“WE GET IT; IT’S HARD TO KNOW WHAT AND HOW TO COMMUNICATE DURING SUCH UNPRECEDENTED TIMES BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO DO IT NOTHING. IT IS MORE IMPORTANT NOW THAN EVER TO KEEP YOUR YOUR BRAND AWARENESS HIGH AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO CONNECT RIGHT NOW THAN THROUGH SOCIAL?”
Life before Covid-19 seems like a distant memory. Things aren’t what they once were and businesses have rapidly had to adapt to the current climate. From service offering to communication methods, everything has had to be reviewed.
As the lockdown keeps people indoors, they are inevitably spending more time online. In fact, there has been a 40% increase in social media usage during this period[1]. With that being said, there is no better time to review your social media strategy and tone of voice.
We get it; it’s hard to know what and how to communicate during such unprecedented times but what you don’t want to do is nothing. It is more important now than ever to keep your brand awareness high and what better way to connect right now than through social? Our social media partner, Social Brighton, lifted the lid on getting social strategy right in a recent webinar and we thought we’d share few of their top tips here to help your business strike the right balance:
1. Add value – this is increasingly important, especially now. Use your platform for good by sharing relevant and helpful news, insight and/or tips with your community
2. Experiment with your content – now is the time to explore different modes of content. Why not try out video more or laying out your visuals in a different way. Do you have some interesting insight to share? We know visual content has a higher engagement rate so why not use a tool such as Canva to create a visually engaging way to communicate it
3. Reassess your audience – whilst you may already be more than familiar with your social audiences, things will no doubt have changed for them during this period, just as they have for your business. Stay connected by doing research into your customer profiles (again!). Identify what their current challenges and needs are so you can ensure the content you’re foreplanning will connect in the right way. The relationships you nurture during this time across social will positively support your business through the crisis
4. Do acknowledge the ‘C’ word but don’t overdo it – your content doesn’t need to be all Covid-19 related but it’s important to acknowledge it. We can’t pretend as though nothing has changed. It is worth considering communicating a Covid-19 statement that you ‘pin’ to your accounts but do strike a balance and continue to plan in other content, but of course be mindful and sensitive to the current climate
5. Be adaptable – review your planned content. What might have been perfectly fine a month ago, could likely be inappropriate now given current circumstances. Review and make small tweaks to your calendar where necessary and be sure to continue this as a regular process whilst things are changing at such a pace. Also, use this as an opportunity to create relevant and engaging content that can utilised by your followers during this time. E.g. is there a webinar that would be useful to your audience? Share it. Is there an initiative that benefits your industry during this time? Share it
6. Engage, engage, engage – whilst the usual KPI benchmarks should be kept in mind, it’s important to keep connected to your community. This is where the real value is and what will set you apart from competitors. Engagement is key! The way in which to do this right now is to humanise your social channels and be sensitive to the current climate. Retweet supportive industry articles or initiatives, be sure to like and/or comment on relevant posts, acknowledge your followers and open up conversations that serve to connect and support during this time.
If you need help with your social media strategy, or just want to chat through the best approach, give us a call on 0208 256 1360 and we’ll be happy to help.
[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1105790/covid19-media-consumption-change-uk/
