Socials in the time of coronavirus

At the time of writing, we are 11 weeks into working from home. As I’ve settled the most I can into a routine where nothing is normal, I decided to unpack what I’ve come to learn about being a brand’s social media professional in a time of crisis.

When coronavirus first triggered a lockdown-of-sorts in Sydney, I found myself juggling not just a (self-imposed) pressure to perform in my role, but also personal inertia: I have to operate in the midst of both a global health pandemic and a domestic economic crisis where finding a sense of purpose feels so distant. Day in and day out at our morning check-ins I would cite my only blocker as “existential despair” (funny in a yikes kind of way).

Within that was a point of tension: I still had a job. A job that requires me to be public-facing and — more than that — public-understanding; a relationship-builder as much as a conversation-starter. Knowing that this very public was struggling with their own un/employment and livelihood added an initial layer of unease to how I navigated the social media presence of the company I work for.

How do you navigate socials during a pandemic — one that has completely overturned the way we do things, and exposed the cracks in our systems?

There are always differences between how individuals and brands use social media. It’s one thing to take to your personal Facebook account and rant about confusing government guidelines or join your local COVID-19 mutual aid group. But how do you engage, meaningfully, as a brand when your customers are concerned with little more than the health and safety of them and their communities?

I grappled with that very question for my first few weeks working from home. I shut up completely online. I was frozen. I didn’t know what we could / would / should say, I didn’t want to even try to say anything for fear it would be wrong or insensitive.

I brought my dilemma to the team: nothing I had up my sleeve before coronavirus hit made sense to share, and I didn’t know what would. From there, we had a number of big conversations about our purpose, our vision, our world, and what we were going to do.

So much of our socials presence is about walking the walk, not just talking the talk; it’s about backing up talk with action, about doing something. Some of our pre-COVID-19 plans weren’t going to work in this new climate, so we reconfigured. We thought about how Future Super as a business, as a super fund, and as an employer could take meaningful actions that would enrich the stories we share on our social media. This reconfiguration changed how we thought about our content and how we talk to our audiences.

Content: Even after deciding we didn’t need to be and shouldn’t be completely silent, we still pulled back. My thinking?

• Social media feeds didn’t need more saturation of alarmist content
• As a super fund that exists to build a future free from climate change and inequality we have a lane. Giving PSAs regarding public health and disease prevention behaviours is not it.

Having conversations: Earlier this year, our copywriter took us on a journey of teaching a brand to talk. In those sessions, we explored flexing tone on a spectrum: asking ourselves when a conversation requires us to say less versus say more, or speak like a super fund versus speak like a human. What became clear as coronavirus impacted people’s jobs, livelihoods and superannuation was that while people needed us as a superannuation fund, they also needed the consolation and reassurance of speaking to a brand that gets it.

Part of ‘getting it’ means having the tough conversations. As someone on the frontlines of social media, it means I have to know when to take responsibility for shortcomings that are on us, but also when to hold my ground when people get unnecessarily angry. It’s been a gnarly time, and striking that delicate balance can be so difficult—and only more so in times of crisis, when your customers are distressed and anxious for answers.

And so we moved along the spectrum from ‘super fund’ closer toward ‘human’.

A crisis emerging doesn’t mean you throw strategy out the window, not even for media as reactive and dynamic as socials. In fact, we did the opposite. We tightened and polished out strategy as the crisis deepened and its social impacts complexified. We used our strategy as a north star to guide us as we explored new territories of what actions we could take and what we could speak on.

Lessons will continue to be learnt as our time in isolation, in social distance, and in keeping COVID-19 at bay goes on. New areas for content exploration and execution will arise, and brands will continue to fuck up on socials. That’s okay. Everyone does. May we, though, be ones to learn from that, constantly evolve, and never stop being curious.

After all, what is important to socials in times of crisis is really the same as what is always important: know your people, speak to them. Tell meaningful stories with integrity. Always back your statements with action. Know your lane, and know when to stay in it. Own your truth.