5 Ways Social Media Managers Must Adapt During the Pandemic
As a social media manager, it is your job to adapt to changing behaviors and trends during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The way the world functions day-to-day has been altered recently due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. While individuals who work in social media or online marketing are fortunate enough to do their work from the safety of their home, their work is necessarily going to change. During this time, social media managers must be realistic about the changing behavior and tendencies of social media users. As a social media manager, if you want to continue to do your best work during this unpredictable time, you must be prepared to adapt continuously and change your working methods. The five changes below are an excellent place to start.
Pause Scheduled Posts
You should first cancel all of your previously scheduled social media posts. News is changing rapidly, and a story can change within the hour. You can’t get comfortable and presume that a social post or promotion you have planned for a month from now will be appropriate or attuned to the broader conversation.
Post in Real-Time
Social media managers should investigate conversations, trending topics, and what your audience is doing. Turn to the social listening tools and skills you’ve developed and use those insights to inform the content you create and share. Then, once you have a chance to tailor a message to fit the moment in time, you can post natively to your social accounts.
Because more people are working from home and less bound to the 9-to-5 schedule, you may also take advantage of posting throughout the day.
Prioritize Connection Over Clicks
Social media managers should prioritize being part of a conversation with their audiences rather than focusing only on click-driven results. Even as business slows, you can still use social media to do what it does best: drive conversations, build community, provide support, tell stories, and share entertainment.
Interact With Your Community in New Ways
With many people “social distancing” and staying at home looking for something to occupy their free time, you can take this opportunity to offer content to your audience. Many businesses or professionals are creating virtual events and online seminars for their audiences who are missing out on previously-scheduled live events.
You can research your employees, influencers, advocates, and biggest fans, contact them and ask them to create with you. You can then use groups, chats, webinars, live videos, and social stories to spotlight these people and create engaging, interactive content for your audience.
Create Appointment Viewing Habits
In the same way television shows that air every week can create “appointment” viewing, you can create “appointment” content. For instance, if you publish new content on the same day of the week in the same format each time, you can train your audience to show up and “tune in.”
This can include a Twitter chat, a live video, a pre-produced video, a podcast episode, and more. Additionally, you can send out a newsletter on the same day every week. No matter what, the content should be more meaningful and engaging than just a regular blog post or social post. This not only keeps you in the mind of your audience but may even get them looking forward to your content. Additionally, this gives you a chance to post in real-time about recent events.
As a social media manager, it is your job now to adapt daily to respond to real-time events, stay relevant, and avoid missteps.
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