Social Media Best Practice During COVID19

Is it still ok for brands to be posting their usual content on social media during the COVID19 pandemic? 

The current COVID19 pandemic has had a huge effect on how many of us live our lives. Shelter in place orders, social distancing measures, and in many cases, job losses, have meant that for the first time in recent history people are overwhelmingly staying at home. Currently, in the US, over 60% of the population is under shelter in place orders and as of the week ending April 18th, the unemployment rate has surpassed 20% - the highest since 1934. 

With that said, what does this mean for brands on social? For starters, usage on Facebook is up 27% and up 15% on YouTube since the end of February. There are a lot more eyeballs looking at their screens, and with the right message, brands have an opportunity to provide valuable content, products, and services to users stuck at home. 

When it comes to what is appropriate for a brand to post, the basic rules of social media should still apply; relevancy, timing, and thoughtful content. For any brand, it's probably not the best time to feature posts that imply the need to travel or gather at large scale events. If you're a shoe brand, for example, the usual summer weddings, vacations & party content aren't going to resonate. But - sandals for the garden, fresh sneakers for your new running habit, and comfortable slippers for staying at home is far more passable. Accurate targeting is going to be as important as ever to ensure you're not wasting valuable media dollars on an audience that isn't relevant to your product. 

While many brands are looking for ways to hold on to dwindling sales, other brands have been able to benefit from a population stuck at home unable to visit bars & restaurants. The online wine industry is seeing a huge boom in sales, with direct-to-consumer wine club Winc seeing an uplift of 578% in new member sign-ups week over week. The market is currently primed for a service like Winc, but they have also been making use of targeted social media advertising to reach potential new customers during this time. They have also been increasing their work with influencers (now homefluencers) as well as featuring user-generated content, both of which makes for relatable content during this time. Other winemakers, the Mondavi Sisters have been taking advantage of a captive at-home audience by hosting virtual wine tastings via Instagram Live as a great way to create engagement. 

Another approach is to bypass product & sales messages and to focus on brand building and credibility. For businesses in the travel and hospitality industry, getting the right message can be a challenge. But it's not impossible, as brands like The Four Seasons New York have shown by offering free rooms to frontline healthcare workers and sharing their stories on social media. Delta has been using its Instagram account to showcase stories from their call centre staff, who are working to help customers whose travel plans have been disrupted. By featuring their own frontline workers, they are showing the relatable, human side of their business which may prove to be a winning long-term strategy for retaining customer loyalty. 

This is a challenging time for many, and collectively we are finding ways to adapt to this new way of life, for the foreseeable future at least. People will prioritize their needs and overall consumer spending will be down, but it doesn't mean that your brand's social media should stop. Instead, take a look at how you can contribute to the conversation, be sensitive, and remain relevant to your customer. If you can do this now, in the long run, you will be in a better position to reap the rewards once your customer is ready to spend again. 

Need advice on your current social media strategy? Get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.