April 8, 2020

Social Media tips for businesses during COVID19

As we all aim to maintain our personal health and productivity during this time, it’s important that you also do the same for one of your business’s most powerful marketing channels – your social media.

Due to the algorithms that drive social media platforms, these channels also need to be fed and kept fit to ensure you don’t lose your audience.

    1. Don’t stop posting on social media!
      Allowing your social media pages or feeds to go dormant will have negative consequences for your Reach and Engagement when you want to start posting again. If people don’t see and interact with new content from you, the algorithm that drives who sees what on Facebook and Instagram will reduce the priority for your posts to be shown overall.
      There has never been more people using social media and spending time on each platform than now, due to lockdowns across the globe. Time spent on Facebook and other social media channels has increased over 1000%. Now is the time to interact with people while they are looking to fill their time at home.
    2. If you can afford it, now is a great time to run Ads on Facebook!
      There has been a significant drop in the number of Ads being run on Facebook across the globe, as many businesses stop advertising during this time to save money or because they are not currently operating. This means that Facebook Ads are very cheap at the moment, achieving a bigger reach and engagement for less spend.
      To keep your business or brand front of mind with your audience, now is a very affordable time to run simple Brand Awareness, Reach and Engagement campaigns.
      A minimum spent of $30/week is a good start.
    3. Important note – avoid directly mentioning COVID19 or coronavirus related words and topics in social media posts: In order to stop the spread of misinformation, Facebook is actively suppressing the reach and engagement of any posts containing mentions of COVID19 unless it is from an official Government channel.
      How to avoid mentioning COVID19 while still acknowledging the current situation:
      • Use phrases like: “In times like this…” or “While you’re at home…”
      • Looking back to look forward: Re-share favourite memories or photos/video from the past as a way to look forward.

Social Media Tactics during this time:

Keep it social: don’t just talk at your audience, talk with your audience. Post something that gives the audience a reason to interact with you – ask a question, run a poll or a quiz, set a challenge for people to attempt at home.

Be instructional and shareable: the best performing content on Facebook will hold someone’s attention for over 3 minutes and cause them to share it with their friends and family.

People are seeking a distraction from COVID19 news: post content that will help them dream, learn about and plan for a future visit to your business.

If you are using Facebook for your business, make sure you are using the following tools:

      1. Facebook Business Manager
      2. Facebook Ads Manager
      3. Facebook Creator Studio

 

Latest insight into what is trending and working on social media during COVID19 lockdowns:

  1. Shared experiences: something everyone can do/copy/put their own spin on, while at home, without the need for live video or immediate interaction. This has been happening in the form of workout challenges (e.g. “See 10, Do 10, Pass 10 on” push-up challenge), quizzes/trivia games, music/dance challenges. This has been the driver of a massive spike in TikTok usage and content appearing online.
  2. Scheduled Live Watch-Partie: interactive live video or audio, where multiple people broadcast something together, while a chat-room provides interaction from the public.
    A good example of a live watch party is tonight’s High Country Hops Virtual Festival.  High Country Hops Festival ‘visitors’ have been encouraged to pre-order and take delivery of a pack of the new Bridge Road Hop Harvest beers, then tune into Facebook tonight to join a live tasting of those beers hosted by the brewer.