Over the last couple of months, COVID-19 has changed almost everything about the way we live day-to-day, including how much we use social media and how we behave when we’re using it. But how has this been affecting brands? Here are some ways in which social media has changed recently and how this might impact your our of social media business.
Increased social media consumption
Whether it’s because a large amount of the population is now working from home, everyone’s trying to keep to keep up with their friends and family, or because people are getting bored during isolation, it’s obvious that social media use has increased. For example, Snapchat reported that snaps sent between friends and group chats on the app is at an all time high and calling via the app increased by 50% in late March compared to late February.
If you’ve been (understandably) quite silent during the pandemic, now might be time to rediscover your voice and work on your social media presence. You can’t reach your customers if they don’t hear from you.
Finding support through online communities
You may have noticed a large spike in the amount of users “going live” on Instagram on Facebook. Whether they’re having a chat with their followers, hosting meditation sessions, demonstrating online workouts or sharing their favourite recipes, business users are having to adapt to the way they communicate with their customers.
Now is the perfect time to give the overly salesy social media approach a break and reach out to your audience is a more raw and personal way. Get to know the people who support your business and let them now how they can support you whilst they’re isolating at home.
More people are hitting that record button
Music teachers are recording online lessons, personal trainers are creating video workouts for you to follow at home and pretty much everyone is participating in Zoom meetings at work. What do all of these things have in common? They all revolve around video.
TotalMedia reported that average global daily uploads of videos with “At Home” in the title have increased over 50% on YouTube from March 10th through to the 15th. This is another example of how personal and business users are having to adapt their content to reach their target audience. If you didn’t believe in the power of video before, you really should now.
A need to adapt your social media strategy
Whatever your social media strategy was before COVID-19, it might be time to go back to the drawing board. You may be questioning if it’s an appropriate time for you to be advertising your business. The answer is YES. As long as you’re being cautious and considerate about everything that’s going on, you should still be working on your brand and your social media during the pandemic. The key is to figure out a way to adapt your business model so that you can reach your customers and make money online.
In a study by Socialbakers analysing the impact of COVID-19 on social media marketing, they compared the difference in post interactions on Instagram for brand accounts from 1st – 26th March 2019 to the same date range in 2020. They found that interactions in the UK had increased by 10.5% and interactions in the US had increased by 13.8%. Those extra interactions should be a good enough reason for you to want to starting working on your Instagram strategy right now. If you don’t know where to start, try running a competition on your page, experimenting with different formats of content and doing a little market research about your audience.
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