By Madison Carter

 

During the state-wide lock in, many Californians find ourselves adjusting to a new way of life, both at home and at work. It seems every part of life is adjusting to this crisis, and your social media marketing strategy should be no exception. With the whole state, country and world pivoting on a dime to address this pandemic, how can your business follow suit? More specifically, what is your business doing to assess your social media marketing strategy in the wake of coronavirus?

If your answer looks something like this 🤷, we’re here to help! Below are eight simple questions that can help you fine-tune your coronavirus social media marketing strategy.

 

1. Should I be promoting my business right now?

Our team loves a good word of the day – something we can use to elevate our daily conversations. These days, though, there seems to be one global word of the day: coronavirus. Personally, I haven’t been able to go ten minutes without seeing or hearing that word (or it’s ugly cousin, COVID-19), and I bet you haven’t either.

This means that most people are either preoccupied with how this is affecting them, or they are trying to distract themselves, so they don’t have to be preoccupied with how this is affecting them. Either way, this is your opportunity to tap into that global conversation or fall into the vacuum that has been created by this issue.

“But, Maddie, how do I know what to do?”

Glad you asked.

One principle that our CEO, Tracy Leach, always tells us is that nature abhors a vacuum. So, you can either join in the conversation or watch that vacuum get filled by your competitors. Either way, this is the conversation and you must decide if you’ll jump in and engage or sit this one out.

If you do nothing but promote your products/services without providing any value to your audience through your content, this may be your time to leave. Also, you probably need a new strategy, ‘cause that one stinks. On the other hand, if there is a way you can show up online for your customers and create content that is timely, on-brand and relevant, then you need to get your head in the game because this is your shot to reach all those people trapped at home on their smart phones.

 

2. How can my social media marketing be relevant during coronavirus?

Relevance is key here. Writer Mark Schaefer says, “…Dig deep and figure out what skills you can apply to the current situation and help find those solutions. How can you help people in an insanely helpful way with the resources at your disposal?”

Do people care about your messaging right now? Do you have a way to help people in their time of need? If the answer to both of those questions is no, your content may be irrelevant at this time.

A good example of this is a marketing company that I follow online. They aren’t local and I won’t name any names, but let’s just call them Company X.

Company X decided that this would be a good time to offer a promo for their services. Granted, it was a great promo and any other day it would have been a great campaign. But, today? The last thing people want to hear about is how great your company is at delivering on whatever service you’re offering that they don’t need right now. For goodness sake, people are worried about running out of toilet paper! Why would they care about your tiny discount that has nothing to do with their current situation?

Think about the mindset of your audience and what they need right now. If your messaging can deliver on that, you’re relevant! If it can’t, rethink it until it can.

 

3. How should you pivot your messaging, so you don’t seem tone deaf?

This means that you need to learn our favorite word: pivot. This week, I have seen more creativity on social media than ever before. Businesses are having to think differently about how they approach their audience now that their brick and mortar locations are shut down.

One local business that has done an excellent job of this is LVL Fitness. When they had to shut down their studio for the foreseeable future, they thought outside the box and created an online platform for members to get their daily work out. On this platform, members have access to exclusive workouts that they can do at home so they can stay in shape without the beloved megaformer. When it comes to pivoting, the team at LVL is doing it right.

So, what can your business provide while your brick and mortar is closed? Are you in a place to offer digital services? Can you provide pick up options or free delivery? What is something that you can do now that you wouldn’t have even dreamt of before?

There will be a sector of businesses that use this time to their advantage and rise to the occasion, growing stronger than ever before. There will also be many businesses that are hit hard and are affected in the long run. The businesses that make it will be the ones that can think strategically during this time, moving in a new direction to provide value to their customers.

 

4. How can you provide value to your target audience right now?

Needless to say, you want to be in that second camp – the group of businesses that get better and stronger as a result of this challenge. You want to be the business that provides value.

This is the heart and soul of content marketing, and that is what will help you excel in your social media marketing during coronavirus.

In order to do this, you must understand your target audience. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Who is your ideal customer?
2. What are they feeling right now?
3. What are they experiencing and how can you help them through their experiences?

Once you have those answers, take that information to your team and hold a brainstorm session. To do this, set aside 30 distraction-free minutes to talk to your team about this problem and only this problem. Take the “yes, and…” approach, never shooting down someone’s idea right off the bat. Spend time listening and throwing things against the wall to see what sticks – you may just come up with the idea that will save your business.

In your brainstorm sessions, encourage your team to build content around these three concepts:

1. The dynamics of hope: the idea behind this kind of content is that people love a story with a happy ending. We all need something to hold on to in times of trouble, something that will lift people up and show them the good in the world. How can your brand tell stories filled with hope?

 

1. Humans just want to have fun: when we’re stressed, lonely, worried, etc., we need to release that stress. One of the best ways to do that is through humor. How can you make your audience laugh? Even if they don’t literally laugh, providing a bit of levity can ease the burden of anxiety many are feeling these days. Provide that, and you’ll keep them coming back for more.

 

1. Lend a helping hand: what is something you know that they don’t? Give them that information freely, plant the seed and watch your audience grow! Providing free resources will establish trust in your brand and it’s an all-around nice thing to do for your fellow humans.

 

If these content pillars are game changers on a good day, just imagine what they can do for your business on a bad day! Have your team think about ways you can provide value through these methods during this time and you’ll become a resource for people when they need you the most. Not only will that earn you customers in the short-run, but it will also create the trust that will make you the life-long brand of choice for your target audience.

 

5. Are there other people in your community you can partner with?

Once you’ve finished your brainstorm and come up with a campaign you’re truly proud of, it’s time to get some company. The best part is that this is digital, so you can still keep six feet between you while you do this!

The gist is simple: find a few other businesses in our community you can partner with on your campaign. Find some people that will also benefit from it and go in together. The more the merrier. When you partner in your social media marketing with others suffering from coronavirus, everybody wins!

To use an example that’s close to home, we’ve been working on our #LiftUpBakoBiz campaign. We’re seeing many people around town get involved because we’ve connected with so many businesses in our community through it.

The idea is simple: go out to a local business and tag them on social media to show your support and get the word out that they are still open. Not only has our team been able to enjoy some delicious food from local restaurants, but we are able to help them stay open and provide a bit of hope in a dark time. Everybody wins!

What’s something your business can do to lift up our community right now?

(Also, if you’re a local business and you want some love, reach out to us! We’d love to come support you right now, especially if there is food involved!)

 

6. Is your content adding to the noise?

Once you have your concepts finalized, it’s time for one final gut-check.

Before you log in, schedule out your posts and seriously up your social game, check in with yourself to make sure you know your motives and your heart is in the right place. Yes, we’re in business to make money, but are you being overly promotional? Are you pivoting in the right direction? Are you addressing your audience in a way that is useful and true?

Get ready to ask some serious questions about the motivation behind your campaign and dig deep. If your answers to the above questions are all an honest yes, drop it and move on. You’re ready to go!

 

7. Are you ready to pivot at a moment’s notice?

If you followed the above steps, you have a solid campaign and you are ready to hit the ground running. Now, it’s time to hit send. Step up to bat, knock it out of the park and keep your business healthy!

As your campaign runs, keep checking in… constantly. Have you been meeting your goals? Are you bringing in sales? How are people responding? Is your content taking off? Check in at least once a day to make sure you are still on track.

If you start to notice a dip in engagement, if sales start tanking, if people don’t respond, if they find a cure to coronavirus tomorrow (praying for a miracle here), get ready to PIVOT! The thing with crisis communications is that you never know how long the crisis will last. We hope for the best, prepare for the worst and stay on top of our businesses like our livelihoods depend on it. Because they do.

It’s important in this time that you don’t get married to any one of your ideas. You must be ready to drop it and move on at a moment’s notice. Make sure your team is ready to move on, too. Your bottom line is more important than any one campaign, so be willing to scrap your hard work if you need to.

I can’t tell you how many times I put my heart and soul into something just to find out it doesn’t actually work. It gets denied, people don’t respond, new information comes out that changes everything – take my advice and be prepared to move on. Pivot, pivot, pivot.

The business that can pivot is the business that stays afloat in times of trouble.

 

8. Are you okay?

Lastly, check in with yourself. How are you doing? Are you okay?

Owning a business during this time is scary and stressful, but you are not alone. Millions of small business across the nation are in this together, feeling the same things. All of us are fighting this fight, and I know that you can do it. If you made it this far into this blogpost, you’re really motivated. Now, use that motivation to succeed!

Take those feelings and use them to fuel your social media marketing strategy throughout the life of coronavirus. People like knowing that you are with them, because they don’t want to be alone either. Speak to that, press into it, and keep on fighting.