Social Media Marketing During A Crisis

Should I continue marketing my business during this crisis?

Should I keep my paid advertising budget the same?

What if I have to close my business down completely?

What should I post and what should I not post during the covid-19 pandemic?

During a pandemic like covid-19, social-distancing and self-isolating is encouraged, and in some cases mandated by local governments. People are scared, grocery store shelves are empty, and nonessential businesses are being forced to close their doors in the name of public health.

Large companies are using Zoom more than ever to video chat as employees #WFH (work from home), online shops are seeing increased web traffic, delivery apps surges of deliveries, fitness studios offering at home class, while other businesses are closing their doors all together. Covid-19 does not discriminate and has affected nearly everyone across the globe in some capacity, leaving extremely tough times to navigate for all.

As a small business who works will small business owners, YYC3 understands the heavy decisions surrounding staying open, closing doors, cutting hours, or having to let employees or subcontractors go. With less or no money coming in, budget cuts are inevitable, and marketing at a time like this… what’s the point, right? Or is that wrong?

Ultimately, each company has to make the best decisions for their circumstance, but as your local digital marketers, YYC3 has compiled the following list of ways your business can maintain its place on the internet, when in a crisis like COVID-19.

Here are YYC3’s tips for handling small business content amidst the covid-19 pandemic!

Review Previously Scheduled Posts ASAP

Check your content calendar and scheduled posts immediately and update or remove them in order to address and be sensitive to the situation. The last thing you need right now is for people who are already panicking and stressing, and at home spending more time than ever on their devices to see a post you previously scheduled go out by mistake. Accept that this is a time you may need to pause from your long-term strategy to address the immediate sittuation, and do just that.

Don’t Ghost Your Followers

We understand that you’re unsure about what to post, and if you should be posting at all. Our belief is that yes, you should – as it is important not to disappear in a time of crisis. You wouldn’t appreciate that behaviour from your friends, family, boss, or someone you were dating, would you? No, you want them to be there for you, listen to you, support you, empathize with you, exchange tips, laughs, favourite movies or things to do…

Invite 2-way conversation

One of the best parts of social media is the ability to speak directly to your audience. To engage with them, learn from them, earn their trust, and build lasting relationships. In a time of crisis, like the covid-19 pandemic, you can:

Ask your audience what THEY NEED and what you can do for them? Host Q&A’s on Instagram Stories or make polls about your business. Listen to what they have to say and get creative with what you can do in response to their needs.

On the flipside, tell them what YOU NEED and what they can do for you? Should they buy giftcards now that they can use later when you open back up? Should they contact you to reschedule their appointment? Should they send you a photo of their self-care at home to be reposted? Should they order for delivery instead of coming to visit your restaurant or shop? Are there any incentives if they choose to take any of these actions?

OK, BUT WHAT SPECIFICALLY SHOULD YOU POST?

Here are six content themes to work into your content calendar during covid-19, with examples:

1. First things first, issue a statement.

Tell your audience what’s going on with you. Are you open or closed? What policies have changed? How should they reach you if they have questions?

For YYC3 clients, we prepared statements and added them to websites, Facebook pages, Instagram stories, and more…

Scroll for examples of our work, and work we liked from other companies:

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2. Remind your audience of your core values.

Remind your audience of who you are, not just what you sell. Talk about how your company’s core values are being maintained amidst the crisis.

Remind your audience there are a bunch of humans behind your brand going through this crisis with them, and consider by sharing how things may be looking behind the scenes of your business… Be authetic.

When talking about your core values and what the humans behind your brand are doing during this time, you should also suggest waays audience can connect with aand support these humans too!

Scroll for examples of content that highlights core values and what your company’s priorities are during this time:

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3. Provide value.

We’re all in this together, right? So what are you doing to get through? Share your tips! What information can you share that might be helpful to your audience during the crisis?

Think, TIPS… like how to properly wash your hands, how to maintain productivity while working from home, ideas for self-care or staying active or entertained…

Our friends at Achen Henderson published a blog with a list of Resources for Albertans affected by covid-19 that most certainly provides value. Click here to read.

In another direction giving movie recommendations might be something your fans appreciate.

Scroll for examples value-providing posts:

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4. Make them LOL.

Consider making your audience laugh. Light entertainment during an unfortunate time might be exactly what they need from you. When wondering what to post, an idea is to share funny videos and memes that make you laugh with a caption that says something simple like “in case you needed this today”.

To engage your internal team, you could challenge them to each provide a funny video and when sharing to your audience says who’s pick the video was. As previously mentioned, showing your core values at a time like this is important, and humour could be one of them.

Scroll for examples of posts that made us laugh out loud:

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5. Look on the bright side, and being present part of your community.

Another content idea is to share relevant local news of do-gooders in the community, of new government policies, or just local news in general. The world IS still turning after all. With that said, when it comes to coronavirus specifically, be sure not to overdo it, as people do need a break from the crisis and may be looking to you to be that break… back to the “make them laugh point”, or perhaps more of a “make them smile”, “remind them there is still good in the world”.

On one hand, New West Public Affairs published a blog calling Albertans to action to share ideas that may have to help the economy! New West’s content tends to be information-based, providing value, and paying homage to the community. You can visit their website here.

Scroll for examples of community focused content:

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6. Repurpose content.

Circling back to the very beginning of this blog, update your narrative! It’s likely you had a number of posts previous scheduled, graphic designs created, and now what… they go to waste? Try to repurpose them!

Here’s a post we transformed to fit the current global situation, while continuing to use the original graphic planned:

One last thought…

Maybe now is the time to do that other thing you have always been wanting to, or putting on the back-burner. For example, organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Perhaps you cut your ad spend budget and reallocate it to another cause. If your business is closed right now, it’s understandable you don’t need paid advertising, however, if you put that same amount of money to one page website optimization, writing keyword rich content, labelling all of your photos, checking title tags and meta descriptions, you could boost your organic search rating for when business is back…which it will be!

What about taking the time you’re not with clients to nventory all your value-add at checkout products like nail polish, shampoo, conditoner, candles, or facemasks and open an online shop? This could allow for cash flow during the crisis and afterwards and you could offer curb side pick-up, delivry, or post mail.

We’re full of creative solutions to modern problems, just ask!

To summarize, times are tough – but we know that you’re strong.

Your long-term strategy may need to be placed on the backburner to deal with the now.

You shouldn’t dissapear, and there are still many different options for content to post to keep your brand revelant to your audience.

We’re here to help!