What to Post on Social Media During Quarantine
If quarantine has clamped down on your sales, it’s time to shift your marketing messages to reflect the truth of the times, even if that means less marketing and more transparency.
What to Post During a Quarantine
Share *your* story–how has this affected you and your business? We’re not saying break down on camera in tears and make your followers uncomfortable; rather, be honest if you’ve had to scale back or shut down and share your concerns and how you’re coping with those concerns. You’re not alone with your concerns and your followers will relate. Our favorite restaurant has closed but they continue to share throwback pics and let us know they can’t wait to re-open—these posts remind us to help support their “comeback” when it’s time.
Tips should be part of your content mix whether we’re in quarantine or not, but take the time to make those tips relevant. Take our therapist client’s social media–we shifted their marketing message so every post is timely and relevant: tips for taking care of your mental state in times of crisis, anxiety-reducing exercises, and so on. We’ll save the content we originally created (dealing with bullies at school–would have been very irrelevant with school being canceled the rest of the year!) for another time. For our mortgage clients, we shifted their messaging to focus on rebuilding emergency savings with tips on how to save money.
Know of resources that might help someone in need at this time? We shared a link to Instagram and Facebook’s small business grants (facebook.com/business/boost/grants) once per week for the past few weeks in our Instagram Stories. Maybe you know about a program in your town that helps deliver meals to people in need–share it! Or maybe there’s a call for volunteers at your local food bank–share the link! Let’s help each other find resources. For someone, it could make a huge difference. P.S. you can also check out sba.gov for more small business grant information.
Not everything has to be about your business or lack of these days. It’s a great time to share things you might not have thought to in the past. Us non-essentials are at home, so get a mix of ideas from your daily routine. Do you have a snack, meal, or smoothie you think the rest of us might like? Your at-home culinary creations, especially if it’s easy or has pantry staples, are a welcome sight. If it feels too off-brand for your business, consider sharing it in Stories, which is known for being more informal. Other ideas are sharing your favorite at-home exercises, your Netflix/Hulu/etc. recommendations, reviewing board or computer games—you get the idea. Chances are you’ve got a home office or work space at home now, too. Share your WFH (work from home) lifestyle, maybe a pic of your fluffy coworker Fido or even your kiddo if you’re comfortable with it.
If your story doesn’t feel right to share at this time, consider sharing the story of someone at the front of the crisis. A nurse, doctor, first responder, or other essential worker. Their story deserves to be told and if there’s a way to help, it’s usually by reaching out to the masses.
What NOT to Post During a Quarantine
Misinformation has been a huge problem in the past several years. Some platforms are putting in safeguards in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation (WhatsApp). Do your due diligence before sharing information regarding the pandemic. Check your source–is it well known? Is it well known for being truthful? Can you find two other well-known sources backing up this information?
“Insensitive content” is a broad term that will likely not line up precisely for any two people. When it comes to social media, jokes and memes can go viral *so* quickly, so ask yourself if you want this particular piece of content to be associated with your brand for all eternity (screenshots are forever). What someone else finds lighthearted someone else may find offensive. We *need* humor in our lives, but really consider it from every angle before sharing to your business page. When in doubt, don’t post it.
Tone-deaf and exploitative are a little easier to spot–it’s like when you post yourself in a slinky black dress with a “never forget” caption on 9/11 or selling “luxury crisis” packs during a pandemic that’s stripped millions of people of their livelihood–let’s not go down that rabbit hole. We’re not going to delve into the political cavern, either–keep your stance respectful if you must post political views–but consider that now is a time for unity and we *know*politics divides so many of us. Let’s just get through this first.
Don’t Stop Posting on Social Media Because of the Quarantine
Brand awareness is invaluable at this time; don’t suddenly drop your social media presence because your business has stopped or slowed down. Now’s the time to get in touch with your followers more than ever. When we get through this, you don’t want to just start ramping up your social media presence, you want to strategize for conversions. Of course if you need help, reach out to us anytime–[email protected].