During the coronavirus pandemic, large waves of social media users are flocking to their accounts to stay in touch with everything happening near them and around the world. 

According to comScore, the number of minutes spent by readers on news sites in the US has increased by 46% over the same period last year. It can be assumed that a similar increase has happened in the UK as well. But why?

For starters, once people have had a few days of self-isolation, they will want to stay in touch with the outside world as well as people they know. This naturally brings users online, using platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to catch up with friends and see what is going on. 

This increase in social media activity gives all types of businesses an opportunity to get their products and messages in front of more people than ever before. However, the channels and techniques used to do this need to be fine tuned and perfected to entice their target audiences into interacting effectively with them.

Raising Brand Awareness

The United Kingdom (UK) is home to 45 million active social media users in 2020. With such a large audience out there to target, it is important to know how they interact with each platform. 

With the current pandemic, it can be argued that social media is the only place to talk to other people, other than those in your house or using a phone or video device, and therefore presents an opportunity to increase brand awareness. 

By talking directly with your audience, you can create a personal one to one relationship with each of them, rather than leaving them feeling they are dealing with a robot. Increasing brand awareness provides many benefits to a business such as:

    Keeping your brand at the forefront of your audience’s mind: Staying on trend and active on social media will show your audience you are always there and that they can always use you.

    Increased word of mouth marketing: This can be great online for when someone asks for recommendations and your audience can suggest using your business and testify to all the great things you have done for them. They can include information such as your Twitter handle which will allow people direct access to your account.

    Increased customer loyalty: If your product is something that is needed on a regular basis, then by treating your customers effectively right from the start and through the whole sales process, you are more likely to see them return for more great service.

Upping your social media game

With all of this in mind, there are a few ways you can utilise your current social media channels to really grasp the attention of your target audience. Here are some tips our team have for you:

    Use contrasting pairs of fonts: When creating posts with images, it is important to make sure the message stands out. You can achieve contrast in a number of ways, including through style, size, weight, spacing, and colour.

    Encourage engagement and respond to comments as soon as possible: Since audiences are online for longer than usual, it’s a great opportunity to converse with them; but only if you respond quickly.

    Create visual hierarchy: The right visual hierarchy will make sure that you get the most important message across first.

    Optimise your content for SEO: Find the right keywords and utilise them in your digital and social content for maximum exposure.

    Make it easy to read: Ultimately, if your message is unclear and hard to read, you won’t achieve your social media goals.

With the use of Social appearing on the rise during the pandemic, creating engaging posts can play its part in retaining a sense of normality in this enforced state of isolation. Businesses have an opportunity both to reassure social media users while increasing awareness of their brands both now and in the future.