How Businesses Have Continued to Grow in a Post-COVID19 Era

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly devastated Sydney businesses and Australia’s economy. Businesses in Sydney, big or small, have felt the impact of the disease in one way or another. 

However, several businesses didn’t feel the gloom and frustrations or felt it to a minimum. They instead have found ways to survive the pandemic’s onslaught and even continued to grow during the post-COVID-19 era.

These companies that have shown resilience and growth during these trying times are reaping profits that others couldn’t attain. They have faced similar challenges with all businesses operating in Sydney but have found ways to overcome them. How did they do it? Were they just lucky?

In this article, we have compiled valuable information that could give insights into why and how Sydney businesses thrived during the pandemic and beyond.

Challenges Businesses Face in the Post-Covid Era 

The pandemic has greatly changed the way Sydneysiders conduct their businesses. The traditional methods of conducting business and meeting with people, whether associates or customers have changed drastically overnight.

In addition, new challenges have started sprouting and everyone needs to react fast to keep the business afloat.

The following are common challenges businesses have had to face during the pandemic and lockdowns include:

• Severe disruption to a lot of systems and processes that are needed in running a business.
• Limitation of opportunities and face-to-face transactions brought about by lockdowns and health threats.
• Lack of efficient alternatives in the marketing and distribution chains.
• Difficulties for personnel and management staff in accessing the workplace.

How Businesses Have Thrived in the Post-COVID-19 Era

As traditional marketing strategies are greatly affected and no longer work in this new era, is it now the time to consider switching to “new norms” of running a business? 

Let’s look at the essential changes businesses in Sydney have made to be successful in the past couple of years.

The following are key attributes of the businesses that thrive.

1. Ability to adapt quickly to the market

The successful businesses thrived during the pandemic have shown adaptability by making necessary changes as quickly and early as possible.

They did it either by formulating new processes that directly respond to the recent changes or already having such systems in place before all the commotion began.

One typical system that has made the transition successful is establishing a strong online presence. This system enabled the maintenance of communication channels through the internet. The said channels have felt little or no disruption since the pandemic began. 

More and more professionals and businesses have shifted to conducting businesses online as an alternative. 

This shows the power of the internet. Every business should include harnessing the power of digital and include it in the contingency plans. Despite the changes in the world around us, with the proper adjustments and smart utilisation of various digital mediums, running a successful business post-COVID is still very much possible.

2. Pro-actively listening to their customers or clients

Businesses that have maintained and strengthened their relationships with their clients or customers are in the best position for growth.

The efficient utilisation of various online platforms and social media channels and an understanding of the power of digital have allowed businesses to be much more effective in acquiring customer feedback.

Feedback is critical to understanding how the needs of your customers have changed. In a post-COVID era, it is undeniable that many things that we had taken for granted have been challenged.

As a thriving Sydney business, you must open up as many channels as possible to connect with your customer.

3. Alter and meet the needs of their staff

The needs of staff have greatly changed. This has demanded more attention from business owners to cater to new needs while also being able to service customers effectively.

If you’re a business owner or a manager, this should be one of the primary priorities you should attend to. 

Your staff and personnel are always at great health risk during this pandemic. There is no 100% foolproof way to keep the virus away.

Find alternatives like working remotely, ensuring social distancing, and providing time for them to keep their bodies fit and healthy. Your staff and employees are the businesses’ wheels. Take care of them and be flexible with their needs.

In cases when an employee becomes critically ill, you should have contingency plans in place. Ensure all roles and responsibilities are covered and not disrupt the business’s vital operations. 

4. Ability to make informed, data-driven business decisions

Most, if not all, successful Sydney businesses have thrived during these trying times by not operating blindly. They equip themselves with tons of information to help them in their decision-making.

The internet itself is a gold mine of information. Everybody uses the information to develop insights that later turn into informed business-boosting actions.

Adopting a data-driven approach can prevent you from committing mistakes or taking huge risks, especially those that are difficult to recover from.

Use updated information collected in your planning and setting of goals. Set KPIs that can show measurable growth. Make sure your decisions are data-driven, not based on bias or emotions. 

Data collection and analysis is not just a one-stop thing. You must continuously utilise, analyse, and create new decisions based on validated information. Continue to evolve your data (both quantitative and qualitative) as you go on with your journey.

5. Adopt a holistic digital marketing strategy (SEO-focused)

There are a lot of definitions and interpretations of a holistic digital marketing strategy.

It describes taking relevant actions and creating carefully crafted plans that connect with your company and brand. This strategy looks at your brand and aligns all communication channels with delivering content, eliciting engagement, and producing sales.

You should know that SEO is not just about producing content and building backlinks anymore.

It has greatly evolved in the last decade and overlapped with many other facets of digital marketing.

You can use SEO as a holistic approach to do the following:

• Build influence and gain trust on social media and other platforms.
• Establish trust with your target audience by providing relevant content.
• Performing quality control on your website for the best user experience.
• Creating a content calendar that covers all the relevant topics that users seek.
• Efficiently using all available resources to create links and strengthen traffic flow.
• Creating complementary strategies with other methodologies like email marketing and PPC marketing (Pay-per-Click).

Final Thoughts

While we understand that some industries have been hard hit more than others, we also believe that digital can often be a great alternative to existing marketing strategies for most businesses.

There isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s ultimately up to every business owner to explore alternate strategies and test what works best for your business.

If you’re an Australian or Sydney business struggling to adapt in a post-COVID-19 era, speak to us today. Our senior SEO consultants can access your business and discuss how SEO can work for you.