How Brands are Leveraging Social Media Marketing to Win Over Consumers Post-COVID19

Don’t underestimate the marketing impact the COVID19 crisis has on businesses, especially legacy brands.

According to a study conducted by MediaPost, at least 45% of Americans indicated that they’ve permanently switched at least one brand during the pandemic. Consequently, the pandemic has become the perfect launching point for many, whereas sabotaging years of brand development and marketing effort for others.

And we see an apparent change in trend.

Throughout the past few months, businesses begin to put the focus back on social media marketing strategies. More specifically:

• More spending dollars put into social ads and social media marketing

• Adjustments aiming to align with COVID19 expectations from consumers

• Finding creative methods to break the physical limitations for brands relying on travel, brick-and-mortar location, or other in-person interactions affected by the pandemic

• Heavier emphasis on analytics and ROI tracking

In the following sections, we will discuss each of these strategies and discuss how brands can thrive through social media marketing crisis regardless of their size and budget.

How Social Ads Survived the Pandemic

While other marketing sectors ubiquitously witnessed significant budget cuts since the pandemic has started, the trends are the complete opposite of social media spending.

The reason is simple.

Because of the pandemic, consumer behaviors have taken more than one step towards becoming fully digitalized.

While in the past decade, more and more are active on social media and using online information as guidelines for purchases, the past six months pushed everyone into the digital world.

To a certain extent, this development is expected but quite ironic as well. The digital transformation breakthrough many businesses and marketers have been waiting for finally happened.

Although it took a pandemic for everything to go into motion.

SHIFTING TOWARDS D2C COMMUNICATION

One of the most noticeable shifts in strategy is that brands now focus more than ever on Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) communications, especially with the latest update on Instagram that replaced the activity tab with a shopping cart.

Service providers and eCommerce businesses are desperately trying to seize consumer attention at their decision making moments. In the meantime, restaurants and other brick-and-mortar businesses scramble to enter the digital world as closures are forced upon them due to pandemic regulations.

QUALITY OF MESSAGE BECOMES THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Increased activities in digital advertising spaces undoubtedly aggravated the information overload consumers and businesses deal with every day. Consequently, the quality of the message has become the key to successful marketing campaigns.

A few vital factors that will determine the value of your company’s message include:

• Authenticity. Does your message align with your company’s mission statement?

• Time-Sensitivity. Does your message reflect current social trends?

• Consumeability. Are you speaking the language of your audience?

• Credibility. Is your message backed by researches, authoritarian opinions, and other credible sources?

With the growth of small businesses and independent brands, the online space has never been busier. The only way to stand out is with a unique, consistent, and relatable message that differentiates one brand from its competitors.

Consumer’s Social Media Behavior Permanently Changed

According to a Smartly.io survey, over 50% of consumers reported that they purchased within 30 days of seeing an online ad. Stimulated by the pandemic, consumers are quickly getting used to making decisions online.

Therefore, brands must try their best to convert as many offerings to the digital world as possible. In the meantime, coupons, seasonal promotions via direct mail, and other offline marketing campaigns become more obsolete as we speak.

Consumers are also more sensitive to a brand’s image during the pandemic. According to Time, companies are walking a tightrope during the COVID19. In response, it may be necessary to change your brand and marketing voice to meet new expectations.

Necessity and Wellness Become the New Focus of Social Media Marketing

In the meantime, the priority scale has shifted drastically since the COVID19 crisis has started. For industries traditionally relying on digital experiences, such as online entertainment platforms and video games, their ROI on digital marketing either remained steady or saw a slight increase.

However, essential businesses such as cleaning, household goods, and groceries have become the new superstar in online spaces.

Therefore, the stereotypical understanding of only “cool, fancy, hip” brands is on social media is turning. Instead, people begin to see your neighborhood grocery store advertising on Facebook.

CONSUMERS NOW PRIORITIZE BUYING BUDGET FOR ESSENTIAL GOODS

Ultimately, the shift in consumer behavior determines the change in online advertising. Now that the traditional in-person business is forced to turn digital, consumers had to redistribute their spending budget to focus on living essentials.

For example, Walmart has seen significant growth in online marketing ROI since the pandemic started because digital grocery shopping has become a new normal.

In the meantime, household services and goods, interior decoration, intimate wear, and other in-the-house necessities have all seen rising traffic from online platforms. 

HOLISTIC HEALING, WELLNESS, AND ALTERNATIVE HEALTHCARE METHODS ON THE RISE

Another industry picking up is the wellness industry, including alternative healing, herbal medicine, and nontraditional healthcare methods. Therapy and counseling is another vital piece to this picture.

According to the US Chamber, the pandemic has redefined consumers’ definition of healthcare and well-being. As a result, the healthcare industry saw another rise as households adapt to a lifestyle without gyms, in-person yoga classes, and doctor’s office visits during the quarantine.

On the other hand, consumers are now more aware of the importance of healthy dietary and sustainable lifestyles. Meanwhile, health has become one of the topics in the center of discussions across multiple platforms. 

Growing With Social Media Marketing During the Pandemic

So how should a business grow during the pandemic by leveraging social media marketing?

After looking at multiple best practices, we have summarized a list of strategies you could start adapting right away. These strategies include:

• Put health and wellbeing as the top priority. The majority of consumers are now taking COVID-19 seriously. Joking about masks and social distancing might backfire on your brand credibility.

• Ramp up your activities. Your audience is now two or three more often on social media. In response, you may want to consider increasing your posting frequencies to capture their attention.

• Diversify your content. If you are posting more, you must keep things more enjoyable at the same time. Plan your content using a mixture of graphics, videos, memes, and other collateral materials.

• Collaborate with other brands and influencers. COVID19 has brought new opportunities with influencer marketing. Online collaboration has never been more efficient and effective.

• Stay ahead of technology updates. As we mentioned above, Instagram just launched a new shopping experience. Within weeks, LinkedIn will revamp its user experience as well. Stay updated and educated so you can make the best use of these platforms.

• Strike for omnichannel presence. We’ve long passed the days of running Facebook and Instagram pages alone. With new social media channels popping, creating an omnichannel presence will allow diversified conversion. It also generates brand awareness and reinforces your audience’s brand loyalty.

Social Media Marketing Consultation

Have other questions you’d like to ask? Get in touch with us for a free social media marketing consultation session.

Westerlund Co has been rated Top 20 digital agencies by Clutch. Co for the state of Illinois, Nebraska, and Kansas. We are a 100% remote agency offering full-stack digital marketing services tailored to startups, small-to-mid-size businesses, and non-profits.