Posting When the Nation is in Crisis

What's Happening

Our United States Capitol was attacked on Wednesday by a mob of Trump supporters who broke through police barricades and stormed the building, attempting to disrupt the Electoral College vote to formalize the election of Joe Biden as President. Many of the events that unfolded that day were unprecedented, including President Trump being temporarily banned from Facebook and Twitter.

Social media feeds over the past several days have been a maelstrom of varying opinions, memes, heartbreak, accusations, and then there are those who keep on posting as usual. 

Use it for Your Business

Significant cultural events like what occurred this week may have you wondering: What should I post? Should I recognize these events are happening? Should I pause my posting or continue as normal?

I can’t give you a blanket answer for all accounts but I can give you some questions to ponder that can help you decide your course of action:

1. Who is your customer?

Knowing your audience is crucial in so many ways in marketing but especially when it comes to your messaging. Do you market to hustlers and go-getters, or feelers and the hyper-sensitive? The hustlers may want you to continue posting great content and not miss out. Those who are more sensitive will be busy processing the events and will need sometime before they will read and act upon your messages. Pausing your posting or providing relevant resources for them would be wise in this case.

When in doubt, observe what your customers are posting to get a pulse on how they are feeling. If they aren’t recognizing the situation, maybe they aren’t concerned and you can proceed as normal. If they are posting about their heartbreak, you may want to pause your social posting or provide them with some relevant resources.

2. Can I help my customers during this crisis?

Would my followers benefit from some insight I could provide to the situation? If you provide project management software, for example, you may want to inform your customers how to adjust deadlines if their employees need some mental health time. If you can’t think of a relevant topic to the situation, you may not need to address it at all.

3. Is the content I plan to post insensitive to the situation?

If you were planning to share a blog post about pushing through boundaries to get what you want, I’d hold off on that one for now. However, if you have a sale on your handmade soaps, I don’t see how that could offend.

Relevancy Rating

Just because it's new doesn't mean it's worth your time: Is evaluating your social media posts in a crisis worth the time investment for your business? 

YES!: I give it 3 out of 5 thumbs up.

A 3 Rating Means: You have a 50/50 chance of this trend making a difference. Don’t prioritize it over mission-critical strategies, but it could be worth testing.

Overall for most businesses, continuing to post as planned isn’t going to hurt your social growth. However, it’s a good idea to pause for a moment and make sure your planned posts won’t offend or appear insensitive to the situation. 

Social media is constantly changing. Sign up for This Week in Social Media Marketing to stay informed of the trends and decide whether it’s worth your time to try them.