5 Social Media Marketing Tips to keep your Brand Relevant during Covid-19

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The outbreak of Covid-19 has changed the daily lives of millions of people around the globe, making them rethink how they socialize, shop, eat, and work. 

The crisis has had a major impact on businesses, and you may now be asking yourself how you can weather the storm and ensure your company continues to grow. 

While the Covid-19 pandemic and the accompanying lockdown measures can be challenging and concerning at times, it is important to consider the unique opportunity they provide for your brand development. 

With around 66% of users predicting an increase in their time online during the self-isolation period, social media is the way to do it!

Your business should seize this opportunity to break new ground on social media and develop your online presence to maintain a cherished relationship with customers. 

“With strict government lockdowns imposing people to stay at home, brands should harness this opportunity to be authentic, agile, creative and most importantly relevant. Once this pandemic is over, people will remember the brands that reached out and created value the most in times of crisis.”
-- Judy Maamari, Co-Founder Blue Hat

To help you weather the storm, Blue Hat has put together a few tips to help you adapt your social media strategy and protect your business during these trying times.

Get Creative! 

We are living in a period of uncertainty and our routines have been disrupted. This is actually a great time for your brand to really push the boundaries of how you produce and share content.  

Your brand could get creative by collaborating with and selling through 3rd party delivery apps, offering online classes via Zoom or Google Hangouts, or developing a unique product to support customers through these tricky times. 

Your customers now have more time on their hands and are more likely to experiment and engage with something new. 

Lift, an exclusive social arts club in Saudi Arabia, has begun hosting Instagram Live sessions with artists and yoga practitioners to keep its members inspired. It even designed a “Quarantine and Chill” booklet to help customers harness their creativity at home. 

Build Meaningful Connections 

At a time where we are apart from family, friends and colleagues, it is important to connect with customers on a deeper level by fostering meaningful conversations. 

Most businesses will not be increasing profits or drawing in new customers during this period, so it is even more important to keep your existing customers interested and engaged with your brand. Be bold and dare to step out of your comfort zone, now is the perfect time to humanize your brand and use your social media platforms to give voice to your community.

Draft Cafe is usually a hub for creative people to gather over a cup of coffee and share their ideas. While customers can no longer visit the cafe in person, Draft has encouraged meaningful conversation with its creative community by giving away people tips to remain inspired, productive and zen from home instead. 

Be Aware and Sensitive 

You should be prepared to adapt your messaging so it is appropriate for these difficult times. Things are changing quickly, and what might have been appropriate yesterday, might not be today. Your business does not want to appear that it is exploiting a global health crisis to make profit - this is not the time for promotions or sales.

Bear in mind that some of your followers may have loved ones that are suffering from the virus or at high risk. Keep your tone of voice empathetic and understanding. Also, avoid encouraging risky activities like gathering in groups or going out to restaurants. 

Al Raedah Finance, which offers support and advice to small and medium businesses in Saudi Arabia, has adapted its posts to use more thoughtful language around the crisis, encouraged clients to reach out to their customers and shared helpful reminders of the essential health precautions against Covid-19.

Create Value

Use your social media channels to share valuable and insightful content - it might even be life-saving! Keep messages on point and based on education, inspiration, or entertainment.

You could: 

  • Remind customers of Covid-19 prevention measures

  • Show them how your business is protecting staff and customers

  • Share entertaining content to keep people occupied at home

  • Provide tips on activities related to your industry

  • Celebrate pandemic heroes like health workers, cleaners or delivery drivers

Many brands have done a great job of supporting their customers during the crisis. The Ehtiwa Medical Center, which offers rehabilitation services for children and families, has used Instagram Live to advise parents of children with special needs on how they can adapt to spending more time at home. 

The Vodavoda premium water brand has shared delicious smoothie recipes via its platforms to keep customers healthy, keep them entertained and remind them to keep drinking water throughout the day. 

Others, like The Cliff Resort, have posted heart-warming videos to thank the frontline workers putting their lives at risk to protect their communities from Covid-19. 

Can you help?

You have an opportunity to contribute to your corporate social responsibility; consider ways your company can help in the global fight against the coronavirus. 

Even if you are not in a position to donate money, you may be able to use your resources, facilities or social media platforms to support solutions or share helpful information. 

Saudi women’s empowerment NGO AlNahda is a great example of how a brand can use its platform for good. They have shared KSA-based apps that offer services such as food delivery, essential information sharing and online education to help people stick to the stay-at-home measures and keep themselves safe. They also launched a campaign to raise money to buy laptops for their female beneficiaires to continue supporting them while staying indoors.

Blue Hat kept these tips in mind when creating content for our clients during the pandemic. Why not check out what we did below for some inspiration?

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