Time to put the social back in social media in a post-Covid world.

While building a brand product by product, most businesses remain so focussed on the ‘media’ that they forget about the ‘social’ bit in ‘social media’. The word ‘social’ was put before the word ‘media’ for a reason. The product you launch, the media/mediums you use to launch it, the celebrities or influencers who amplify the buzz around your product, the target audience and finally YOU, the one who brought a unique idea & or product to life, are all-important part of the ‘social’ machinery, all-important cogs of the community (social) wheel.

Coronavirus has shown us how important each person is in the scheme of things.

In the end, all marketing is communication and communication builds community and community builds immunity. Immunity is the currency of the post-COVID world.

Here’s an example of how a well-thought and well-intentioned social media marketing strategy can work wonders.

Social too, Me-dia too

In my home country India, a very popular and much-loved celebrity Sushmita Sen recently made her comeback as an actor after a  gap of 5 years in a Netflix helmed web series titled Aarya.

She was the Miss Universe in 1994 and has kept the public imagination captivated with her brand value for more than 25 years now because of her kindness, genuineness, courage, her empathy levels and also because of the fact that she always keeps her word (she adopted 2 girls as she had said).

Now, while promoting her web series which released on June 19, 2020, she adopted a unique media approach. Every day she would take one member from the cast and crew and mention in her social media feed (Facebook & Instagram) about how amazing both their reel and real life personas are.

Many character actors who hadn’t been celebrated earlier were now finding their spotlight under the sun because of Sushmita Sen’s posts. In between all this she never forgot to tell her audience/ followers/ fans how much she loves them. Her posts seem like she is the glue that holds the product (Aarya the web series) together. We could say this brand relaunch of Sushmita Sen and the launch of the series was a hit on social media.

If you can creatively tie up your product/brand with any important current issue (given you genuinely feel strongly about it), it would help people emotionally connect with your product.

First, get clear with your team about the core social message you want to convey and then convey that message in as many fun, creative, poignant, and crazy ways as you can using social media.

The web series Aarya sees Ms. Sen performing the role of a female Don, but her promotion shows her as the complete opposite, like a warm mother figure. The audience can’t quite categorize her, and whatever the market can’t categorize, it wants to know more of. That, we feel, is at the core of a brilliant marketing strategy: a dependable yet unpredictable product/brand.

The dependability (of the product/brand) gives one a sense of belonging, the unpredictability (of the multiple unpredictable/fresh ways that dependability is going to be expressed) gives one a sense of thrill and freedom.

Now that we have cleared the social part, let’s come down to the media part of the product/brand launch. Here are the things you might need to look into

Disclaimer for the posting frequency – depends on channel and follower base. The mentions here makes more sense for something as big as a Netflix release.:

1. Approach towards your product/brand:

Ask yourself is your product/brand aimed at expressing yourself or at impressing others? You become more creative with marketing strategies when you are expressing yourself.

2. Softness is key during quasi- lockdown: 

In the post-Covid world make sure your call to actions are softer and more subtle because everyone is overwhelmed these days and are uncertain about spending the money they already have.  Since most people are stuck at home, social media is our only breathing space. So maybe one can think of using softer, natural hues for social media marketing campaigns as they mimic nature and give us visual relief. A good example is an apparel brand called Good Earth’s social media posts.

3. Hash(tag) to cash: 

Have fun to find just the right hashtag. In order to find that you have to distance yourself from your product /brand a bit and have fun. Like it happened with Archimedes, the best ideas /solutions come when we aren’t looking too seriously for them. #Eureka

However, don’t go for the first hashtag that comes to mind. Fine-tune and polish the first draft hashtags with your team. Don’t be afraid to use longer hashtags because in the post-Covid world people have become more welcoming of longer hashtags, precisely because we have had a lot of new words and a lot of new feelings entering our dictionaries and emotional landscapes.

4. Launch plan:

A month before the product/brand launch is the right time to start creating a buzz about the product’s launch and engage your already existing customers for a new product launch. Keep the posts small in length, but the frequency of posting high.

15 days before the launch is the right time to start the countdown for the product launch. Keep the frequency low with max 3 posts per week.

A week before the launch is the right time to go ahead with all guns blazing. Remind customers of your product/brand everyday at least twice with a gap of a few hours. The best time is around 11 am when people want to take that first break from work, and then around 4 pm, the time people begin to think about the work day ending soon.

It is best to post just one post on the actual launch date. The best time is one hour before the product launch.

5. Be clear and focused:

Don’t go for multiple mediums just because they are trending and you want maximum traction. Effective, strong communication on even one platform is enough and better than spreading yourself thin over multiple mediums.

For example, you don’t have to really write that blog if your product is something that speaks more through pictures than words.

Be present where your target audience resides – from social booking sites like Quora, Reddit to professional B2B networking social media channels like LinkedIn.

6. Don’t forget the numbers:

Keep a track of the metrics. The process doesn’t end once the product) brand is launched. In fact, the process has just started. Feedback is very important, but it is equally important to separate the lashing out from genuine constructive criticism.

Keep an eye on the analytics, the actual footfalls, the number of views that translate into purchases, the number of repeat purchases, the average time people take between reordering your products if it falls into the FMCG category. And most importantly choose your influencers as your primary and most-valued customers. Treat them well and your business will soon be the hottest thing in town.

7. Follow up:

Post-launch one should not stop engaging with new and existing customers and focus on inviting User Generated Content.

Most businesses only see that one user engaging with their products through likes, comment, etc., but say if I really like a product and feel emotionally connected to it, I will talk about it to my mom who isn’t tech-savvy or my social media averse friend but someone who isn’t averse to good products, or say to my doctor friend who is treating corona patients day in and day out and doesn’t really have time to look at new products but needs a good product (say a good moisturiser after using the sanitizer multiple times).

So you are not just talking to one customer at a time but her whole circle of family and friends. Following up subtly with a customer shows you care.

Your skills, our strategies: 

Let Skilfinity be a collaborator on the path of your dreams, the important pit stop for full-service digital marketing, analytics and marketing consulting while you move forward! Feel free to ask us any questions related to social media marketing in the comments section or send that mail on our id if you want to remain anonymous or need a more detailed description. No matter which medium you choose to reach us, we are listening.