Taking a considered and strategic approach to your digital marketing will be fundamental as we begin to emerge from lockdown and get back to work, with social media being an essential tool.
Whether you’ve been able to stay open, had to shift your teams to work remotely from home or close your doors completely during the current Covid19 pandemic, you will have had to communicate this to your team, clients and prospects.
Has your communication been effective?
For many, we know that social media and digital marketing has proven an invaluable tool in helping to communicate, engage and keep people updated.
How have you been utilising social media marketing?
We have never dealt with something like this before and as a result, the way in which businesses have reacted are varied, especially with regard to their communication.
Some common scenarios your business may be going through include:
Realised benefits of Social Media
At the start of the crisis, you may have rushed to utilise social media and digital platforms to help you get key messages out to both your employees and clients.
You may have then continued using social media to keep them informed and engaged. In doing so, you have realised the wide range of benefits that it can offer to your business, such as reaching larger audiences and increasing your sales.
If this is the case, it is time now for you to start integrating social media into your marketing strategy and consider how you can continue reaping the benefits when we begin to come out of the crisis?
Review how you use Social Media
The crisis may have helped you to realise that how you communicate with your team, clients and prospects needs improving.
It could have highlighted the potential of digital communication for your business, which you weren’t benefitting from previously.
Recent months have really helped to demonstrate the vital role that social media and digital marketing does have in maintaining regular communication with audiences, allowing businesses to easily communicate changes within the business, maintain brand awareness and help to generate sales and enquiries.
Have you considered the ways in which you could integrate social media to improve your communication and ensure you are being seen by both your audience and target market?
Develop your Digital Marketing Strategy
One other scenario is that you had always wanted to utilise social media and digital marketing but simply did not have the time or resources.
With the pandemic allowing you the time, you have been able to begin using it to its full potential.
You may have also had members of your team more available to invest their time, due to the crisis resulting in their existing role being quieter than normal.
But what will happen when things do go back to some normality?
Through utilising the power of social media you may have begun reaping benefits, such as increasing your brand exposure, engaging in meaningful conversations with your clients and prospects, or driving increased traffic to your website.
You want to continue this following the crisis but due to your time now being concentrated elsewhere within your business and people’s focus now on other roles and responsibilities, you are unsure how you will be able to.
This is where you may want to look at other avenues of support to help you develop your social media strategy and content plan.
Whether you lie under one of the scenarios above or your situation is entirely different, the important thing to consider now is the role that social media could play in future communication and marketing activities.
So what’s next?
Effective communication with your clients, teams and prospects will continue to be vital both immediately following the crisis and further into the future.
You will still need to convey your key messages and keep people updated on any new changes you are implementing as a result of COVID-19. Especially if you were unable to operate during the crisis, you will need to look at how to re-engaging your audience and clients.
Perhaps you have had to diversify your business and your offering which now requires you to look at targeting and engaging with an entirely new audience or market.
There’s no mistaking that the current pandemic has had and will continue to have a huge impact on the world of business. We will all have to adapt to meet the new needs and challenges presented by Covid19.
Although we aren’t out of the woods yet, it is still important to remain positive and look ahead.
Taking the time now to consider and plan how communication and your marketing will play a role in your future is a great way to be proactive. It will also ensure we can continue to thrive in the world that will come after this.