Your customers are experiencing uncertainty right now. Google searches for "should I buy" are up more than 100%. This is why it's a good time to reassure your customers. See our most recent post here on trust and leadership.

From a small business perspective, you may also be experiencing uncertainly with regard to your next move. Setting up and analysing data is important but accept that there will always be an element of uncertainty with every decision we make. Think creatively and always be agile.

Could creating a new sub-category for your small business be a game-changer?

An example of a sub category for a restaurant would be restaurant dining as the main brand category and takeaway as a sub-category.

Is there a new subcategory in your industry waiting to be created?

You may find it difficult to pivot using your existing brand and do not want to dilute your offering. You may also have identified what David Aaker, Professor Emeritus of Marketing Strategy at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, has termed a 'must have' product or service.

This product or solution could create new relationships and discover new growth opportunities for your business.

This is certainly much easier said than done. As discussed above, by embracing uncertainty and by having a degree of agility and tolerance for risk, as opposed to over-analysis, can help identify that rare opportunity.

L’Oréal believes that, for many consumers, the habits developed during the pandemic will be permanent,

Changes were especially notable among older women, who were more likely to have previously been wary of shopping online.

L’Oréal upped its online marketing during the pandemic, taking it from 50% of total marketing spend before the crisis, to 70%. As a result, online sales rapidly responded, especially in markets that were previously less developed.