Social Media for Business Growth Social media can also help you learn from your competitors. There has to be a good reason why your competitors are performing better than you

During a time when people from around the world are not able to do many things that were once taken for granted. It's been roughly a month now since the Coronavirus began to flip our lives the wrong way up. It's a tough question that many businesses are struggling to answer at the moment – "how do you market your business on social media during the Coronavirus pandemic?".

As people across the globe are beginning to adjust to the country-wide lockdown and social distancing measures, businesses and social media managers are tweaking their campaigns and coming up with creative ideas to market their products and services. There's no denying that these are tough times. When times are tough, it's really common for brands to struggle with what to mention, particularly on social media. Do you stick with your old messaging and pretend it's still business as usual.

From having to practice social distancing and getting won't to life without the outside to repeatedly washing our hands and wearing masks and seeing loved ones and friends getting sick, the Coronavirus is something none of us expected. Even our businesses are suffering. Whether you've been directly or indirectly, the outbreak affects everyone, regardless of background, ethnicity, and social status. Think outside of your situation, as you may have customers or clients who have been affected completely differently to you and your business.

This may sound strange, but social media is a great way to keep an eye on your competitors.
It gives you the chance to watch and draw inspiration from their performance. You can see what sort of content they're posting, and the way they're interacting with their followers.

Social media can also help you learn from your competitors. There has to be a good reason why your competitors are performing better than you. Learn their strategies, but make sure you don't just copy and follow them. What works best for them isn't always best for you. Instead, make their ideas, your own.

By following the following pointers, you'll leverage social media for business growth and maximize your impact.

Know Your Audience

This is always a critical piece of any kind of marketing at any time, but it's most critical during times of crisis like this. Marketing relies heavily on empathy, which in turn relies on an understanding of the people you're trying to talk to.

If you've been marketing your brand for a short time, you would possibly be tempted to skip this step. You already know your customer, right? Maybe, but does one know them in their current state? Are there additional audience opportunities that you simply haven't assessed that you could test now? It doesn't matter who you are — now is an excellent time to take a step back and re-acquaint yourself with your ideal customers.

Don't stop posting

Now is not the time for your brand to go silent. Stay connected to your followers, just like you would your own friends and family. If you can't sell products and services at the moment that's fine, focus on sharing content that aligns with your core brand values instead.

Do some research, check-in with influencers that target your customers, and do what you need to do to put yourself in your customers' shoes. Are they now dealing with working from home? Are they trying to keep kids busy now that schools are closed? Are they trying to stay fit and healthy while in quarantine?

Expect Uncertainty

No one can give you an accurate prediction of what the immediate future holds for brands and marketers. We know that this crisis will end eventually, and we know that right now, at least, there's a lot of uncertainty on a variety of fronts. As such, we can't plan as far into the future as we would have before. We need to be nimble and agile in our approaches and able to pivot to the next thing at any moment

Use social media to inform your brand story and successfully differentiate yourself from the competition.

Everyone - including your customers -- loves a good story. "Don't ever forget that every single person makes decisions supported emotion and justifies with logic,"

Remember, there is no rule book on what you should be doing and posting during a pandemic. Don't be too hard on yourself or your business, you won't be the only one that's struggling! Take some time out to consider your new messaging. Create some content. Get yourself a new schedule and away you go.