Small Business Marketing Strategies For 2021

strategies for businesses in 2021 latest

We all are aware of the fact that 2020 has given a tough time to everybody, especially small businesses – not just in Pakistan, but in many countries all over the world.

The Coronavirus pandemic, unleashed at the end of 2019, has delivered a massive body blow to the retail industry. The result of the situation is very unpleasant leaving countries with an increased unemployment rate.

The good news is that the lockdowns imposed in most parts of the world have been lifted and the small businesses have started to gain their lost revenues back.

Now, the point of discussion is – how can you increase your sales and revenue in 2021 given that you’re a small business owner? Let’s take a look.

 

Expand Your Online Presence

Research shows that a majority of consumers prefer to go through customer reviews before buying any product or service. This is mainly because consumers feel more comfortable when they know that other people are using the same product without complaining about it. This is why it is significant for you to get your business online as soon as you can.

Ideally, you should start with major social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, request your customers to review your products. If someone is unhappy with your services, connect with them immediately, and rectify the issue. These measures might seem simple but they can build a significant online presence and also establish goodwill among your consumer base.

 

Invest in eCommerce

If there’s one thing that this pandemic has taught us is that every individual should get their hands on eCommerce. Even before this pandemic, the number of people who bought from physical stores was declining constantly – especially from the clothing industry, while the number of online buyers kept rising by leaps and bounds.

Now that 2020 is over and the virus is still hovering over our heads, people have developed a habit of buying everything they need digitally. So, start your online store (if you already have one, read the next point for cost-free marketing) so that your customers can buy 24/7 whatever and wherever they need using their cellphones, tablets, or computers without exposing themselves to the danger out there.

 

Learn Cost-Free Marketing Tactics

Having no funds for marketing at the moment is understandable but using it as a reason to procrastinate can be devastating for your business. Everything in business is linked by a chain, your sales and revenue won’t increase unless you market your new products properly. 

So, if you’re hustling with money right now, don’t worry. Try some free marketing tactics such as the Udhaar app’s free marketing tool. Udhaar app is an app for retailers to manage their credit and recover their outstanding payments from their customers and clients instantly. 

Udhaar app has a free marketing tool with which you may share any new offer, promotion, discount, deals, information, or a special message with a simple or using an appealing banner to promote your product or service to a broader audience. Similar to this tool, there are hundreds of other tactics that you can use for free marketing.

Udhaar App – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Udhaar Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Udhaar App is an excellent tool for managing business operations and getting cash recovered instantly. As a credit management application, Udhaar App has not only been trending in Pakistan but also around the world. The growing popularity of the app has got customers into asking about the working and functionality of the app. Therefore, we bring you the answers to the most frequently asked questions. Let’s dive in.

 

  • Where can I find this app?

Download the Udhaar app straight from the PlayStore or easily by clicking this link here

 

  • How do I create an account?

Setting up an Udhaar account is an easy 3-step process. As soon as you download the Udhaar app, open the app on your smartphone. From here, you will be asked to choose the language you’re comfortable with (English, Urdu, Roman Urdu, Sindhi). For the next step, you’ll be guided to enter the mobile number you want to get registered with the app, and verify the phone number through an automated OTP (One-Time-Pin) generated and sent to your phone via SMS. If the code is not submitted automatically, please open your inbox and enter the code into the app.

On entering the correct code, you’ll now be redirected to a screen where you’ve to enter your personal information such as your Name, Business Name, and Business Category. Here “Business Name” refers to the name of your shop/store, and “Business Category” refers to the sector or area of your business operations.

Setting up an Udhaar account is a one-time and 2-minute process. Once the account is created, you just have to log in and carry on with your business.

 

  • How do I add the first customer?

After successful signup, you’ll be redirected to your Home Screen. On the bottom right corner of the screen, you will see a circular green-colored button. Clicking on this button will give you the option to add a customer through your contact list or enter a customer manually.

If you choose to add a customer through your phonebook, just type the customer’s name, and confirm.

If you choose to add a customer manually you will be required to fill in their name and number (customer’s number is optional, but to get the most out of your experience using a digital Khata app, we suggest you fill all the fields). 

 

  • How do I give udhaar/credit to customers?

After creating a customer account, you can either add transactions straight from a personal chat room or you can access this feature on your home screen by tapping on your customer’s name.

Afterward, you’ll have two options at the bottom of the screen: “Accept Payment” (in Green) and “Give Udhaar” (in Red). Clicking the “Give Udhaar” button in Red will move you on to the next screen where you can enter the Udhaar amount you want to give to the customer. You can further choose from the options like, whether you would like to send auto-reminders to the respective customer or add notes for the Udhaar given to the customer as your own reminder and so much more.

What’s the Idea Behind “Udhaar Recovery”?

How to recover outstanding payments from customer and clients?

Let me tell you a short story of a shop owner named Ahtesham and his customer Haider. Residing in the same society, both have known each other for years. Both Ahtesham and Haider were honest and happened to be trustworthy.

Haider was on good terms with Ahtesham and also Ahtesham’s regular customer. Haider used to buy each and every routine products and services like rashion, easyload, etc from Ahtesham all month, and would make the payment altogether at the start of the next month. Since there was a long list of transactions, they both used to write down details of all transactions in their own respective Khata Registers.

About one day, Haider visited Ahtesham’s shop. He bought whatever he wanted and as always, asked Ahtesham to write it in the register. Coincidently, Ahtesham was really busy with other customers so he told Haider that he would note it down some time later. Ahtesham, later that day, noted Haider’s udhaar details in his register.

Then days passed Haider kept on buying from Ahtesham. The next month arrived, Haider came to the shop to clear all the outstanding dues for the previous month. As they began tallying their hisaab-kitaab, there was a mismatch of amount in the khata of that day which made Haider really furious.

Here Ahtesham was in a complicated situation because deep down he wasn’t sure about his own hisaab and couldn’t remember it as it was more than 15 days old. Haider, on the other hand, was getting angrier because he goes through this hassle every other month. The complexity of the situation got Ahtesham into thinking whether to trust Haider or his own Khata.

If Ahtesham drops the argument, he might lose some money and if he trusts his own Khata, he might end up losing a loyal customer like Haider.

This story is about one customer but talking to Ahtesham made me realize that he comes across a number of such Haider each day. They do business with each other because of the trust established between them and this trust should never be lost.

So, for the shop owners to keep this trust alive there’s a strong need for transparency where both parties get notified as soon as a new transaction takes place or both the parties have access to each other’s register of hisaab-kitaab.

This is one of the business owners key issues we are trying to solve. Small shop owners sell goods on credit, lose their Khata register, lose their money, and then start again from sqaure one.

To cater to this problem, we came up with Udhaar App – a simple solution to the age old “Udhaar Recovery”.

About Udhaar App

Udhaar is a free application for personal and commercial use. It helps you manage credit (Udhaar) with customers and suppliers directly through your smartphone.
Udhaar app is an online ledger (like an online khata or journal) to record your outstanding debt, and send auto reminders to customers to increase collection and cash flow.