Using Social Media to Communicate with Customers During COVID-19

Episode Transcript

Social media has always been a great platform for businesses to interact and communicate with customers. It is also very useful to keep customers updated on major changes going on with your boating business – especially during this pandemic.

In this episode, Harry Casimir, CEO of Atilus and Boat Marketing Pros, joined by Jennifer Coomer, Director of Business Development at Atilus and Boat Marketing Pros, will cover how you can use social media to communicate with customers during this crisis.

Harry

Hey. Welcome to another episode of the Boat Marketing Podcast. Today we’re going to talk about using social media to communicate with customers in times of social distancing, and COVID-19. Jenn is here with me today. We’re going to dive right in on how to really make sure you stay connected with customers while you are distancing yourself. Jenn, I know you and I talked about this too many times. Now all of us in the office virtually talk about social distancing, and the impact this will have on our personal lives and professional lives.

But from a business perspective, that’s also impacting how we are interacting with our own clients and how the business will change. So let’s get right into it. What are some of the things that you see or things that you think that one can do both from a business perspective and a professional perspective to keep in touch with their customer?

Jenn

Yeah, thanks so much for the introduction, Harry. Hello everyone! As Harry mentioned, my name is Jennifer. As Harry also previously mentioned, staying connected is now, more important, more so than ever, especially since we’re going through COVID-19.

Something that I found and that we found here internally is one of the best ways to stay connected. Not only the best way but a creative way to stay connected with your existing customers and clients is through social media. I think turning to social media is really important right now.

With so many people being forced to stay at home, this is your chance to get out in front of them and to stay connected with them. It’s important to make sure that you’re utilizing all social media platforms too. So Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google My Business, and the list goes on. There’s a lot of social media outlets out there, but the main takeaway that I want you to get out of this is, keeping regular contact with your clients is really crucial during this time of uncertainty. So make sure you are doing that. And we’ll give you a few tips on how you can communicate with customers.

Harry

That’s fantastic.

So we’re going to just dive in right into the questions here, Jenn, because I know you are really active on social media. Do you have any tips on how businesses can keep in touch with their customers in a proper way?

Obviously, again, this is kind of a very tricky situation. Most people are on their mobile devices right now, in front of computer, more than they normally would be nowadays because they don’t have any place else to go. So a lot is going on. What are some of the tips that you would have for a business in terms of how to communicate with customers through social media?

Jenn

Awesome, we’ll definitely cover a few tips on what you should be doing right now to keep in touch with your customers. And as you mentioned, with people being forced to stay at home, many people are turning to social media and checking social media weekly, if not daily. So it’s really important if you have downtime or you know, during this COVID crisis to push out content, get in front of those users and your existing client base because they are checking those social networks on a daily basis.

A few of those tips that we’ll jump into right now.

Tip number one: It’s really important to post updates regarding your business. Specifically, hours of operation or services provided, if anything has changed due to COVID-19. It’s important to keep your customers informed with any changes, if any. That’s tip number one.

Tip number two: I would recommend posting a raw video or even a video explaining the safety precautions that your business is taking or how you as a company are dealing with these changes related to COVID-19. We recommend sharing your challenges that you are facing and how you are managing, getting through this crisis. And I think if you share that information with your clients, they can easily engage with that content too.

Tip number three: We also recommend doing a Facebook or Instagram Live stream so that you can offer your customers a virtual Q & A. Any questions that they might have, you can respond to them instantly. So offer a live Facebook or Instagram Live Stream. See if your clients would be interested and then get them on board. I think it’s really important to maintain the face to face interaction. Since you can’t meet with clients in person right now. It’s important that you’re showing your followers  who the person is behind the social page.

Tip number four: It’s really important that as a business that you continue to provide timely and relevant content as it relates to your business overall. At the end of the day, your clients still want to see a sense of normalcy from you. So keep these regular posts and updates coming. It doesn’t have to be related to COVID-19 as long as it relates to you know, the services or products that you provide, continue to push that out on a, you know, a weekly basis.

The very last tip that I have for you today, but I think the most important tip, is to keep the lines of communication open. That is so all of your clients can get in touch with you, whether it’s via social media, email contact forms, or a phone call.

Harry

Now, Jenn, thank you so much. Those are very, very important tips. Now, whether the business open or not, are you suggesting that even if they close their social media should stay active? Is that correct, right?

Jenn

That is correct. Even if you have closed your doors because of COVID-19, you should still be active on your social channels. Remain in communication with your customers at all times to let them know what’s happening. I don’t think you should go cold at all. So my advice is continue to post on all of your social channels and just keep them updated.

Harry

That’s awesome. This is not the time though, to schedule or automate your social media posts. You want those to be as authentic as they can be. And you want to craft them as much as you can due to the current situation, right?

Jenn

Correct. Keep them authentic, real-time and relevant to what’s going on, and to your business. And as I mentioned before, I still think it’s really important to continue to provide the standard posts that you have been pushing out just to keep a sense of normalcy with your clients so that they continue to see the consistency of what you’ve been doing in the past. So that’s why every now and then, whether it’s on a weekly basis, make sure you’re pushing out one or two posts as it relates to what you were doing previously.

Harry

In one of our podcasts, we cover using social media now that you don’t have lots of activities in the front door. You might have a little bit more time than normal. This is the time that you can really hone in on your social media skills, in terms of getting in front.

COVID-19 is here today. But, whether it’s tomorrow or next week, month, or year, this thing can go away. And you and your business will sustain. So it is important to make sure that you’re staying in touch with customers now during this crisis. You also want to be there for them in the long term.

Keep pushing that information out as much as you can. Again, as Jenn mentioned, be as authentic as you can and be there  ready to answer questions as well.

Keep this in mind right now. It can be people at home, people in the office, in front of computers or their devices. The second they think of something, they type it. As fast as you can, make sure you insert comments and keep the conversation going and make your customer your priority during this time. If you have anything else to add to this, Jenn. I know how important it is to keep in touch and communicate with customers during this time.

Jenn

Yes, 100% I think you’ve covered it perfectly. If you’re looking for additional tips on using social media during COVID-19, please reach out. We can assist you and provide more information, tips and resources to help you get through this.

Harry

That’s fantastic. Well, this is a wrap for us.

Thank you Jen for joining us to go over using social media while distancing to stay in touch with customers. Again, this has been another episode of Boat Marketing Podcast. If you have any questions, or topics you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at podcast@boatmarketingpros.com or go to boatmarketingpros.com/podcast to subscribe to our podcast. Again, this is Jenn and Harry. Thank you so much for joining us. This is a wrap for us.

Jenn

Thank you.