Ways to Leverage Social Media During Uncertain Times
In today’s climate, people are turning to social media more than ever. Social media provides ways to connect and interact with friends and family through this time of physical distancing. People are eager for interaction. As a result, social media can be a very effective platform for brands to maintain their visibility during this uncertain time, and continue to reach, connect and engage their audiences.
Social media platforms have many advantages. In addition to increased usage metrics and folks being eager to interact, social media provides a fairly low-cost method of communication which can be helpful if your revenues have taken a hit due to COVID-19. Social media also allows you to be flexible and agile with your messaging, which is critical during times of crisis and uncertainty. We cover messaging in more detail in our recent article: COVID-19 Marketing Messaging | What Do You Say?.
Social Media Strategies to Consider
Give social more attention
Now is a great time to allocate more resources to social media because of the opportunity it provides and because you may have some capacity freed up. Consider being more aggressive with your posting frequency to combat the competition in newsfeeds and grow your community. In addition, now can be a good time to open new channels that have been on your radar to reach new audiences.
Leverage video
Video has been a strong performing marketing tool for years and that is not going to change anytime soon. Social media is a great platform to leverage video content and with people watching more videos now than ever, you will find receptive audiences with video content. If production cost is a concern, there are ways to economically and quickly produce good, relevant video content. Some options to consider include photo collage videos with animation, utilizing existing b-roll video content with new VO (voice-over) and live video if appropriate.
Incorporate strategic promotions
Strategic promotions can take many forms. Here, we’re talking about promotions that help you live out your purpose, meaning–in what ways can you live out your company’s mission to help your customers and followers through this time? For example, can you offer free delivery or customer pickup options? Can you make helpful digital resources available to your audience? In what ways can you award customer loyalty through this time?
Leverage groups
Facebook groups continue to be a great way to provide highly relevant content to specific segments of your audience. In addition, algorithms favor group content in an effort to provide customized platform user experiences. Now is a great time to start and begin to build a Facebook group or groups based on the interests of your audience.
Consider boosting posts
Boosting posts can be a great way to extend the reach of your content and maximize the time investment you have in creating that content. Boosting posts allows you to reach more of your current audience, in addition to reaching new targeted audiences with a fairly minimal ad investment.
Engage with your audience
Take this time to really engage with your audience. Monitor comments closely as they can provide insight into ways your brand may potentially be able to be of service. Ask questions and then ask followup questions. Like people’s comments and show that your brand is human and that you are listening. Activate your audience and be responsive to their feedback.
Times of crisis also present times of opportunity. Leveraging social media during this time holds a great opportunity for you to create and build upon social connections to continue to build your brand and be well-positioned for growth when we get to the other side.
Stay healthy and be safe.
