COVID-19 has slammed the brakes on many industries and sectors, as lockdown forces millions to work from home. This has put a disappointing halt to company events, tradespeople providing services, and socialisation between businesses, clients and the public.
Our team has been focused on developing helpful tips you can apply to your business or NFP so you can keep that all-important connection and remain top of mind. We can demonstrate where we have used these tips when working with our clients to help them achieve success.
Over the next few weeks, we will provide some easy-to-apply ideas for communicating across a variety of channels and platforms, starting with social media.
As a result of people isolating in their homes, social media usage has skyrocketed to record levels. In the last 12 months, there has been a 13% increase in social media users. This is an increase of more than half a billion. In the first month of the pandemic Facebook reported a 50% increase in messaging and a 70% increase in time spent across all their platforms, including Instagram and Messenger. LinkedIn saw a 55% increase in conversations in 2020, and YouTube experienced a 4.9% growth rate with 1.86 billion in 2021.
Improve your potential to reach this massive audience with the following strategies:
- Sharing case studies or news about how you have assisted customers
Sharing news about your customers is an effective way to keep your audience hopeful and engaged. Continuously posting about things that are happening within your business keeps your customers connected and reflects that you are available and ready to assist.
A great way to achieve this is to share positive stories about your clients and how you have helped them succeed. Case studies remind customers that they are appreciated and help to establish a positive reputation for your business. You can develop the case study so it highlights your particular business skills and expertise in supporting customers.
Using an emotive quote in the post will also create interest and encourage people to click through to read more.
Recommended industries/sectors: Professional services, trades, health and safety, beauty services, financial services, charities, NFPs
Recommended platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
Here is an example of an accounting firm client who has used Facebook to share content about a recent case study:
- Staff profiles
A great way to maintain the connection with your customers is to post about the people within your organisation. This refamiliarises their names, faces, and stories during a time of disrupted social contact. Through these posts, a sense of personality is shared with your audience, and reminds them that your team are ready and able to assist. You will notice that photos of your team gets great engagement when compared to stock images.
Recommended industries/sectors: Professional services, not-for-profits, health and safety, beauty services, transport services, financial services
Recommended platforms: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
Wheelchair Rugby League (WRL) is an all-inclusive sport governed by Wheelchair Rugby League Australia. We created a “Get to Know” Instagram campaign to familiarise the WRL audience with the names, faces and stories of the organisation.
- D.I.Y. tutorials
Posting D.I.Y. tutorials is a creative option for supporting your customers in a virtual setting. By sharing useful tips when physical assistance is temporarily restricted, your customers will feel cared for. Tutorials can be a memorable way to strengthen customer loyalty.
Recommended industries/sectors: Trades, health and beauty, IT and technology companies, hospitality, financial services, sport and fitness
Recommended platforms: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook
Curran Plumbing provides high quality plumbing services in Wollongong, the Illawarra region and the Sutherland Shire, Sydney. Curran Plumbing created a D.I.Y. video on how to fix a leaking tap with TV personality Jason Hodges. The video was uploaded and shared to YouTube for customers to access.
- Interactive social media posts – 10 things you didn’t know about…
Interactive posts maintain the connection with your customers by inviting them to contribute their thoughts. Uplifting videos and personal wording such as ‘you’, directs the message to the individual. This entices customers to engage and makes them feel personally addressed.
Posting items like this in a series further engages viewers, as it encourages them to stay connected to follow upcoming posts.
Recommended industries/sectors: Trades, professional services, sport and fitness, health and safety, beauty services, hospitality, financial services, retail, tourism
Recommended platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
We created an Instagram campaign for Wheelchair Rugby League titled “10 things you didn’t know about Wheelchair Rugby League”. This included a series of 11 interactive videos, to teach the rules of the game and how to play.
- Competitions and giveaways
Competitions and giveaways physically reward the audience for their engagement.
For example, ask followers to comment on a topic – what they’re most excited to do after lockdown – and from their entries a winner will be selected.
When offering a tangible incentive, you should follow the competition rules and guidelines for your particular state (usually Department of Racing and Gaming) and also Facebook rules around competitions.
Competitions and giveaways generate fantastic audience engagement, and make customers feel rewarded for their loyalty.
Recommended industries/sectors: Professional services, trades, health and safety, beauty services, retail, hospitality, tourism, sport and fitness
Recommended platforms: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
Stable Soapbox is a market research company. We worked with them to develop a Father’s Day Giveaway for their Facebook group. We posted the giveaway competition on Facebook, where people could enter by commenting their favourite ‘Dad’ joke.
Covid-19 has significantly increased the use of social media, and its popularity isn’t going to decline any time soon. The exploration of digital options has created more opportunities for engagement through social media. Now is the time to increase your businesses social media leverage, if you haven’t already, as it is a cost-effective and persuasive way to stay connected.
If you would like to find out more about how we can assist your business with a social media strategy, get in touch today.