others may even be experiencing a bit of quiet time.
If you find yourself with a completely “new normal”, and are sick of gardening, tidying the house and virtual quizzing with your family, we’ve got some ideas of how you could fill your time.
Refresh your brand messaging.
Revisit your original brand messaging; what is it that you offer and why does your business stand out from the rest?
Reassess your brand mission and values; have these changed since the start of the pandemic?
Now, ask yourself: Is my brand message clear across all of my digital channels (website, social media etc)?
We wrote a short guide on How To Create a Brand That Customers Love and How To Maintain Brand Consistency to get you started.
Refreshing your memory on your own brand messaging may sound a bit silly at first – of course, you know what your business offers. But, intentionally revisiting it in this way can help you regain focus in uncertain times and think clearly when planning ahead for the future.
Check website functionality and user experience.
Once websites go live, they are usually pushed to the bottom of the pile of priorities – it’s up, it’s doing its job as a shop window for your business, right?
Well, what if your website could be performing better?
It can be easy to overlook minor details that have a huge impact on your user’s experience. Your website could be the first time a person engages with your business, so it’s crucial it’s functioning well and not turning away potential clients.
There are several tests you can do to improve different areas of your website. We have a blog focusing on the reasons why people are leaving your website.
Check your website doesn’t have:
- Irritating pop-ups – are pop-ups obscuring your content?
- Lengthy page load times – does it take longer than two seconds to load?
- Mobile-unfriendly pages – does it work on all devices?
- Broken links – are there any links that no longer work?
- Confusing navigation – can your customer find what they want, fast?
- Unclear brand messaging – does it tell the reader who you are at first glance?
Learn a new skill.
Whether it’s a specific course that will help you upskill and give a new edge to your business, or something purely for fun, there are so many incredible resources online (a lot of them free!) that you can learn from.
And, it doesn’t have to cost the earth either.
Mattix Director Matt Wildbore has been practising his photography with a reasonably simple set up and using some budget-friendly hacks. We think the snaps have turned out brilliantly.
Scrub up your social media profiles.
Similar to your website, your social media profiles may have slid to the back of your mind.
Even if you post regularly, it can be easy to forget the smaller details of social.
Are your bios, descriptions, business info and opening hours all up to date?
If not, they could misinform or misrepresent what you’re trying to say to potential customers when they land on your page.
Are any of your profiles dormant?
It may be time to say goodbye and deactivate them, or at least start posting on them again.
Avoiding dormant accounts is crucial right now because if a potential customer stumbles upon on your Facebook page and you’ve not posted anything for a year, they may presume you’re no longer in business and head elsewhere.
Lastly, you could always spend a few minutes curating your own social media feeds and unfollowing any accounts that are no longer relevant to you or your network.
Go through Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram and think about who you really want to be hearing from and unfollow/follow accordingly. Once you’ve done this, your social media feeds will become places of inspiration and insight, rather than just noise.
Want to discuss a new design project? Contact us today to have a chat.