For over a month now we have witnessed the world confined to their homes due to the pandemic. Without much notice, businesses needed to develop a quick strategy on ways they could continue to function while maintaining a safe distance to customers. Unfortunately for some, this meant closing their doors and/or furloughing their team.

If this pandemic taught us anything it’s that our audience relies on quick and accurate information, and the first place they check is social media. Since the pandemic, social media usage for Facebook and Instagram has increased.

The impact of COVID-19 has changed the digital marketing landscape. Companies MUST realize the importance of their social media channels to not only provide company updates, but to stay connected and support other businesses.

At Bad Rhino, one of our shifts was to spend more time celebrating and bringing attention to local businesses on Instagram.  We’ve also helped clients shift to support virtual appointments, curbside pickup, and other strategies to keep their business open.

Whether or not your business was able to adapt and stay open, here are 3 social media best practices you can follow during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Increase Your Content

More people are home than ever before, which means that traffic is up, as is engagement. Now is a great time to to push extra social content. You may feel like you don’t have the time, but planning in a few hours a week to develop content will pay off later.

To plan out your times, we suggest using a social media calendar, like the one shown below.  You want to ensure that while you may trying new content ideas, for the most part it’s relevant and on brand. 

 

2. Focus on Engagement Campaigns

Now is a great time to try a social media contest with a small prize. The prize could be a gift card for your business or a related small business. The prize could also be a product.  The key here is to generate conversation on your channels, which will help generate more traffic later on.

We helped one of our clients launch a really great engagement contest that brought great exposure to their social channels as well as other local small businesses.

On the left you’ll see the contest announcement from The Art of Medicine, a compounding pharmacy that works with both people and pets.  Those who entered pictures of their pets National Puppy Day were entered into a drawing to receive gift cards from one of four local pet stores.

The great thing about this contest is it helps generate exposure and engagement from pet owners who may need a compounding pharmacy, but also brings exposure to local businesses who directly relate to our client.

Don’t worry about the number of engagements. Any engagement is a good place to start.

 

 

 

3. Improve Your Social Media Monitoring

Especially for those businesses who are open, you should be receiving more comments and engagement on everything.  Anytime you post an update on what you’re doing during the pandemic, questions should be flying in. It’s your job to find these quickly and respond back as soon as you can.

Our strategy is to check each channel for each account 3 times a day: morning, afternoon,  and evening.

These are turbulent times, and we are all navigating through it together. We hope you all area staying safe, and want to reassure you that Bad Rhino is here whenever you need us.