Four Questions to Guide Your Social Media Communications This Summer

Social media marketing is a powerful tool when communicating with our end consumers, especially when navigating a pandemic. The communication shared across social media networks is fast, nimble, direct and serves as a first line of defense and customer service when people have questions, concerns, comments and compliments to share with a brand.  

 

Since March and so far during the COVID-19 quarantine and pandemic, we have experienced a higher level of engagement with the consumers that we manage on behalf of brands.  We’ve found that more often than not, people are turning to the brands they trust for answers and are seeking inspiration more often.

 

As we continue to navigate our communication into the summer months on social media, we’ve identified four questions that we’ve been keeping top of mind over the last two months.  We hope you find these useful as you plan your summer content and communication schedule with your brand loyalists and consumers:

1. What information should I share?

  • Helpful and relevant content, like pantry-staple recipes or ingredient swap content that is both empathetic and useful now
  • Support your brand is offering in the way of donations, waiving fees, discounts, etc.
  • For LinkedIn or private Facebook accounts, share facts about the business that have changed such as hours, cleaning procedures, or safety regulations that will help ease the minds of followers.

 

2. How do I stay engaged with my community?

  • Stay present by posting appropriate content regularly and answer questions and respond to questions in less than 24 hours
  • Before responding to a question or comment, no matter the tone, remember to remain empathetic in your response
  • If you find your brand receiving an immense amount of questions, think about implementing a chatbot to provide your followers with quick responses or create a landing page on your website to answer FAQs that are helpful.

 

3. How do I adjust my listening efforts on social media?

  • Anticipate that questions are likely coming and be ready with thoughtful answers to commonly asked questions
  • Book times on your calendar daily for social media check-ins to address comments and questions regularly
  • Provide a customer service solution in the event that there is an issue with a product and a remedy is needed quickly

 

4. How will I measure success on social media communication amidst a crisis?

  • After a week or a month, measure the total number of engagement by adding up reactions such as: likes, comments, shares and clicks
  • Compare the total number of engagements to compare before, during and after a crisis
  • Note the average time it took to answer a comment or question – you should be aiming for commenting and answering in less than 24 hours
  • Consider the knowledge gained throughout the process by listening to your customer after collecting questions and comments.  Consider where operational efforts could be fined tuned to better serve customers beyond a crisis.

 

Need help communicating with your consumer audiences this summer? Reach out to us and request a free communication consultation with our team.


Have something to add? Leave us a comment below or reach out to us on Twitter @TheCoreBlog!

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