The Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the effect on a social media presence
The COVID-19 outbreak has had a dramatic effect on each and every one of us. Rules and regulations are forcing businesses to set up to work from home. At the same time individuals are being told to keep unnecessary social contact to a minimum, boosting social media usage at an unprecedented scale. Whilst brick and mortar stores seem to be losing out, the winners are e-commerce businesses who are noticing a huge upturn in their online orders.
One reason for this large uptake is of course social media. A recent survey conducted by Influenster shows 72% of people are increasing their social media usage during the COVID crisis, with 44% of respondents stating it was Instagram where this was really increased. Whilst new platforms are also emerging such as TikTok, with 33% of users signing up to this during the pandemic, Instagram (30%) and YouTube (21%) are the platforms also being used to escape the current crisis.
Social media presence: What do businesses need to know?
The interesting part for businesses is that people aren’t simply using social media for entertainment, keeping in touch with friends or reading the latest updates. 82% of survey participants stated social media is their primary form of gathering information regarding brands or products, with 29% of respondents stating nearly all of their new purchases come from discovering them first online.
However, businesses need to be aware of a consumer’s mindset. For example, respondents stated they preferred to resonate with a brand’s overall social media presence, with 66% of people stating social media plays a huge role in the decision-making process of whether to purchase from a particular brand. 72% of respondents also stated they would do prior research on all social media pages of an organisation before following through with a purchase.
Social media is playing a huge role in the buying journey of consumers. The pandemic has only acted as a catalyst to fuel further social media consumption. It is therefore critical businesses ensure their social media presence is strong to meet consumers where they currently reside.
However, we understand with the day-to-day running of a small business, dedicating time to bolstering your brand awareness isn’t always an option. So if you want to ensure that your brand online is strong, Kariba can support with a number of high quality social media and brand building strategies, to navigate these challenges and gain meaningful engagement from consumers online. Feel free to get in touch with Kariba for a free consultation.
