Communication is key, especially when there is confusion and difficulty in the world. It’s vital that amid the chaos, your company and what you offer to your client remains consistent. Social media is one of your most effective outlets for staying in touch with your audience and can serve as a consistent reminder of normalcy in their personal world. Creating and following a strategy is vital for any digital marketing platform but the digital strategy you started the year with is no longer relevant.
When COVID surfaced, the business plans you had for 2020 either flew out the window or had to be changed, including your social media strategy. To help you create a social media strategy that’s relevant during COVID, we’ve put together 4 questions to ask yourself:
Is your audience the same or has it shifted?
The more you know about your target audience, the more equipped you’ll be to give them what they need. With COVID-19 in mind and how it has affected your current target audience, assess who would need your product or service with these seven points:
- Age
- Education
- Family Makeup
- Gender
- Geography
- HHI
- Psychographic Information
Is there anything new your audience needs to know?
Your company likely had to make changes regarding how you operated or interacted with customers. Whatever changes you make, tell your customers. Here are a few changes that your customers will likely want to know:
- Delayed time in shipping or production
- How you’re prioritizing store cleanliness
- New products or services
- Operational changes
- Your reopening plans
To reach your social followers with this new information, we encourage you to create a post, pin it to the top of your page, and boost it so it reaches your followers.
Is your imagery relevant?
Maybe you’re an avid stock photo fan or maybe you have a couple hundred real-time photos in your arsenal to post on social. Either way, your imagery must reflect the time we’re in.
For example, posting photos of your team in the office collaborating on a project isn’t realistic if they are all working from home. Likewise, downloading a stock photo that shows a group of people barbecuing at a summer pool party wouldn’t be a true representation of the current season.
Instead, look for images that accurately reflect the current environment such as a doctor and patient teleconferencing, customers social distancing while shopping at the grocery store, or a family eating dinner at home.
Is your messaging relevant?
Whether you were already an online store or you regularly welcomed customers into your downtown boutique, your messaging on social media must remain relevant. In your messaging, make sure that every post you create is transparent, sensitive, supportive, and relatable. People crave authenticity amid a pandemic or not.
How to Connect with Your Target Audience on Social Media
After you’ve revised your social media strategy based on these 4 questions, it’s time to put it into action. Here are a few tips for connecting with the most people possible … and with the right people.
Harness the Power of PPC Advertising
You’ve put so much work into creating your social media strategy, crafting and scheduling posts, and finding the perfect imagery. Now, let’s get your hard work in front of your target audience. You have competition that is working just as hard to reach potential clients. By implementing a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign, you can push your posts in front of your target audience and increase the chances of potential clients interacting with your post.
So, what is a social PPC campaign and how does it work?
A social PPC campaign is a form of paid digital advertising. This advertising method places your ad on your chosen social media platform. You can customize your campaign to reach your target audience in detail (demographics, topic interests, psychographic information, and more). When the viewer clicks on your ad, you will get charged.
You might be asking yourself, “Is it worth the money?” “Won’t publishing a post without boosting it suffice? Consider this statistic:
Only 6-8% of your target audience will see a post that’s not monetarily boosted.
PPC campaigns are a great way to fight through the static of online competitors and take a seat in front of your potential customer.
Trust Your Social Media Strategy
Once you’ve created your social media strategy, share it with your team. Keep your strategy in a shared document with your social media team and have them follow it. Delegation will help your team members feel like a valued part of the team and keep your sanity intact.
As you put your social media strategy into action, make sure you post consistently. Having a great strategy is only helpful if it’s used often. Set a goal to post 3-5 times per week. If that’s challenging for you, and you can only post 1-2 times per week, make sure those posts are well thought out and contain substance.
If you aren’t scheduling multiple posts in advance (there are several software platforms that offer this, or you can use Facebook’s built in scheduler), plan time into your weekly schedule to post on social. If you don’t plan for it, it won’t happen.
Partner With M&R Marketing
Amid all the changes that COVID forced upon your company, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed. We would love to help! We can create a relevant social media strategy that can adapt to the world around your business, whether a pandemic is present or not. Give us a call today with your questions: 478-621-4491.
Stay Tuned for More Articles
This is the first blog in our three-part series about how you can stay relevant amid COVID-19. Stay tuned for parts two and three:
- Part 1: Creating COVID Relevant Social Media Strategy
- Part 2: Creating a COVID Relevant Google Ads Strategy
- Part 3: How to Stay Connected to Your Customers During COVID-19