This week we are taking a break from our Influencer Interview series to talk about things you can do during the Coronavirus Outbreak to grow your brand. For those of you who are normally traveling often and know how to keep your business running while you are on the road, you suddenly have some extra time on your hands from staying in one place instead of being on the go. Many people are spending more time at home with the outbreak, so how can you use your time wisely to keep your business on track?
With business and engagement down, more in some niches than others, there are still things you can do to support your audience and get your brand ready to come out stronger on the other side. This list of 14 things to do during the Coronavirus Outbreak for bloggers and influencers will help you come up with productive ways to use the extra time you have right now.
THINGS TO DO ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Since most bloggers and influencers have at least one social media platform they use, lets start there.
Avoid giving medical advice related to the Coronavirus unless you are an expert in the field. Instead direct your audience to the actual experts. While you do not want to downplay or completely ignore the Coronavirus outbreak, you may want to see what your audience wants from you. Do they want you to continue posting your niche content or to shift gears temporarily?
Ask yourself how you can help and support the audience who helps and supports you regularly during a time when many are staying home and not able to go about their normal daily life. This is a time to be supportive of your audience and to continue providing them with value.
#1: ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
Whether you have a big audience or a small audience, spend time engaging with them right now. Respond and catch up on your DMs. Go through and reply to comments on your post but then also leave a comment on their most recent post. Get to know your audience by surveying them in stories.
If you have some extra time right now, spend it getting to know your audience and building relationships with them. Your community is the most important aspect of your social channels. These are the people who support you year round, so give back to them even more while you have more time to do so. They won’t forget that you spent time getting to know them and showing you care when things to back to a new normal.
#2: GET AHEAD ON YOUR CONTENT CALENDAR
You know all those little things that go into prepping a post for social media? Get ahead on that now. Some influencers and content creators are choosing to post less right now or are unsure of what to post. Do you continue posting everyday things and travel posts during a time when everyday life is no longer normal and people are unable to travel?
While that choice is completely up to you, consider polling your audience. They may want your posts to be the constant in a world where things are changing so quickly. If you have an idea of something else to post during the Coronavirus outbreak, see how your audience feels about it.
With the extra time you have though, this is when you can get ahead. Plan out your posts for the future. If you are able to shoot at home, shoot some upcoming photos. Edit your photos and videos to be ready to go whether you can shoot more or not. Chances are you have a backlog of photos to go through anyways. Write out your captions and put together your hashtags. Get everything ready to go now so that it is not holding you back or taking up your time later.
#3: DO HASHTAG RESEARCH
Most influencers and content creators have a steady group of hashtags to pull from when they post. You may not have looked through those hashtags or for new hashtags in quite a while. Some of them may no longer be as popular as they once were. Some hashtags for feature pages have changed or that page is no longer active.
Spend some time going through your current hashtag list. Check the hashtags on Instagram to see if the photos that use them still match up with your type of content. If it is a hashtag for a feature page, see if that page is still active.
Once you go through your current hashtag list, take some time to look for new hashtags to use. Are there new feature pages that match your content that use a hashtag? What hashtags are others with similar content using now? Create a list separated by category to pull from later.
#4: GIVE VIDEO A TRY
Video can be intimidating when you first start out, especially if you are used to photography. Consider using your extra time now to invest in learning video. Watch videos on YouTube about shooting and editing video. Start playing around with video editing software to learn it on your own.
If you don’t have video to work with, that’s okay. Shoot and edit videos while you are at home to practice and start finding your style. Try out different settings on your camera or use your phone to capture videos. Then upload them and play around with different edits, color grading, cuts, etc.
Video as a medium is growing across social platforms, so use the extra time you have now to learn it if it is something that interests you. It is easier to learn it while you have time at home than when you need it in the moment later.
#5: TRY SOMETHING NEW
While we are talking about giving video a try, why not try something new? Try a new editing style or a new style of content. Maybe even branch out to try a new social media channel.
It is easy to get in a rut of doing the same thing every time, especially if you found something that works. That doesn’t mean you should abandon it completely. However, if you’ve been wanting to play around with your editing style or your type of content, why not use this time to do that?
Or maybe you’ve been avoiding a new social media channel but kind of want to give it a try? Get it set up and start learning about it while you have a little extra time on your hand. Tik Tok is one of the popular new social media platforms that is growing among influencers and content creators. If you aren’t sure if you should give it a try or not, check out my reasons why you should be on Tik Tok here.
#6: TRY A FUN GIVEAWAY
The big loop giveaways are NOT what I am talking about here. Those tend to do more to damage your brand over time.
Instead, come up with individual or small group giveaways you could do right now. Reach out to a few of your friends or favorites in your niche and see if they want to join you or run it on your own. Run the giveaway through a post or through your stories.
The giveaway does not have to cost you a bunch of money, and it does not have to gain you a bunch of followers. Focus instead on giving back to those who do follow you. What do you have that you can give them? It might not be a physical product. Maybe you can give them some of your knowledge through a one-on-one or you can give away a digital product you sell.
#7: FIND A FUN WAY TO COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS IN YOUR NICHE
Maybe you are not up for a giveaway but you still want to collaborate with others in your niche. Take some time to brainstorm ways to do that and start acting on them.
Reach out to friends or those you have always wanted to work with and see what they say. When you reach out, it helps to already have an idea on mind instead of asking them to come up with an idea too. What is the worst that can happen? They say no?
Consider things like sharing their profile or blog in your stories to help others find them, doing a live video together, planning a trip together for the future, creating a package of digital or physical products to sell together at a discount, etc.
THINGS TO DO ON YOUR BLOG
For all the bloggers out there or those considering starting a blog, there is always something on your blogging to do list. Now is your chance to try to catch up and check those things off of your list. If you have been putting off starting a blog, now is the time to start and get it all set up.
#8: START A BLOG
This is for you if you have had “start a blog” on your to do list for a while. Starting a blog can be overwhelming, but it does not have to be that way. Just start.
Once you get the site up and running, then you can worry about all of the other little things that come along with having a blog. If you are looking for a guide to get your started, here is a useful post about how to start a profitable blog. Whatever you do, start it on WordPress.org so that you have control over it and can monetize it easier as you grow. The rest is up to you!
#9: UPDATE OLD BLOG POSTS
This is something that is almost always on every blogger’s to do list. Yet, it somehow never seems to get done. Take the extra time you have now and set aside some time to actually do it.
Actually go through your old posts and see if anything needs to be updated. Has any of the information related to that post changed? Does it need some new pins? Can you update the post to help it rank better with SEO?
If you don’t have many posts, you can probably get through the majority of them pretty quickly. If you have quite a few, start with the posts that have the most potential to do well on Google or Pinterest. Is there a better keyword to target for that post? Would it do well on Pinterest with new pins? Get this item off of your to do list while you have some extra time.
#10: WRITE NEW BLOG POSTS
While traffic for many blogs, especially travel blogs, is down right now, that does not mean you should stop writing new content. New blog posts typically take anywhere from 3 – 6 months to really start ranking, so get some written now. Chances are you have a list of posts to pull from that you have been meaning to write anyways.
While you can write them and go ahead and post them or schedule them out at a regular interval, now is probably not the best time to promote them heavily. Yes, you can still share them on your social channels, but realize not many people may be reading them right now. Whether you choose to share them now or not, make a note to share new pins for them and share them again on your social channels once things return to more of a “normal” state.
OTHER THINGS TO DO FOR BLOGGERS & INFLUENCERS
Whether you are a blogger or influencer, there are still things to work on outside of your blog and social media platforms. These are again things that often get pushed down to the to do list in favor of things with deadlines or easier things to do and maintain. Invest time in them now so that you are ready when business returns to normal.
#11: CREATE OR UPDATE YOUR MEDIA KIT
You know the media kit you have been sending out for months without updating? Update it. Or the one you keep saying, “I’ll make it tomorrow”? Make it today.
Chances are your numbers have changed since you last updated your media kit. Maybe you worked with additional brands to add or need to update the images in your kit. Maybe you want to start all over with a new design but haven’t had the time. This is your chance.
If you have just been putting off creating a media kit, here is your chance. This is your way of selling your services to brands, so spend time creating something that looks amazing and features who you are and how you can help. Include your current numbers for your social channels and blog as well as a little bit about you and your past brand work.
#12: CREATE OR UPDATE YOUR PITCH EMAIL
When it comes to pitching brands, it might be time to update your pitch email or to actually create one. While now is not the time to pitch brands as they are hurting financially too right now, there will come a time when they will need influencers and bloggers to help them get back on their feet. You want to be ready for that.
Maybe you keep putting off writing a pitch email because you don’t know what to include. Or maybe you want to see if your pitch email is on the right track or needs a little bit of tweaking. Sign up below to get my list of 12 things you need to include in your pitch email.
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#13: GATHER A LIST OF BRANDS AND CONTACTS TO PITCH
This is often one of the hardest parts of pitching. Who do you contact? Who do you send your pitch to once it is ready? Spend some time on social media, brand websites, and LinkedIn finding contacts.
Again, now is not the time to pitch. Most brand campaigns are cancelled or put on hold right now until brands are on more stable footing. This is a good time to gather information though and craft pitch ideas to use down the road.
Think about how you can help a brand and what you bring to the table. Think about brands you use and love and want to help get back on their feet. Then start finding out anything you can about who to contact when the time comes.
#14: PREPARE A PRODUCT FOR LAUNCH
This is yet another thing that tends to stay on a to do list for way too long. If you have been putting off creating a product due to time, take the time now to create it. Get those presets ready to launch. Create that course you have planned out. Write that ebook you keep meaning to write. Get the physical product you made ready to ship and figure out the logistics.
When it comes to launching the product, now may not be the best time due to finances. Quite a few people are dealing with hours and income being cut due to the Coronavirus. People are not spending as much on things that are not “needs” right now to be careful with their income. With no definite end in sight, people are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
Even if now is not the best time for a launch, take time to put everything together now. Figure out your launch strategy. Decide what platform to use. Prepare the actual product, physical or digital. Learn about what has worked or has not worked for others. Then, when the time comes, you and your product will be ready to go.
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No one saw something like this coming, but now that it is here, use the time you have wisely. Just because traffic, income, and/or campaigns are down now, do not let yourself get discouraged and give up.
If you need some down time to recover from a hectic schedule, take it. Then use this list for ideas and get to work on that never-ending to do list.
Share in the comments what you are working on to grow your brand during the Coronavirus outbreak. What things seem to always be on your to do list?
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