Usage on social media has increased over the past week as many of us are getting news & updates every minute about COVID-19.

One thing it does prove is the power of social media to amplify a message. If you ever had any doubt about the power it is has and how fast this technology has been adopted, you just need to take a look at any of your social media feeds. Social media is feeding the frenzy faster then this virus can spread.

There are so many posts that are going viral (Some just hype and totally out of context) and certainly, it is a trending hashtag and will be for some time.

Like another, social media has good and bad outcomes and we all the power to control what we see, what we say and how we use it (to help or to hinder) progress

Due to recent travel overseas, I am in self-isolation (not by choice) however as I mainly work from home I will be continuing business as normal and trying to help as many of you as possible with training and advice, starting with this post.

Here are some tips & advice on how to use social media to your advantage during COVID-19

• Communication on social media is vital, especially if you are in travel, hospitality and retail – if you have any sort of social media pages you need to be active on those pages. Example: I have just flown with Singapore Air for the first time. I had some issues with a bid to upgrade and seat allocation prior to our return trip. In 48 hours I sent 3 emails, multiple twitter messages and tried to direct message on Facebook (which is only a bot) and 4 days later (and after traveling back home) have still not heard from them. What do you think the chances of me flying with them again are? ZERO! This was a missed opportunity for them to step up and turn a negative into a positive but they failed.
• Respond to messages on social fast – now more than ever you need to be responsive. People need information in a timely manner so respond in a timely manner (within hours)
• Don’t rely on Facebook chatbots. In times of anxiety, you need real people to help NOT Chatbots. When you have an issue that needs sorting, getting a chatbot is infuriating and also poor customer experience. Real issues need real people at times like this. We are not robots and don’t want to talk to robots. Thinking a bot will take care of your customer issues makes you delusional
• Changes to the way you are delivering your product or service – look at the current situation as an opportunity to get creative and look for new ways to deliver your products or services. What can be delivered virtually? Can you offer home delivery? Think outside the square –
• Create a Facebook group for your team for communication – if staff are working remotely, they need not only the mental stimulation & interaction with other people but a fun way to interact with fellow staff. Sure, it is not the same, but interaction helps keep your team connected.
• Create a LinkedIn Or Facebook group for customers of certain segments – this is very relevant for travel and hospitality. Example: Relevant updates & info for various countries, locations. The information in a group can be specific and relevant which saves viewers from having to scroll through a bunch of info that is not relevant to them.
• Updates on changes to your business. If you are changing the wat you are operating then let people know about it. Dendy Cinema has been doing a great job of updating members of changes happening in their cinema’s
• Customise FAQ’s on Facebook – if you are getting a lot of the same questions you can update your settings and manually set some FAQ’s, making it quick and easy for clients to get answers.
• Share positive messages and be mindful of how you are impacting people’s mindset (staff, clients & your own). Most of us are fed up with all the negative doom and gloom. We now want to see positive news and funny things to entertain and show the light at the end of the tunnel. Imagine if everyone was positive and proactive the impact it could have.
• Using Facebook live to answer commonly asked questions or issues – you might be getting a load of the same questions from your customers, so use that as content and do live videos via Facebook to respond to these proactively. It will also save your customer service team time in responding to enquiries.

Another thing you can do is to train your team on how to use social media more effectively and set up digital tools they can use to communicate (I’ll be sharing some of these in another blog)

Here are some other things to consider:

Calm Down – panic & hype help no one. Use common sense and think business as usual

Offer alternatives – how can you deliver your product in another way.

Visual & video – are important to get attention in an overwhelmed world

Imagineering – Get creative. Look at this as an opportunity to evolve your offering

Double down on communication – keep your clients informed of changes, new products and check-in. Relevant communication that is calm and positive is what is needed.

Keep focused on your business and staying visual. This is an opportunity to up the ante and show the world how  great leaders manage.