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Now more than ever, it's important that retailers stick together. Which is why we'd like to highlight a great resource page, put together by the Canadian Retail Council, to help Canadian businesses navigate the ever-changing marketplace. You can find everything from government assistance, to a store capacity calculator, to a recovery toolkit- which will all help you run your business during these challenging times.... Check it out by clicking the link below, and let us know what you found the most helpful: https://www.retailcouncil.org/coronavirus-info-for-retaile/ #retail #business #help #marketing #digitalmarketing #covid19marketing #freshfeedback

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

With the recent province-wide lockdown, it's important to make sure your customers can get their last-minute shopping done safely. And with these great tips, especially curb-side pickup, we believe retailers and customers can still make the best of this holiday season. Tune in every Monday for more marketing tips and tricks!... #retailing #marketing #onlineshopping #salesandretail #socialmedia #freshfeedback #holidaystress #lockdown #covid19marketing https://fokoretail.com/holiday-shopping-stress-covid-19/

Holiday shopping is upon us, but with the world entering the last ten days of frenzied shopping before the Big Day, some businesses may be wondering how to catch those last-minute shoppers. This article comes up with ten creative ways to make sure you and your business are attracting the last of the shopping, with some of our favourite ways including creating a gift guide to showing your spirit. Don’t be afraid to use social media either to keep directing conversation, and h...opefully traffic, towards your online or bricks-and-mortar store. And, while it may be #10 on the list, it’s #1 in our hearts- make sure shopping is as easy as possible! For in-person shopping, make sure your store is laid out in themes like stocking stuffers or children’s gifts-all in one place. And for an online store, make sure your Google My Business page is claimed and up-to-date with all the new features Google now offers. And remember Only 10 more days of the craziness that is holiday shopping, so make the most of it! https://www.deluxe.com//10-tips-for-attracting-last-minute #holidays #socialmedia #business #marketing #holidayshopping #retail #freshfeedback

The third factor to having successful, and seen, business listings is to choose quality over quantity with where you want your listing to be seen. It might seem like a good idea to have your listing in as many places as possible, but you may just be wasting valuable time on smaller websites that won’t be seen as much as tier 1 directors. These directors, such as Google, Facebook, Yelp, Bing, and Apple Maps, receive far more views than smaller directories, which means that sea...rch algorithms from large search engines pay more attention to them. In order to get more views on your business, this is where you want to focus your business-listing attention. #marketing #searchengines #digitalmarketing #branding #listingmanagement #freshfeedback

As a business, monitoring your online presence is paramount to managing your brand’s reputation. Your reputation is made up of your Google and Facebook listings, all review boards allowing customers to post about you, and social media, which is why staying on top of all these factors is so important. The first step to building trust with consumers and establishing brand credibility is having accurate business information. If people are coming to your site and aren’t finding ...correct information, or a lack of information, your brand’s reputation will suffer. Monitoring reviews is the second step to making sure possible clients are seeing that your brand is one that is trustworthy and credible. Especially with COVID-19 and the influx of delivery, where more people have taken to creating reviews, it’s absolutely critical that you are managing your reviews and seeing what people are saying about your brand. The best way to make the most out of social media is to keep track of the metrics- brand mentions, relevant hashtags, customer feedback and competitor mentions are all important when building a brand’s reputation. But what about listening and responding to your customers? Find out tomorrow, in Step 2 of Brand Reputation Management.

Your employees may be feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed right now, due to the health and safety regulations, government recommendations, and new expectations and roles in the workplace. There’s a lot going on for them, and as a someone in management, it’s important to recognize this. So how do you make sure you take care of your employees while keeping up with current regulations as the pandemic continues to shift?... Start with communication; make sure you are always keeping everyone in the loop. If you have questions, they will too. Make sure you do your best to address them and follow up with any concerns your employees may have. Next, make sure new procedures, policies, and habits are easy for workers to adjust to and use. It’s important that they also understand the importance of the new process and policies, so they see the value in implementing them whole-heartedly. Finally, make sure you are watching that everyone executes the changes properly, and address any problems or inconsistencies you observe. Be open to feedback as well, so that way you can improve whatever may not be working for you and your employees. After all, teams in retail work best when everyone feels safe and heard. #management #healthandsafety #retail #freshfeedback #customerservice #covid

With over 350 million products available through Amazon, this could be the best time to give this giant a go. Especially when it seems like brand loyalty comes second to the most convenient and cheapest product, it’s important to branch into multichannel retailing. Amazon encourages this by offering different categories that help highlight and sell brands; before selling on Amazon, see what they have to offer your company that other retail giants can’t. ... Amazon could be a good fit, especially with over 65% of product searches now beginning on the site. If you do decide selling on Amazon is right for you, remember to take full advantage of their advertising capabilities; it’s a crowded market out there and you want to stand out however you can. #amazon #instagram #facebook #google #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #socialmediamarketing

The lines between marketing and commerce have blurred. In-app purchases are the new normal, as social media sites increasingly become places to shop instead of show. Google, a platform known for its advertising, is now increasing selling capability through Google Shopping while Amazon, known for its selling capacity, is investing more in their advertising services.... In the world of retail, things may seem turned around; but the best way to stay ahead is to stay on top of it. Take advantage of the big Four (Amazon, Instagram, Facebook, and Google) for advertising and have a ‘test and learn’ attitude with all platforms, especially the new ones. It’s important to get online and create as many customer touch points as possible. And the best way to do this is by understanding just what you are getting into. Through the next four posts, I’ll be walking you through who the Big Four are, how the operate, and how best to compete on them. After all, knowledge is power, and power is knowing your customer. #marketing #socialmedia #google #facebook #digitalmarketing #power #branding #sales #instagram #amazon

Health and safety should be the top priority for both your employees and your customers, which is why safety measure should extend farther than just implementing extra sanitation. As a retailer, both customers and employees should feel safe entering and spending time within your business. That’s why it’s best to show the practices you are implementing, not just telling people about it. ... A good way to do this is by adopting some of the policies other retailers have; keep enforcing the 6-foot social distancing rule, offer hand sanitizer coming in and out of the store, and if possible, have an employee directing traffic while cleaning any carts or baskets customers could be using. These practices actively show that a business cares about making customers feel and be safe. Another important aspect is to make sure employees feel safe as well. To do this, review policies and practices that might put them at risk of COVID-19 spread, such as using the same pen to sign their timesheet and come up with a solution to minimize contact. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback either, from both customers and employees, on how your business can increase health measure and make everyone feel safer. #freshfeedback #business #covid #healthandsafety #socialdistancing #customerexperience

Getting into the routine of listening and responding to customer feedback is the first part, and analyzing where you can improve is the second. When you take the time to analyze your brand and the interactions it’s having with customers, you’ll start to notice natural areas of improvement. And by analyzing your social media interactions, you can make sure you are setting the right benchmark, tracking proper metrics, and refining your reputation management strategy.... Reputation management is a tricky and never-ending job that requires patience and understanding. Fortunately, FreshFeedback is skilled in understanding the importance of customer reviews, interactions, and responses. As a brand, they work hard to stay on top of your brand’s reputation and cultivate conversations with customers that strengthen your brand’s trust and credibility. For more information on how FreshFeedback can help your brand manage their reputation, click on our profile and see for yourself. #marketing #strategy #brand #socialmedia #freshfeedback

By responding to your customers quickly through social media, you are starting a dialogue that will lead to brand engagement with that customer and future customers. You are showing that you can be reached through social media, and that you care about resolving potential issues and want to provide support to customers that want to talk. Some best practices to make sure you are keeping up with social media questions and reviews is:... 1) Create review response templates- make sure that you are never at a loss for words when the clock is ticking. To prevent this, outline possible responses for positive, negative, and vague feedback that you can work off of when the time comes. 2) Maintain your brand voice- always remain professional and appropriate but use your responses as a chance to strengthen your brand voice. Having a review response template with a brand voice already in place will make sure you aren’t struggling at the last minute. 3) Remain honest and transparent- own up to any mistakes your brand has made and provide a sincere apology when necessary. Customers want to see that a brand cares about their feedback and having a real response will show that level of attentiveness that customers respond too. #socialmedia #brand #digitalmarketing #engagement

Now that you’ve read the feedback that your brand is getting, it’s important to respond. Even if the feedback is vague or positive, a response will help show customers that you care. 77% of customers would recommend a brand to their friend after having a positive experience with a company- so why not make a response that positive experience?... By responding, you are turning that negative response into a positive one and allowing there to be dialogue around your brand’s reputation, instead of just a negative review. You are also showing that there is a real person behind the brand, one that cares about every review, and that’s something customers want to see. One way to take control of the conversation around your brand’s reputation is by having a Q & A section in Google. With that section, you can help people find answers quickly and without having to reach out, and it shows to future customers that you care about their satisfaction. Monitoring your social media is especially important when customers are expecting a response. And with 31% of consumers expecting a response on social media in 24 hours or less, you need to be checking social media as often as possible. #socialmedia #digitalmarketing #branding #people #experience #socialmediamarketing #facebook #google

New changes have come to the world of retailers, and everyone needs to be prepared. These changes can include vaccination policies, track and trace rules, health and safety procedures (such as daily temperature checks and mandatory sanitation) and Employee Health Attestation. And while it’s important to keep up with what the government recommends, it’s always best for retailers to take matters into their hands by keeping up with health and safety measures of their own. ... Retailers should also consider launching e-learning systems to help employees learn the proper procedures on health and safety, global service standards, and new products. This will also help track who has the knowledge to work certain shifts, who is qualified to sanitize and keep the cleanliness up to code, and who would be able to shut down the store, with health and safety guidelines in mind, during another lockdown.

Not sure how to handle the never-ending questions surrounding lockdowns? Uncertainty is the biggest, and trickiest, factor when it comes to when and what could be locked down in your area, which is why it’s important for retailers to always have a plan for the questions that will be next. This plan should be able to be put in place with a moment’s notice and should address all questions that have to do with communicating with the staff and prepping the business to be shut do...wn for more than a day. Having a communication plan is also a good idea, so employees and even customers of your business are always kept in the loop. Either through one of the apps previously, or taking advantage of social media platforms, make sure you keep in contact with your team about how your business is handling the lockdown, and what customers can expect when you do get a chance to reopen. #smallbusiness #communication #team #customerservice #business #freshfeedback #retail #socialmedia #customerexperience #digitalmarketing #sales