Managing Social Media in the “New Normal” – It’s More Important Than Ever to Be Engaged
What makes some brands much more desirable than their competitors, when they’re selling the exact same product? What makes them special? As usual, it boils down to one thing – marketing.
Marketing is the most important aspect of getting a business, product, or platform off the ground. While billboards, magazine ads, tv commercials and direct mail were once the preferred mediums to increase brand awareness, social media transformed the marketing world.
Prior to COVID-19, it was always a beneficial business tool. But now, it's absolutely crucial. According to research, over 90% of businesses actively use social media.
As we navigate this new world, almost all businesses have been forced online. If you weren’t already leveraging the use of social media, now’s the time to start.
Why You Can No Longer Ignore This
First and foremost, you want to build brand awareness. The more your audience sees your products and services, the more likely they are to buy them. Now that consumers go out less, and scroll on their phones more, it’s important to make sure you're visible when they do.
To increase visibility and presence, you have to be consistent. Not only should you post on your social platforms every day, but you should also use every feature on the platform – post stories, engage with customers in the comments, and interact on customer pages that could direct traffic to your page.
If you can stay consistent, you won’t just grow on your social pages. You’ll create a bond with customers that improves their trust, satisfaction, and loyalty.
Audience growth will also boost your SERP rankings on search engines. This means that even consumers not searching directly for you will find your products or services more easily.
If that's not enough to get you online … it’s free.
Whether you’re a small business with little to no marketing budget, or a large corporation with thousands of dollars to spend, social media is a great platform. Some advertising spaces require payment, such as YouTube or Facebook, but you can still market in other parts of those platforms, entirely for free.
Simply build a space for potential customers to interact with your brand, share your product, or get more information. It's more valuable than paid advertising, which they're likely to ignore. Overall, social media is a highly-beneficial tool everyone should use, especially in the post-COVID digital world.
How to Use Social Media in the Pandemic Era
Like any tool, there are right and wrong ways to use social media. Unless you’re properly engaging, posting, and using the necessary tricks to grow your audience, you won’t make much progress.
However, once you know the right strategies and techniques to apply, you can improve your daily reach, in little to no time.
As we mentioned, consistency is king. It builds your ranking in the algorithm, brings more brand awareness to your potential customers and reinforces credibility. The more customers see and interact with your brand, the more loyalty and trust they’ll feel toward it.
While posting often can be time-consuming, there are time-saving alternatives. Start by creating a social media calendar, planning all your posts in advance. Schedule a day to prepare content for as many days, weeks, or months in advance as you need to.
If you have the budget, hiring or outsourcing to a freelancer can be helpful for businesses with little time, or who need professional guidance.
Be clear about your mission, vision, and values – whether you outsource, or handle the posting yourself. The average person has the attention span of a goldfish online, and unless they can find what they need immediately, they’ll go to the next best curated space that offers what they want.
Brand consistency across each of your platforms helps you stand out from competitors, and appear the same way everywhere your brand goes. It should reflect your brand personality and target market. This will also work on the business itself, solidifying the brand in the minds of ownership, employees and contractors.
It’s more important than ever to be distinct, in a sea of online businesses. You must be both present and unique in your message.
If you apply these tangible tactics to any social platform, you’ll see significant growth and engagement across the board.
