There’s no denying that the Coronavirus pandemic has hit businesses hard. Remote work has made coordination even harder, so every company has had to overhaul their processes overnight. Old budgets need to be tossed out the window, marketing costs need to be re-allocated, and the company needs to re-align all stakeholders with a new communications strategy. Do you continue with your old messaging, pretending as if nothing has happened? Do you infuse Covid-19 themes in every post or campaign? These are all difficult questions to answer. But adapting your social media strategy to stay relevant is a must.
Importance Of Social Media During COVID-19 Crisis
Data from eMarketer says that Facebook saw a 70% surge in time spent on all its apps (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), in the month of March. People are becoming habituated to turn to social media when they are sitting idle. These apps inform, educate, entertain, and help people stay connected with their friends and family, who they’ve not seen or met in a long time.
New-age social media platforms like Snapchat and Tiktok, especially, are commanding a lot of user attention during the pandemic. Snapchat Android witnessed a 47% usage spike in South Korea during the Covid-19 peak in March.
These data points just highlight the essence of using social media wisely during a crisis like COVID-19. But businesses have to be careful that they don’t overdo it or execute it in a haphazard manner. It requires a thorough understanding of the different social media platforms and what kind of content works on each. It warrants the right mix of empathy and practicality. So before you frantically search for ‘How to get more Instagram followers’, you can go through the following guide to understand how to leverage social media effectively during Covid-19:
One Size Does Not Fit All
Choosing the right platforms for your outreach is vital to succeeding in social media. For example, if you are in the business of selling custom apparel for teenagers, you are better off advertising on Snapchat and Instagram, where most of your teenage audience hangs out. On the other hand, if you’re selling a B2B SaaS software like a CRM tool, your target audience is probably CXOs and managers (read intellectuals). This segment browses LinkedIn and Twitter more than say, Facebook, so that’s where you should focus your marketing resources. Remember, what works for others may not work for you and vice-versa.
Know Thy Audience
Empathy is the first prerequisite for marketing, which means that you need to have a good understanding of the people you’re talking to, their needs and wants, their pain points, and their concerns. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that doing this exercise once is enough because user requirements and psyche keep on changing. So take some time out to reacquaint yourself with them. Get to know their current location, income, job title, and other demographic details so that you can target them effectively on social media platforms. Try to get their pulse, what kind of headspace they are in right now. Do they feel stressed out because of the additional burden caused by remote working? Are they having difficulty striking a work-life balance because of WFH? Stepping in your user’s shoes lets you see things from their perspective, so you can tailor your messaging to strike a chord with their current state of mind. This relationship-building will stand you in good stead even after the crisis is over.
Persistence Wins
Let’s face it. This is the new normal, so we’re going to be stuck in this situation for the foreseeable future. Ergo, it’s not enough to plan a one-off post or campaign, and you have to keep at it. Tracking campaign performance and measuring key metrics obsessively is very important. You can take the learnings from the previous campaigns and fine-tune your next campaign to ensure it resonates more with your target audience. You can read more about the same on here – https://invideo.io/blog/how-to-get-more-instagram-followers/
It’s not only about staying relevant, and it’s about being persistent. Create, post, measure, repeat.
Tweak Your Messaging
Covid-19 has given all of us a huge reality check so your content should be mindful of this new reality we find ourselves in. So, if you go around posting photos of your restaurant at full capacity or a packed Zumba class if you’re a fitness instructor, you come across as really tone-deaf.
Drop all sales-y language because what customers are looking for right now is a hand around their shoulders, reassuring them that all will be okay. Offer peace of mind, not advertisements. For example, if you run an ed-tech business, change your messaging to focus on how you can help students solve doubts or watch online lessons from the comfort of their homes. No need to physically attend school or lectures. Be comforting, and users will remember it.
Use COVID-19 Hashtags
Social media marketing is all about being relevant and staying on-trend. And there’s no bigger news right now than COVID-19. So, inserting COVID-19 hashtags in your Instagram posts is a clever little hack to supercharge your Instagram marketing strategies. Some of the hashtags that have been blowing up recently are #StaySafe (23.5M posts), #FlattenTheCurve (1.4M posts), #QuarantineLife (11.1M posts), and #WorkFromHome (13.3M posts). These hashtags will make you more discoverable on the Search tab and enhance your visibility.
Be Quick To Reply
In an age of instant gratification, can customer support really afford to be lethargic? Consumer research claims that 78% of people who tweet at a brand expect a response within 60 minutes. Being prompt in your responses shows that you care about offering the best service and solving customer problems. It also shows you are open for business and not pausing operations during the pandemic. Turn notifications on for all your social media and monitor replies, comments, and brand mentions in real-time, using tools like Hootsuite. Sometimes, being prompt is more important than being a good marketer.
Conclusion
While these are uncertain and testing times, embracing social media and following the above tips and tricks can surely help you weather the storm. And help you stand out as an authentic and reliable brand that values long-term connections with people.