Way back in March, when it was still winter on the calendar and the coronavirus was starting to make more headlines in the U.S., did you really know what Zoom was? Were you really watching videos on TikTok?
Was your business, or your favorite businesses, active on social media?
Fast forward six-plus months with fall now on the calendar and 2021 not too far ahead … now you know all about Zoom. You’ve certainly seen some videos on TikTok (or videos first posted there and then reposted elsewhere).
And your business has either embraced social media or finally ready to make a move towards being more active.
The coronavirus, COVID-19, has changed the world forever, including the social media landscape in a variety of ways. It essentially put the gas on the social media fire and caused engagement and membership to individual platforms to skyrocket.
Things That Have Transpired With Social Media in 2020
We are watching a LOT more video. Video is the most engaging type of content across all of social media. COVID-19 has made video even bigger as so many people are at home more seeking to be entertained and stay connected to others.
Facebook Watch reports that in June, it had 1.25 billion monthly viewers – that’s nearly double the number from a year ago.
The video-sharing app TikTok has about 100 million monthly active users in the U.S. as of August. That’s up 9 million since June, and it is also an 800% increase since January 2018.
YouTube, which already had 1 billion hours of video consumed every day, saw a major increase in videos for people looking for “mundane” tasks, such as “how to make coffee.”
This summer, Snapchat recorded a major increase in downloads, having its biggest month since May 2019.
> RELATED: Why It’s Time to Finally Stop Ignoring YouTube
New Features on Social Media Platforms Roll Out Quickly
It appears that many social media platforms went from beta testing to releasing new features quickly to meet the demands of users.
Since March, here are a few things that have happened:
- Rooms on Facebook, which operates in similar fashion to Zoom. Facebook is also now letting users watch videos with their friends and family through Messenger.
- Reels on Instagram, which looks to be a rival to TikTok. Instagram has also released more story stickers, suggested posts and dark mode, among other things.
- LinkedIn has been a great resource to help people stay connected and network. It released a COVID-19 Resources hub to help people find jobs, learn new skills and a news center.
- Twitter has added several features as well, including an option to limit who can reply to tweets and telling people why certain topics are trending.
What Should Your Business Be Doing During the Pandemic?
This past spring, we published “5 Things Your Business Should Do Right Now” as the pandemic started shutting things down. So many things in the blog post remain true for your business now – check it out if you missed it.
Since March, social media has been THE way for businesses to communicate with their customers. Yes, there’s still a lot of noise out there, but the quick pivot to social media has helped many businesses stay afloat.
Some businesses, for example, use Google My Business to indicate new hours. Restaurants have been able to show that they offer take out. Social platforms are also an effective way for companies to share how they’re addressing concerns for safety during COVID-19.
We recommend that businesses continue to focus on creating video. If you’ve continued to put this off, here are some easy ways to get started. Video should be your No. 1 priority for social media.
If you want to continue to bring in customers – either in person or virtually – continue to post regularly. If time is an issue, plot out 30 minutes of your time once a week to schedule posts.
You should consider Facebook’s free scheduling tool called Facebook Creator Studio, which also allows you to schedule posts to Instagram. If you need a scheduling tool to help post more than to just Facebook and Instagram check out other third party scheduling tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer.
Remember that posting regularly will increase your brand awareness and keep you at the top of mind of people when they’re making purchasing decisions.
Now is the time to continue to ramp up your overall social media strategy. Keep pushing forward through the last quarter of the year and into 2021. There’s never been a better time to set yourself apart from your competition.
If you’re looking for help navigating social media through the end of 2020 and into 2021, The Social Ginger can help! Contact us today to set up a free 20-minute discovery call today.
