But what should YOU be posting about? And Should you be trying to sell anything?
1. First things first: don’t share information about the virus – people don’t need you to be telling them and they will get their information from other reliable sources.
2. Be a breath of fresh, but sympathetic air. Distract them from the volume of information coming at them. Show them some alternatives to the ‘news’ they might be seeing in their newsfeed every day. Below is part of a post sent out by Caremark Colchester. They had their PPE equipment stolen but it was another care home that saved the day, and they thanked them publicly. Caremark’s post has been shared so many times and it’s because people want to hear good stories of people helping each other. If you can share some good news, do it!
3. What can YOU be doing to help promote fellow businesses. Do what you can to help each other. Talk to other business owners more, see if there are any mutual activities or fun virtual things you could do together.
How about a virtual chat with another business owner? Have a debate? Make it entertaining! You can use a tool like Zoom and chat together and record it or do a Facebook Live together?
Going LIVE on Facebook can be scary so don’t just try it once: do it a few times, get used to it! It will give you so much confidence for your future marketing. The time is now!
4. Share the good stuff! If you’ve been following someone like Joe Wicks and YOU do the workouts and it’s relevant to you, then go ahead and share this stuff! Joe is doing a great thing donating profits to the NHS – well done Joe! We LOVE some good news right now! And real altruism; spot on!
5. GET PEOPLE ONTO YOUR WEBSITE – so this falls under the ‘Should I be selling?’ question.
If you have something people want to buy then sell it. There is nothing wrong with keeping the economy going. It depends what you’re selling for sure, but if you can be sensitive, and think about what people are actually looking for now, then there is no reason not to be running adverts.
People are online shopping. Deliveries are still happening.
We do need to support the businesses that are able to run now. Gardening companies such as Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens have had to close the gardens but this is spring: their busiest time for plant sales and people are wanting plants in their gardens.
So of course they are advertising; this is their only chance to try to survive the effects of the virus on their business. And really, who is going to mind pictures of beautiful flowers and gardens in their newsfeed right now?
6. Even if you can’t sell now though, you want to be building your audience and if you can get people onto your website, you will be building your audience for FUTURE sales as LONG as you have the tracking pixel on your website.
GET the Facebook pixel on your site NOW if you do nothing else during this lockdown! It will mean you don’t ‘lose’ any visitors and can remarked to them in eg three months time when they might be ready to buy. I’ve briefly gone over how to add the pixel in this video but I will break it down further and if anyone needs a hand setting it up, just get in touch.
Having the Facebook pixel on your website: you don’t lose customers, you can create a bigger audience of people based on the characteristics of the people who have been to your website. So you create a big potential audience from a small one. It’s incredible stuff!
So drive traffic to your website: from an amazing blog that no one can resist reading, spend a little on advertising your blog? This is one of my favourite (cheap) ways to drive traffic. OR set the webinar link on your website so to hear the webinar they have to sign up via the link on your site? Maybe give them something FREE but with a download where they need to enter their email address!
7. What do you want people to be feeling about your business right now? Would anyone write about you like this?
Course they would!
Use this time to do something genuinely good. Is it an opportunity to let people know the kind of business you are?
Absolutely.
Are you trying to get publicity for something? It depends how you look at it: people can tell if it’s genuine and if people don’t believe it is, that’s up to them.
This isn’t just about being a great company and doing good deeds; you are allowed to be recognised for doing good: there is nothing wrong with that and don’t NOT do something good and generous because you’re worried people might get the wrong idea.
Just DO it.
8. Ask questions that you’d like to hear the answers to and try to make it relevant to your business somehow.
So eg if you’re in travel: a simple question is: if the world WAS your oyster right now, where would you go?
If you’re in interiors: if you could have your room ANY colour which would you choose?
If you are a gym that’s closed down: ask people for their entertaining and inspirational ideas for keeping fit indoors and out? Eg ‘most unusual household weight’ ‘Show us your workout pose!’
If you’re a hairdresser: ‘dare to share morning hair’!
You’re a garage? OK let’s see some how-to-fix videos!
Let us connect with you, the business owner, in a way we haven’t been able to online before because you’ve been too busy!
9. Following on from that – you may not be able to operate but you can give out information.
And you can teach and show how great you are or knowledgeable you are!
So hairdressers can share how-to videos, gyms can carry on classes online, businesses selling products can inspire with how great things will be once we’re through this – planning ahead.
Fiona from the Manor Health & Wellness Centre did a popular video on tapping to help people deal with their anxiety at this time: she can’t offer to treat them but she can give them the option of some self help.
What can you help people with now?
11. Share your knowledge: write a great blog and post it! Don’t write about your company: write about what people want to find out about.
12. Do something for FREE. So we’re giving away FREE social media training online now. I’m not trying to make money from it. I genuinely want to feel useful and by doing this, people will remember we’re still here! And that’s important for our revival and survival!
13. How can you talk to your audience about the stuff you know about? In a way that’s very personal to you, the business owner or marketer?
14. How can you use this time to portray yourself as more of a person and less as a business? What can you share about yourself that perhaps people didn’t know before? Share this – let people engage with you. Be human.
15. It’s time to get creative. It’s time to use the phone of yours and get in front of it and create some videos. Generate content that you can use in the future. Create the content you never normally have time to do. NOW is your chance!
16. Practice! Get some practice in now. Work with areas of social you’re not used to – eg try Instagram TV, do more stories.
17. And most importantly: even if you’re not feeling it, even if you’re having a rough day and it all seems too hard, stay positive on your socials. Positivity BREEDS in the same way that negativity does. BE positive and you’ll FEEL more positive and you’ll help others feel more positive too!
Good luck! And follow me on our socials for MORE tips.
Susie ☺️
