Welcome to this week’s edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media. On this week’s Social Media Marketing Talk Show, we explore what global spikes in social media usage mean for marketing strategies and LinkedIn’s new conversation ads format […]
We want to hear from our community about the creative tactics you’re using to wrestle the beast of uncertainty to find small wins (for clients or staff) in these unprecedented times.
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In these uncertain times, many of us will have been instructed to work from home. While this brings a number of logistical adjustments – remote access, WiFi connection, deciding where to sit – perhaps the most crucial part of business life that working remotely affects is communication. In the first part of this blog series, […]
Wondering how to use video to build stronger connections with your customers and prospects? Looking for a process to follow for your next video? To explore how to create emotional connections with video, I interview Matt Johnston on the Social Media Marketing Podcast. Matt is a former journalist turned video marketing expert and founder of […]
Welcome to the Social Spotlight, where we dive deep into what we love about a brand’s approach to a specific social campaign. From strategy through execution and results, we’ll examine what makes the best brands on social tick — and leave you with some key takeaways to consider for your own brand’s social strategy.
Overview
Though we’re all adjusting to the new reality of working from home and managing new best practices for our businesses, few in marketing are on the very visible front lines like social marketers. As many brands pause more traditional advertising, close retail locations and scramble to put new infrastructure in place to support working from home, supporting customers and audiences falls more and more in the digital space. While many brands have found innovative ways to extend their offerings to social media, the most successful are doing one thing that’s available to all of us: Holding true to the fabric of the brands they’ve built and adapting them for the current situation. Here are four examples of brands excelling in the new normal:
The Shedd Aquarium
With its doors closed to the public to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the Shedd’s animal caregivers sought to keep their charges’ routines as normal as possible, and that included providing opportunities for exploration and exercising normal behaviors. For Edward and Annie, a bonded pair of rockhopper penguins, that included taking a walk around the deserted institution to visit with the other residents. The Shedd’s social team captured their walk and shared the video with their fans and followers, leaning into the situation to create an experience that wouldn’t be possible under normal circumstances.
What you can learn:View your limitations as opportunities to try new things
You may not have access to your usual equipment, locations or the physical team you’ve come to rely on, but the good news is that your audience is living with similar realities. We’re all in this together, and the opportunity has never been more ripe to try something new.
Tito’s Vodka
The swiftness of the global pandemic has given rise to a lot of misinformation, especially on the real-time channel of social media. Tito’s employs brand monitoring and social listening to keep a pulse on its brand and industry, and became aware early of misinformation–that vodka was an adequate substitute for hand sanitizer–being proliferated on social. Tito’s responded quickly and authoritatively, noting not only that its vodka wouldn’t properly sanitize but also announcing a company commitment to using its distilleries to produce FDA-approved hand sanitizer over the coming weeks.
What you can learn:Look for opportunities in the uncertainty
There are brand opportunities you’ve never conceived of, and many of them are becoming apparent as we adjust to a different world. Using social listening, keyword tracking or brand monitoring to surface these opportunities (and threats, which can turn into opportunities, as evidenced by the Tito’s example) should be a key part of your social strategy in uncertain times. The news changes daily, and in order to surf the changes to our shared experience, you need to be aware of them as soon as they happen.
CorePower Yoga
Many of the hardest-hit businesses in the current climate are those that facilitate in-person experiences, and CorePower Yoga’s business model is built on readily available, membership-based access to physical yoga classes and space. The brand acted quickly to adapt that business model for the shelter-in-place reality by offering virtual, online classes. As you might imagine, this massive upheaval in its day-to-day operations was not without hiccups, including technical difficulties with its online portal and membership management challenges. But what CorePower did exceptionally well during this challenging time was to remain transparent and authentic in communicating the challenges (and steps it was taking to resolve them) to its engaged community. Its members knew what was happening and how it was being addressed at all times, bringing them into the experience and giving them the assurance they needed that the brand was on the case.
What you can learn:Be who you are, even in a crisis situation
CorePower made adjustments to its business to serve its customers during the current crisis, but more importantly it retained the open, authentic communication they had come to expect from the brand even as it navigated business-threatening challenges. It didn’t try to pass off the blame for the kinks or throw up its brand hands in frustration, rather it maintained its calm, collected and compassionate brand persona. This consistency and accountability inspires the kind of trust that keeps your customers with you through a crisis.
Alterra Mountain Company
As the controlling entity of 14 of North America’s premier ski resorts, Alterra Mountain Company’s primary business season was cut short by the current pandemic. It was forced to close its resorts in order to quell the spread of the coronavirus, leaving its passholders with many questions about how the company would handle the fact that their pass value was cut in half by the closures. Alterra anticipated these questions and swiftly issued a statement to address them proactively, demonstrating the brand’s understanding (and prioritization) of its audience and what’s important to them.
What you can learn:Be proactive, especially when the message is difficult for your audience
Don’t’ wait for your audience to call you out for your silence, especially when you have difficult news to deliver. Lean on your understanding of their unique needs and relationships with your brand to anticipate their concerns and questions, and work to proactively provide your brand’s stance. Even if the message is hard to swallow, your thoughtful, transparent and proactive action will reinforce how much you care about your audience and what they need from your brand during a difficult time.
In the last decade, social media has rapidly evolved and become a major element of marketing in all industries. As a result, social media practitioners now play a role in more business initiatives than ever. They are key players in managing their company’s reputation, deploying customer service, acquiring customers, spotting trends and navigating breaking news.
It’s a common misconception that social media jobs are glamorous and as simple as posting entertaining, witty Tweets or colorfully curated Instagram posts. It can be frustrating when friends, family and even colleagues oversimplify your role as a social media manager.
By all accounts, social media professionals have demanding roles that require critical, creative thinking, organization and collaboration across teams. Those demands coupled with the “always on” nature of social media make burnout a very real challenge.
We spoke to Leigh Morrison, the Senior Manager of Corporate Social Media atRed Hat, Inc., a leading technology company that provides enterprise open source solutions. She and her team are responsible for managing all the corporate social media handles. Given the complex nature Red Hat’s offerings, the customer and community feedback Red Hat receives on social media every day is invaluable. However, Morrison knows first-hand the challenges and demands that come with that.
“We’re just beginning to understand the potential psychological effects of social media on holistic health and well-being, and we need to consider how those effects may compound for people in our field,” says Morrison. “It’s important to build in moments to step away, connect in real life and recharge.”
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) officiallydeclared that burnoutis an occupational phenomenon “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” Characteristics of burnout include “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job and reduced professional efficacy.”
Do you feel unable to log off at the end of the day or on weekends? Are you hesitant to take hard-earned PTO? Are you constantly checking your phone, afraid to miss a beat on social? If so, you might be at risk of burning out, but you’re not alone.
For those of you who have been at your computer for more than an hour, take a 10 minute break to…
🧘 Stretch
🍵 Grab a refreshment
☀️ Take in some fresh air
It’s a common assumption that long-term, habitual use can take a negative toll, particularly on young people. However, according to astudy by Harvard University, findings suggest that as long as people are mindful users of social media, strong social networks are associated with positive mental health and well-being.
Research scientist Mesfin Awoke Bekalu, who co-authored the study, suggests that “the ways that people are using social media may have more of an impact on their mental health and well-being than just the frequency and duration of their use.”
Knowing that your job requires you to be on social platforms frequently, if not all the time, be mindful of how you’re using social both at work and at home. If you’re finding it difficult to set professional and personal boundaries, lean into the community and human connections that make social media such a powerful platform.
How social platforms are combating burnout
Social platforms have taken note and begun to incorporate mental health initiatives into their platforms, so users and social media managers alike can be more mindful of the ways in which they’re using them.
At the end of the day, if you’re feeling burnt out and looking for a laugh, Tiktok videos are fantastic. Doesn’t this dog video just inspire pure joy?
By the same token, Tiktok is known for its addictive nature. Knowing people were getting sucked into the wormhole, the platform launchedTiktok Tips, as part of the “You’re In Control” series, intended to bring forward platform guidelines and tools that are typically buried in a page of text. Tiktok Tips videos educate users about in-app safety features, share reminders to take breaks and even encourage people to grab a snack or glass of water.
In 2019, Pinterest integrated a morecompassionate search experienceinto its platform for users experiencing sadness, stress, anxiety, depression and beyond. If a user searches for “stress relief” or “work anxiety” for example, Pinterest might suggest a collection of emotional well-being activities to redirect your energy. For social media pross looking for a break, these activities might be worth a try.
Similarly, Snapchat is launching “Here For You,” which provides safety resources from mental health experts when users search for a term like “thinspo” (a term combining “thin” and “inspiration”) which is suggestive toward a trend damaging to mental health. And Instagram’s “restrict mode” protects your account from unwanted interactions, helping to combat bullying.
Balancing customer care and self-care
Customer careis a major part of a successful social strategy and requires time, attention and thoughtful engagement. Responding to comments and complaints in the public eye can be stressful. When the world can see anything your brand posts, the pressure is on to craft the perfect message and not make a misstep.
SMMs responding to comments and complaints often not only consider the customer you’re interacting with but also anyone who might be witness to the public exchange. Redirect conversations to direct messages when possible, to minimize additional scrutiny.
In the 2019 Sprout Social Index, we found that about 56% of consumers would unfollow a brand due to poor customer service. As a result, you might feel anxious when dealing with emotionally charged interactions on social and the scrutiny that comes with it.
Avoid some of the stress by creating a response protocol. Document common scenarios of why customers reach out to you on social media, the sentiment behind them and examples of how to respond—as well as situations where your brand won’t respond at all. That way, while you have an approved foundation for sending a response, so you don’t have to develop a new one in the face of every mean Tweet.
Legitimate customer concerns should never go unaddressed, but be wary of trolls. If your brand is continually targeted by a specific person using hateful or inappropriate language, consider muting or blocking them if that’s an option for your brand.
Now would be a good time to start asking:
Does our content or ad strategy make sense right now?
Is there a point we should slow down or even pause organic content?
How might we shift gears and add value to the conversation?
During a brand, local orglobal crisis, social media managers play a vital role in leading their brand’s reputation and response. With the recent example ofCOVID-19, many social pros may feel the strain of fielding more questions and concerns from your followers than usual. To avoid additional stress, take a look at any upcoming content, double-check the tone and reassess publishing, if necessary. What started as a well-intentioned post could be misconstrued as opportunistic or tone-deaf and spark another crisis for you and your brand or company.
Lean into your community
As humans, we’re programmed to crave and seek out connections. That’s the whole point of social, right? If you’re combating burnout, your team and other social media professionals can empathize and support one another.
“As a manager, my team looks to me to set boundaries and standards. My advice is to talk about it openly, create norms that make it okay to step away, take moments to bond as a team outside of work,” says Morrison. “When I’m in balance, here’s what works for me: Take breaks from technology. Get a buddy who keeps you positive. Celebrate a weekly win. Connect with your peers, preferably offline.“
If your company has a smaller social team, or you work solo, look for additional support from industry peers. Or, if you can offer support, consider opening yourself up to others.
Everything is a little uncertain right now. Whether you’re anxious about, marketing, social media, life, whatever… Feel free to message me any questions, concerns, or just even just to vent.
DMs are always open.
— Matthew Kobach (but staying home) (@mkobach) March 13, 2020
Maximize productivity and minimize burnout
When you’re passionate about your job, you give it your all. That drive is essential and inspiring, but it’s also important to prioritize healthy routines and recharge. Here are a few tips to help:
Schedule your strengths. If you know your focus or creativity peaks in the morning, block off time to focus on your priorities.
Take a digital detox. Give yourself time and space to disconnect. Your mind (and your eyes) will thank you.
The rise ofworkism—the belief that work is the centerpiece of one’s identity and life’s purpose—has made it even more important to your passions outside of work. Cultivate an immersive hobby that focuses your attention inward.
Avoid comparison. While it’s helpful and important to be aware of what your competitors are working on, envy and comparison can be real self-esteem killers. Focus on doing what’s best for you and your own brand.
Leverage the tools at your disposal to pick up some of your more time-consuming, manual social management tasks.
Burnout is real, but you’re not alone. Join our community and connect SMMs through shared experiences. We’d love to hear from you onTwitter. How do you combat burnout?
