As you start to prepare for the highly anticipated COVID-19 recovery period, you’re probably simultaneously preparing for how your business will change. It’s clear that this new normal we will be adjusting to will require us to continue to communicate digitally. One of the best ways to maintain brand awareness, steady website traffic and increase leads is to advertise on social media. But, social media advertising looks a lot different than it did just a few months ago. There is less competition and less budget all around for most companies to be spending. As we look towards COVID-19 recovery, here are recommendations on how to develop and execute a new strategy for social media advertising. 

Shift Budget

The last few months have been extremely difficult for businesses of every industry. With nearly every event across the globe being cancelled, we understand the loss this may have brought. Events are a crucial piece of many business’s lead generation plan, so without them, opportunities are lost. 

One way to turn this lost opportunity into a potential gain is to reallocate event budgets towards advertising efforts. With social media advertising, the targeting options are endless. You will be able to reach the large audience you missed out on from a cancelled global event or the narrow niche audience that you were trying to reach in a small city. On most platforms with a targeted audience, captivating ad copy and imagery and an enticing offer, it costs under $2 to get your audience to click on the ad that you are serving them. Think about all of the new leads and opportunities this could bring!

Evaluate Your Business’s Needs

As the world starts to transition into the COVID-19 recovery period, it is important that you consider the current & future needs of your business. Assessing what is most important now will help you decide the best way to use your social media advertising budget. 

If you saw a decrease in website traffic due to the pandemic, we recommend launching a website clicks campaign. The CPC on most social media platforms is fairly low, meaning that you can bring your target audience to your website at a low cost. Regardless of your budget, we assure you that a website clicks campaign will bring up your website traffic numbers. 

Are you low on new leads due to COVID-19? We understand that during the unpredictable last few months, many businesses stopped all forms of advertising to protect themselves from the unknown. As things start turning around, we suggest that you launch either a lead generation or a conversion campaign. These campaigns essentially do the same thing, generate leads from your target audience either on your website or within the social networks. With this type of advertising, your lead funnel will be filled back up before you know it. 

There are also a handful of businesses that were just starting to get off the ground when COVID-19 hit. It’s never too late for your business to start gaining brand awareness, and social media advertising can give you the jump start on this that you need. In this situation, we recommend running a follower campaign to build up your followers on all platforms. If you have any video content that represents your brand, you could also run a video ad campaign. Video views are inexpensive and an effective way to build brand awareness. 

Promote Relevant Content

We’ve mentioned before how important it is to have a winning content strategy during these times. One key reason is for the distribution of that content through social media ads. But as you start to produce new content, continue to assess whether the topics remain appropriate under the current circumstances (social distancing, travel restrictions, etc.). 

Another thing to start thinking about is what your business has to offer in this period of recovery. Your target audience is in search of practical advice. If any of your existing products or services can assist people in the current environment, we recommend that you reconstruct your content plan around those products and services. Pushing out relevant content about working from home or how any of your services can help in this current climate results in higher engagement rates on social ads.

Analyze Data

Once you have finalized and launched your revised social media advertising plan, it’s crucial that you document the results. Depending on the size and depth of the campaign, you may need to do this on a weekly and monthly basis. 

Important results to report on (if applicable):

• Total Spend
• Impressions
• Clicks
• Click Through Rate
• Lead/Conversions
• Cost Per Result

Having this data and analyzing it on a regular basis is going to help you evaluate which campaigns are working and which are not. Pausing underperforming campaigns will help to focus your budget on what’s performing best. Another benefit to analyzing your results is that it will help you understand what content is resonating best with your audience. This understanding will help you as you continue to produce more effective and engaging content. 

If you need any assistance or advice as you work on your revised social media advertising plan, sign up for a free consultation to have one of our digital marketing experts help you develop the best plan to improve your results.