How to adjust your social media, content, and marketing strategy to support your customers
It is not business as usual. It is not life as normal. This makes for a confusing and frankly scary time. There are no words that can make things better. All we can do right now is do our best to adjust to this new normal.
This is what I want to help you do with this blog. Together with the Know Agency team, we’ve put our heads together, done a lot of research, and had many conversations about how we can support our clients and readers. How can we help make this new normal feel less chaotic and confusing?
And, we know that a lot has already been written and shared about this. We don’t want to overwhelm and crowd your inbox or RSS feeds with more of the same. With my team, I’ve put together some lists of suggestions, resources, ideas, and things to think about when trying to keep moving forward.
Above all else, we need to remember the power of community. Community has changed a lot in the last few days – but people are still out there. It’s more important than ever to put conscious effort into connecting, talking, listening, and helping.
How to Manage Your Social Media Posts
Social media is a brilliant way to connect with your customers, to join in conversations, follow trends, and promote your brand and company. However, social media content sharing has become a lot more complicated.
Just because something is trending doesn’t mean you should post about it. It’s more important than ever at this time to focus on how your social media posts can support your followers.
Think about the sheer number of COVID-19 social media posts you see in one day. Now, ask yourself how you can add a new and useful perspective to this constant stream of posts and hashtags. If you can’t – don’t post about it.
When scheduling your social media posts, think of these 5 tips on posting social media content:
- Only post content that is useful to your audience.
- Don’t use trending hashtags and topics if these have nothing to do with your audience and niche market.
- Remember that social media is all about being social. Respond to comments and interact with your followers.
- Focus on developing a long-term social media strategy that supports your long-term content and marketing strategy.
- Show your personality. Make it easy for your followers to get to know your team. Remember that B2B relationships require personal connection.
How To Connect and Keep Relationships Going Online
Conferences and speaking engagements are cancelled. Face-to-face meetings are not possible. How do you continue to support your clients and build strong relationships?
It is true that everyone has an Internet connection and that it is has never been easier to host a webinar, online conference, or other digital event. But this doesn’t mean that everything you planned to do in person should be moved to the digital platform.
Google sums this up perfectly with their recent article on how the Google marketing team is rethinking live events. This quote stands out for me:
“Just because you can do a digital event, doesn’t always mean you should.”
Before you decide to turn your in-person speaking engagement or entire conference into a livestream, think of these three tips from Google:
- Revisit your brief. Not every event will translate well to a virtual one
Think about the original goal of the content and how it will translate to a new format. As Google says, “If the goal of the event was more for relationship-building, a one-way virtual event may not serve those purposes as well.” - Beware live-stream overload
Now that people are working remotely, it is difficult to capture attention with a live stream. Think of the distractions you have at home – kids, dog, laundry, cramped working space. Couple this with the dramatic increase in conference calls and video meetings and it makes it really hard to break through the livestream clutter. Rethink how you can help your customers? Can you help them with a simple phone call or a short three sentence long email? - Take advantage of other content delivery avenues
Think about what your live event was going to be like. A packed audience, the enthusiasm that comes from a conference experience, and the chance for one-on-one connections. Will your digital event deliver the same experience? If not, think of other ways to provide this content, perhaps a recorded video, social media stories, shorter two- or five-minute videos, or an email newsletter series.
Think about what qualities have helped you build strong customer relationships and continue to put your energies into these. Your customers, like you, crave stability – so give it to them with consistent content and communication.
What Should Your Online Presence Be?
What do your customers need from you? What qualities attracted your customers to your company and brand?
How can you remain relevant for your customers?
How can you help them today and in the future?
Are there ways that you can be proactive in supporting customers who are experiencing economic uncertainty or have questions about how you will continue to serve them?
Use these five action points to help guide your online presence. Adjust your content and digital marketing strategy to answer these questions.
Know Agency’s Working From Home Tips
Know Agency is a 100% virtual company and has been since we started 10 years ago. So, we understand the challenges and rewards of working from home.
I hope these Know Agency work from home tips can help you be happier and more productive:
- Ask your teenagers to take a break from gaming during conference calls.
- Invest in a high-quality pair of wireless headphones. These will improve your sound quality during calls and help quiet any background noise while working.
- Establish a working routine. And take a break for lunch away from your desk and computer.
- If possible, setup your desk in front of a window and keep a full bird feeder in front of your window. This helps with your mood and aids in occasional daydreaming.
- Put a note on your front door for delivery people asking them not to ring the doorbell. This stops your dog, children, cat, or partner from going berserk when you’re on a conference call or in the midst of deep work.
- Remember to dress appropriately for video conferences.
- If you have little ones, forget all advice about limiting screen time. Give them a snack and put on their favorite show for (hopefully) 30 minutes for a conference call.
- Move around during the day. Set up your laptop on a high counter so you can get in some standing time. Sit on the couch in the afternoon so the cat can snuggle and settle down.
- Get in some daily exercise. Gyms and pools are closed but many companies are making it easier for you to work out from home with livestreams.
This remote work survival guide from Remotive.io is an excellent resource for new and experienced remote workers.
The psychological impacts of COVID-19 and our changed lifestyles should not be overlooked. Mark Schaefer has an excellent blog on five ways you can battle the psychological challenges of the coronavirus.
Life and work are very different now. Above all else, you cannot become stressed or anxious about what the impacts of COVID-19 will be. All we know is that we don’t really know what to expect next week, month, or even three months from now. Worry and making rash decisions will not help.
Think long-term. Focus on what you can do today to be as prepared as you can for when we are all out of lock-down, quarantine, and no longer practicing social distancing. The Know Agency team is here for you. We can help you. We want you stay safe, remain healthy, and supported.
About the author
Jane Phelps is the CEO/Partner at Know Agency. Jane is the main point of contact for our clients and handles all aspects of in-house SEO demands. This includes providing SEO training, competitive analysis, keyword research, algorithm analysis, and the review of all new content to ensure SEO best-practices are followed. Jane holds a Master’s Certificate in Online Marketing from the University of San Francisco, is BrightEdge Certified and is the head of the BrightEdge User Group in Atlanta, GA.
