Professional photo shootings. Days of brainstorming. And walking in your manager’s office to get some advice on the spot. They all seemed mandatory for us to do our jobs right as marketers. And then the world stopped. From 3-month plans to daily changes.
And we adapted. We’re still adapting. This is the moment we show how versatile we are and how demanding our job actually is. We prove our creativity has no limits and we can reinvent our content a million times.
In-house teams, agencies, B2B, and B2C markets, they all got affected. I took a tour of the market and came up with some pretty interesting insights. Curious how the social media manager job description changed in 2020? Here’s what I found:
What on earth did people do during pandemics before social media existed? Can you imagine? pic.twitter.com/FW0Sxl0qDY
— Lindsay Biggs (@_Lindsay_Biggs_) March 25, 2020
People spend more time on social media
When locked inside, what else can you do than scroll, swipe, and try new social media platforms? Social media managers can only be happy about that. Their audiences are growing. They want more. They became more empathetic. On average, people spend 20% more time on social media these days.
So if you feel like your brand doesn’t get the attention it deserves, it’s not too late to convince your boss to invest more and for you to start looking up social media management services pricing. What should a social media manager do and say to win over other types of media? Hear me out.
Your audience is there
The good news is 99% of the industries can find their place on social media. So most likely yours is there, too. But that also makes it really difficult for me to give you targeted advice on how to find your audience. Things like ideal customer profile, audience size, online behavior, or surveying current customers will help you a lot in building your case. Research everything you can on social media. It’s like a huge pool of data about your audience.
You can carefully target audiences
Now that you know your audience is there, you should prove you know how to target it. Targeting is a powerful argument. Social media has some of the best tools to narrow your campaigns down to specific interests, areas, and even retarget warm audiences. With social media targeting, there is an infinite amount of combinations you can use to find what works for you. One thing is for sure: it has never been easier to reach your target.
It’s fast and really cheap
If you didn’t get the buy-in by now, this argument should help you hit the jackpot. There’s no other type of media that can be shipped faster than content on social media. And when it comes to advertising, social media is the cheapest platform. You can spend as little as $1 per day for impressions, and $5 per day for clicks, likes, or views.
Of course, the fees will grow as your audience grows. For starters, this will be the cheapest alternative to advertise your product and services.
You can measure everything
After your first experiments, you can also show some data. With social media, you can measure everything, from impressions, engagement, clicks, app installs, and other metrics.
Having clear information, you can adjust your campaigns to maximize results and reduce expenses.
This last step will close the circle. With these four steps, you’ll surely nail how social media works for your business. And by the time you implement your second campaign, your boss is 100% in. Or at least mine would be.
Assessing what audiences want nowadays
As you noticed, your audience’s needs have changed. So if you’re ready to implement some campaigns during pandemics, assess what they want first. It can be totally different from what worked so far.
People got fed up. They want to hear from brands with a purpose, brands they can trust. Be that kind of brand. Show them you care, show them you know what they need.
But how do you really know what they need? Truth is, they tell you. You just have to listen.
Google Trends
If you’re wondering what skills you need to be a social media coordinator, the answer is many and from different domains. You need to be up to date with everything that’s happening in the world. So you should be familiar with Google trends by now. In order to find what your audience’s interests are these days, test some topics that appear to be hot at the moment. Banana bread, bedroom makeover, pancake cereal? Yep, weird interests. Tried them all.
Social listening
Social listeningGoogle can give you a glimpse of what people do these days. Social listening can help you narrow down your research. Social media has no secrets. Check out forums, Facebook groups, and look at what your competitors are doing. Are they seeing something you haven’t noticed before? Find people’s opinions on certain topics and about your brand. Double win.
Social listening tools enable you to adapt your speech on the go. They also let you expand your topics and find new ones. You can never settle for the obvious trends only.
A/B testing
I know, I know. We’ve still got a bit to go. What can I say? Research is complicated. Good news is you have tools to help with it. Tech that tells you what works best for your type of business. After finding the perfect trends and topics for your audience, it’s time for A/B testing. This way, you know exactly what type of content really clicks with your target. Take some time and experiment with copy and media. Your effort will pay off.
Oh, and if all your media assets are starting to get too messy to handle, another piece of good news. Selling time, ready? Planable’s got a pretty cool feature called Media Library. With it, you can keep all your brand creatives in one single place. Simply drag & drop your files in the Media Library and use them later in posts. Store as many files as you need, images, gifs, videos. Adios, complicated testing.
Content format changed
Captain obvious here, but we’re moving into a video-centric world. People have more time to spend on social media. You know, pandemic, WFH, and all. Social media coordinators should pay attention to the content they need. Here are some content formats you can test these days.
Live videos
The more you’re locked in your house, the more you crave the feeling of connection. And how can you fulfill this basic human need? Turn to live video. Especially if your brand is B2C oriented. Be the infotainer everybody needs these days. It doesn’t have to be a TV studio, but it has to be live. Now more than ever people crave engagement. Why not take advantage of it?
And if you’re into the B2B sector, don’t worry. Social-first campaigns are for you, too. Reach out to some experts in your field and interview them. Bring value to your audience. This way, you’re not selling anything per se, but rather you build trust. This is not the right time to build demand gen and lead gen, so you might as well build trust.
IGTV
Instagram already gained traction in 2019. IGTV was a new product that didn’t reach its full potential from the beginning. During lockdown, people had more time to watch longer videos. And since they already spent time on Instagram, they started consuming long-form videos there as well. IGTV rose during pandemics, but it’ll stick around after it, too. Like most of Facebook’s products, once they hit the soft spot, they will conquer the world.
Looking forward to YouTube’s next move.
DIY tutorials
From bread to plant racks, the world is buying less and building more. Don’t ignore your audience just because you can’t sell right now. Educate. Create tutorials that help your audience learn more about what you do. Right now creating video content has huge potential. Teach them how to build their own things. Once they get back to normal, they’ll start buying again, don’t worry. Ain’t nobody got time for 100 hobbies.
Raw content
Brands made the ultimate move. Gave up professional studios. Accepted to upload content that didn’t have 5 agencies involved, 3 directors, and 7 professional actors. Due to the pandemic, brands were forced to upload raw-ish content. We create everything at home. Every corner of the house is a source of inspiration. Content is not so polished anymore. And guess what? Turns out, it works better. People like authentic content. And brands finally blended in.
UGC (User Generated Content) is also something social media managers turn to nowadays. Don’t ignore what your audience is creating for your brand. If they spend time creating content, show your appreciation as a brand, and share their creations.
From product marketing to empathy
You can’t let your audience forget about your products. Agreed. But you have to be mindful, too. Global pandemics aren’t the time to push product info on your audience. They don’t want to hear about it as often. Be a source of value for your customers. Show them empathy and prove they can rely on you even in the hardest time.
Same goes for B2B. Not the right time for lead nurturing. Their business might have changed, they may be facing a hard time. Encourage them. Empower your clients and truly understand what they’re facing right now.
At the same time, don’t be afraid to show vulnerability. And if the context is right, don’t be afraid to talk about your employees and the efforts you’re doing to keep them happy these days. Let’s admit it, we’re not all unicorns that afford to get past this crisis without batting an eye.
Frequency changed
Not only people started to consume long-form content, but they also started consuming more content. The frequency you should post on social media has changed. You guessed it. You have to post more.
Don’t worry, I got you covered. Selling time agaaaain! Using Planable, you can easily create all your social media content using the calendar view. Visualize content by week or month and see everything at a glance across all your pages. One calendar, one integrated strategy across multiple channels. And that’s just the beginning. Our tool will enable you to save a lot of time daily. You can create, get feedback and approval right next to the post, and schedule your content to be published for later. Social media collaboration has never been more visual.
The best time to post
The hours at which people consume content also changed. Night owls or early risers, their behavior is totally different from regular working days. Look into your social media insights and see what’s the new best time to post your content.
Good news: with Planable, you can set your preferred time slots once and forget about manual time setting. In the calendar view, you will quickly see the time slots with no posts assigned, so you will be able to plan and organize them faster. It only takes you a minute to configure your workspace. And did I mention you can also select a preferred time zone?
You’re all set
Customer behavior changed. The content format changed. Topics shifted to a less salesy approach. Everything on top of the change in audience behavior, the hours they consume content, and whatnot.
The process of change doesn’t have to be chaotic. With Planable, you can create your social media workflow exactly as you need it to be. Especially now that you’re working from home, you can take advantage of numerous features that will help you stay on top of your work.
Set the approval workflow for your business needs. Share your content with your stakeholders. All your social media accounts managed from the same page.
Ready to give Planable a spin?
“Digital devotee & data junky. SEO is my religion and Social Media is my playground. Reciprocate is my favorite word for both its meaning and its sound.”
