Whilst returning to the office can be a big step for a lot of employees, it’s also a chance to make changes to your business as a whole.

Your marketing department might just be a single team but any actions they take are on behalf of the entire company. So, at this crucial point, it’s worth taking a closer look at how your marketing department can help to grow your business. From how to build brand image to knowing which are the right platforms your business should be on right now, your marketing team has a lot of power. It’s time to sit down, review where you are as a business at the moment and where you want to be.

Here are a few tips to help your marketing team give your business a new lease of life as you return to the office.

Look into rebranding

If your business has had the same logo, website, and color scheme for a while now, perhaps it’s time to look into rebranding. You don’t have to do a full rebrand but updating the website with a new theme or changing your color scheme are easier changes to make than a company-wide rebrand. You might have someone in the company who can do this, or you could look at outsourcing. Setting up a brand kit or guidelines for all staff to follow will also mean that everybody knows what your business stands for and the next steps for it too. Allow all staff to review these guidelines beforehand as they may have some helpful pointers on things you have missed.

Go over your marketing strategies

Marketing has definitely changed over the last couple of years as well as businesses’ approaches to it. Customers are savvier than ever because they have more options and have more time to research them too. It’s now not enough to simply put pictures on your social media channels to get people to buy your products. The focus is now on using all of the tools that each platform has and tying them altogether. Make good use of your website by improving SEO and adding more content, such as blog posts and more detailed product descriptions. Experiment with your social media strategies to see what is and isn’t working. Engagement is key now so make sure customers know they are valued by connecting with them online – plus, user-generated content is an easy strategy to implement using content already being made by your customers!

Think of what’s going on and plan ahead

Autumn is the perfect time to plan ahead. Before you know it, Christmas will be here and gone and it will be 2022, so now is the time to focus on your Christmas marketing strategy. Whether you’re a product or service-based business, getting ahead is always a goal to have. Perhaps you’ll need to hire extra staff for Black Friday and Christmas or will be shutting down over the Christmas break. All of this needs to be thought about in advance. With lots of holidays and celebrations during autumn and winter, you might have very few chances to gather the full team together to put any plans in place.

Ask for ideas across the full team

You would be surprised at how many great ideas other departments have when you just ask them! Asking staff to contribute their thoughts is another way to make them feel valued, especially after the last year or so. Even if their ideas are not the right fit at the moment, they could be adapted or used at a later date. Sometimes, it’s a good idea to get fresh eyes on a marketing campaign before it is finalized, so ask other teams for feedback too, as they might spot missed opportunities. At the end of the day, everyone in the company wants it to be successful, so it’s in the team’s best interests to give honest, constructive advice.

Share behind-the-scenes

If you are welcoming staff back to the office, why not bring your customers along for the ride? Show them how your company is keeping the business going as well as keeping staff safe. Are you sticking with flexi-working or is everyone returning to the office full-time? Has your company renovated the office to allow staff to social distance? Have you incorporated any technology so staff have more contactless options around the office? This is also a great way for your customers to get to know the employees too. Especially with small businesses, customers love to see the faces behind the company.

Now is the best time for any business to look at its current marketing strategies and make changes. Some might be more time-consuming than others (such as a new website or full rebrand) whereas others can be done instantly (setting up on a new social media platform). Gathering ideas and thoughts from as many people as possible can seem overwhelming but through that, you’re bound to find some incredible, outside-the-box ideas.