Yes, this is a scary time for business. But with a huge percentage of the population stuck at home right now, everyone has had the same thought at least once: ‘where would we be without social media?’ And the answer is, the average consumer would probably be going out of their mind. From blogs, to videos, to memes – the whole nation has been jumping on the social media bandwagon like never before. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves – if you haven’t read it yet, check out an article that’s critical for your business – “COVID-19: Why You Must Change Your Marketing Approach”.
All done? Great! Now, while no doubt you are stressing about how much you’re trading, it’s important to make sure your business isn’t falling through the cracks and missing a fantastic marketing opportunity – and these days, you’re going to need every one of those you can create for yourself!
Here are our top tips for capturing your audience:
BUILD A PRESENCE
If you haven’t already, now is the time to build a presence on social media. In the case that you have already established your brand on social media platforms, now is the time to boost your presence and build a stronger relationship with your audience and customers. As the majority of people are now confined to their homes for the most part, they are turning to their phones in record numbers for various news feeds and online content to keep them entertained.
This could well benefit your business immediately in the short term, by increasing your online sales since everyone will be relying on e-commerce. It will also have a long term effect on your brand once the health crisis has passed and business is back to ‘usual’, by focusing on brand recognition now it can ensure that you stay ahead of the competition, because if it’s not your brand it will most definitely be some else’s.
BE POSITIVE
It’s vital to bring some light and positivity to your audience some of the time, as they’re surely consuming enough scary news, and you don’t want to add to the noise during this turbulent time. If you’re going to post news or information about coronavirus, make sure it’s helpful, informative and coming from a credible source, otherwise your business may come across as untrustworthy or inauthentic. What’s more, you can make a point of creating and sharing positive content to help ease the constant fear and anxiety which is being promoted through a lot of media channels right now.
“We live in a world which is full of misery and ignorance, and the plain duty of each and all of us is to try to make the little corner he can influence somewhat less miserable than it was before he entered.”
-Mr Thomas Henry Huxley
Although Mr. Huxley has long passed, his quote is more relevant today than ever before. People are craving happiness, laughter and good stories right now. This is why we are seeing so many “Look how the environment is healing” posts. So wherever you can provide your audience with those sorts of positive messages, they will value your business and feel aligned with it.
DON’T SHAMELESSLY PROMOTE
Now is not the time to be pushing your services and products in people’s faces every 10 minutes because you will appear self-serving and come across as being tone-deaf and ignorant. (Hello, Gerry Harvey’s trainwreck interview!) The exception to this is in the case that your services can genuinely help or support people during this crisis – in that case promote away! For everyone else though, this is a valuable opportunity to simply reach a wider audience and build relationships which will breed long-term customer loyalty, which is much more beneficial to your business than a quick sale anyway.
BE ENTERTAINING
As a business with a social media presence, if you’re doing it properly, it’s likely you’re aiming to engage and entertain your audience anyway; but at times like these, when people have more time on their hands, they will be feeling slightly bored and more receptive to your content (hint: memes). If your content can make people laugh or even just stop for a second and think, it means you’ve resonated with them and your brand immediately becomes more memorable in a very positive way! From there, you can build in more serious, authoritative content, and even (very sparingly) sales posts.
