All around the world people are stuck at home, something this generation has never had to face before. A generation obsessed with sharing their lives online in the form of stories, posts, and blogs.

You would probably think that social media usage would be down with people having less to share however there has been a 25% engagement increase on Instagram and TikTok in the past month. Surprisingly, companies approaching social media influencers has risen by a staggering 72% since lockdown.

The lockdown has changed the way users, businesses and advertisers use social platforms. We have had to adapt fast to keep businesses we run social media for active and making money.

Your Audience must come First

When you are creating anything to go out on behalf of a business you should always put that audience first. How is the business adapting to the current situation? Think about how it impacts on its customers.

We run social channels for a Garden Centre in the UK who has seen a 329% rise in page engagements this month compared to March; and it’s only the 15th of April. We have also seen a rise of an unbelievable 2967% in people leaving comments on their Facebook page.

Why? People are stuck at home and looking to find a community. We have changed focus from just showing off high-end garden furniture and BBQ’s to sharing photos of people's gardens, gardening tips and tricks to keep them busy, plus the garden centre has managed to flip their business model and now offers great value ‘Isolations Packs’ to their local community.

If you haven’t seen it, check them out here: facebook.com/oaktreegardencentree

This leads directly into our next point.

Be a Force for Good

A recent survey conducted by Kanter found that 92% of the population think brands should keep advertising during the shutdown, as long as the brand was communicating clearly that they are following government and health organisations guidelines.

This shows that there is a clear expectation that companies should play their part in the crisis, but not use their brand to exploit the situation. If you are changing a policy around how a business operates, tell your customers why. For example, they would rather know that you are no longer doing deliveries because your business is worried about the safety of staff and customers than just removing that feature from a website with no explanation.

Be Interactive, be Authentic

It might seem obvious, but a business showing people they care about their wellbeing at this time goes along way to not only enforcing trust in a brand but it could make someones day.

This is why we have changed our messaging for our clients. Yes we still need to promote products and services of the companies we manage to keep them busy, but its also our responsibility to be there for the wider community. We have gone as far to reply to every comment and message we get no matter what it is. This can be time consuming, but think about the person who wrote it. They could be home alone with no one to talk to, a simple reply could make there day.

Get Creative

Something we are all craving at the moment is connection.

What features does social media have that you have never used before? Try doing a live stream through Instagram, Facebook or Twitch. You could do a live Zoom call with a community to find out what they need from your business, or try creating a new campaign - get creative! There has never been a better time to try something different.

This situation changes daily, as does the social media landscape. Try to cater for this change in behaviour, don’t exploit it for sales. It’s a sure fire away to turn an audience against you and your brand. The world cares now about doing good, that’s why we encourage everyone to think deeply about what your company can do to reward a community,. And we promise, if you do it right, that community will reward you in return.