Nobody anticipated a global pandemic and a financial crisis in 2020. Both have brought drastic changes upon EVERYONE, and consequently, many things are uncertain. Yet social media has been around long before Coronavirus hit,and it’s here to stay. Your clients may be spending more time on social media than they did before, and they’re very mindful of the content they’re consuming, especially after ‘The Social Dilemma’ was released.
That means they’re looking for transparency, authenticity, and creativity. If your business is on social media, you should definitely keep that in mind, and reevaluate your social media marketing strategy as well.
Is there anything you can do to get that cut above the rest? Yes. As a matter of fact, there are 5 things you can do, and here they are:
Cause marketing- That goes for expressing socially conscious values, while creating positive brand awareness. For example, Altra Footwear donated 10% of its profits to the VF family of Brands Covid-19 relief effort in partnership with GlobalGiving. This helped the VF foundation raise 120,000$ for community recovery. You can add donation stickers on your Instagram Stories and start a campaign to raise money on your social media platforms as well.
Encourage user generated content- now’s a great time to engage in a two way conversation using user generated content. Think about how your brand fits your clients’ daily routine, particularly during the pandemic. Do you have products/services that help people while they’re at home? If so, use that to start a user generated campaign. If you sell health/fitness products, you can ask your followers to post a story/post featuring your product. Visual platforms, like Twitter and Instagram, are great for this. They also have hashtags and these can help you grow exponentially.Doritos kicked off a contest called #crashedfromhome . They asked fans and ‘anyone who feels stuck at home’ to create and submit Doritos focused videos, for a chance to win 10,000$ and have their commercial aired on the first Saturday Night Football game of the season.
Reassure your customers- If it weren’t for your customers, your business wouldn’t be where it is today. There is so much uncertainty, and you should reassure your customers that you’re there for them and your business isn’t going anywhere. You can either email your customers or use Instagram stories, IGTV, a post on your feed, and a livestream. Your customers will appreciate your sensitivity towards the pandemic.
Focus on growing your accounts- People are significantly pickier, due to the severe financial crisis, so expecting your online marketing to boost sales might be unrealistic, and a little unfair. You can post high quality content likely to give your followers value. For example, you can share tips on running video chats/live streams/zoom events and even tutorials. You can share light hearted content as well.
Use media in more agile ways- This goes for building a new, fast response operating model, both internally and within agencies. For instance, Nike adopted a new message, “ play inside,play for the world”. In addition, you should modify the mix of social media platforms you use, since your customers may be using new and different social media platforms. Since digital entertainment is spiking, marketers may want to amplify mobile gaming and support premium video streaming.
The 5 suggestions mentioned above may require research, and another examination of your/your company’s budget. Nevertheless, synchronizing with social media’s rapid changes and your customers’ changes is vital to stay relevant.