Manchester’s BizWizUK explains why Social Media has never been more vital than it is now during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With every business in the country affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the best regional marketing minds have come together to stress the importance of remaining visible – and social media is one channel that could help save many businesses from closure.

“Being visible on social media in these challenging times should be at the top of your action plan – now more than ever, a strategy is vital,” says social media marketing expert, Ann Davies, founder of BizWizUK.

Time and again, it is proven that following austere times, like the 2008 financial crash, businesses who cut their marketing capacity were slow to win new business when opportunities picked up again.

BizWizUK’s Ann Davies added; “Your strategy for survival is visibility, so it is imperative that your customers and stakeholders see you communicate and sharing your news. More people than ever are working from home and using social media making it a perfect channel through which to communicate. It is up to businesses to be more proactive with offering quality, informative and sometimes, fun, content.”

Ann and the experts at BizWizUK have pulled together their advice for businesses to use social media in the right way to come through the COVID-19 pandemic stronger than ever.

  1. Be honest, transparent and informative without creating stress or fear: Through this, you can show empathy and compassion through your stories and posts.
  2. Engage people in a way that is relevant to them: Look at how people are working remotely or in lockdown and tailor content to them. One way to help inform this is to simply ask how people are and what their typical day in lockdown looks like.
  3. Show the fun side of your business: People will be looking for some light relief right now. Consider live ‘chat’ sessions or “how-to” demonstrations. People like to see the human side of any brand so get your staff involved – even if they are working from home.
  4. Offer things for free: Try looking for opportunities to help people with sensitivity and compassion. People will remember you for it when life gets back to normal.
  5. Engage like-minded people on groups: This s not to sell, so keep content informative, fun and interesting, however, sharing it within relevant groups can massively increase your reach.
  6. Make it visual: It is no surprise that good visual content gets the best engagement – so make it visual.
  7. Don’t be pushy: This is a time for awareness, educating and engagement so don’t give it the hard sell.

Getting the tone of your posts right will be key at this time. You need to be honest, optimistic and informative; without being pushy, arrogant or insensitive. Get this right and businesses will come out if this pandemic stronger than ever.

BizWizUK’s Ann Davies added; “I firmly believe that by continuing to build relationships with your followers on social media, you and your brand will be in a better position when business picks up after this Pandemic.”

For more information about social media training or support visit www.bizwizuk.co.uk.

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