This year has been characterised by the global pandemic and as such, the way people interact online has already begun to change quite dramatically. As the line between public and private has already started to blur with increased use of social media, it can be difficult for businesses to know how to communicate without correctly. Ideally, social media communication from a business perspective should be professional and purposeful, but it should also reflect the reality of the world around us. This Probella’s brief guide to using social media effectively in 2020.
Be Security Conscious
Unfortunately, in situations like the covid-19 outbreak, police resources and security measures often face extreme pressure, meaning many criminals will try to capitalise on this. It would be a good idea to change your account passwords and carry out a general security audit in order to prevent any hackers from taking advantage. Check out who is following you on twitter and Instagram, too. Though the majority of users are human, there are still a number of bots and nefarious accounts that masquerade as potential customers as means of exploiting people. Report any suspicious activity immediately and be mindful of where and when people are logging in to your account.
Remain Professional but Compassionate
These are not normal circumstances and as such, people will behave differently. This means they may share more personal information with you than they ordinarily would or may post more about themselves than they would in times of economic stability. To protect your customers, remind them to be careful about what they share online but also offer reassurance and support in the form of well written, compassionate comments. Simple, positive messages can mean a lot to people, especially if they are in a situation where they are unable to have contact with friends or family members.
Be careful about what you share
The spread of fake news has become a serious problem, and this is also true of the covid-19 outbreak. Scaremongering for clicks is immoral and will inevitably damage your company’s reputation, so avoid it all costs. Make sure that you check the sources of anything you share before you let it loose on your socials. Being among the first to share factually accurate, genuinely insightful articles and videos will make you stand out for all the right reasons. Conversely, becoming known as a source of false, misleading or harmful information could damage your reputation permanently.
Promote What You Love
Whether this is other businesses you respect, content you find inspiring or news articles that are relevant to your industry, sharing things that you have a genuine passion for will identify you as a positive influence in the world of social media. This builds authority and establishes trust, it also helps you stay visible, even if your company has been forced to stop trading temporarily. Avoid negativity and sharing poor quality content if you can. Though the initial engagement rate is likely to be good, the way people view your company will suffer in the long term. Even in times like these, there are no quick fixes or easy work arounds when it comes to social media marketing. You have to put the work in.
Get Your Customers Talking
The whole point of social media was to establish an online community where people could connect with likeminded individuals. Holding live chat sessions and offering a chatroom facility while you’re streaming a live video can be a great way of getting people interacting with each other. This type of engagement isn’t for everybody, but for those who do like to chat to others online, it can create some potentially long-lasting connections and enjoyable experiences. It can also allow you to gather data and information on the people who interact with your brand the most.
Use the platform that works for you
Though having multiple social media accounts is standard practice for all businesses now, that’s not to say that every platform offers an equal return. For example, those who work in areas such as data management, corporate communications or logistics may not see much benefit from having a regularly updated Instagram account, but they may find that they are able to make a number of worthwhile connections on LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter. Similarly, takeaway food providers, restaurants and bars may do well on Instagram as it gives them the ability to upload product photos and videos, but they may struggle to come up with genuinely relevant and engaging content for other platforms. Choose what works for you and focus the majority of your time and energy on that.
Consider Paying for a Professional Account
If you want to stay visible as a business in 2020, it makes sense to use some of your advertising budget to pay for a professional Facebook account. The algorithms the social media giant uses keep changing and trying to get more than a small amount of organic reach without using the paid option has become increasingly difficult. This could feel frustrating, especially if you enjoyed fairly good numbers in the past due to your social media skills, but if you want to maximise your reach, it is arguably the quickest and simplest option.
Refresh, reuse and repost successful content
Providing you aren’t just blindly reposting old articles and videos without any kind of action plan, this technique is actually one of the best ways to ensure that you’re getting as much as exposure as you can. Pay attention to how many clicks your content is getting and also take a look at the kind of comments people are leaving. Highlight your most popular stuff and try to capitalise on this by creating updated versions and sharing it again when the time feels right. Social media gets used 24 hours a day, so multiple posts with the same content isn’t always a negative thing, especially if you have multiple busy periods on your accounts throughout the day.
