Social Media Marketing During the Lockdown – How to Adjust to the New Normal?

As any social media agency in London and the UK will tell you, understanding how to adapt to the ‘new normal’ is the biggest challenge in 2020.

Being a social media agency in London has distinct advantages and this is still very much the case, but just with a few socially distanced tweaks thrown in.

Be honest about how life will be

One of the certainties of lockdown is that we cannot be certain about how it will end, when it will end and what life will be like when it does. Marketing agencies must make full use of their social media platforms in the most productive and targeted ways possible. One of the best ways to connect with your intended audience is to truly reach into their hearts and minds at this incredibly difficult time. Understanding the ways in which life has changed for your customers will set you apart from the competition.

Companies that embrace the new normal will stay ahead of the competition. Customers need to feel empathy from their providers and pretending that life is as it was before the lockdown will not only make that business look insensitive, it will also make their customers feel unheard and left out in the cold.

Be kind to yourself and your customers

Don’t push your customers too hard during this time, you should not pretend that life is as it was. Businesses that fail to acknowledge the ‘new normal’, risk undermining their company morals, ethics and branding by not acting in a professional or caring way.

Make your social media messages positive and simple

Use lockdown as an opportunity to remind people of the great things your business offers. Don’t aim to make big sales; simply reinforce the positive aspects of your business so that your customers remember you. If you are offering any wider services to the community, why not shout about them?! Big businesses who are pulling out all the stops during the pandemic have used their social media and news channels to make sure that their customers are aware.

Great adaptations have included:

•       Restaurants offering home deliveries or veg sellers providing take-home and essential item boxes
•       Businesses volunteering and supporting others by offering a free service, free delivery or priority services to vulnerable customers
•       Manufacturers who have changed their product offering to meet health and welfare demands of the nation. For example, clothing manufacturers making scrubs for hospitals or engineering manufacturers making ventilators for critical care services.

Being able to adapt, change and offer something great right now, is the ‘new normal’ so make sure that your business is offering something to the community. When it does, there is no harm in using your existing social media and marketing channels to let your customers know. Ensure that the key messages of staying home, staying safe and protecting the NHS are also reinforced and your customers will recognise you as a responsible firm.