Do brands need to communicate in times of war? Absolutely! If you have been silent until now, now is the time to start talking. Social media is an affordable channel for communication with consumers that every business should use. Galina Perederiy, SMM Lead at WARTO Communications Agency, told how brands can effectively use SMM in wartime in her lecture for the Creative Practice Marathon. Below is a brief summary of the lecture.
Where to start and what to talk about?
1. A clear brand position on the war in Ukraine. Make it as clear as possible: you support Ukraine, call a spade a spade, that there is a war in Ukraine, not a “conflict” or “special operation”, and that Russia is the aggressor country.
2. Express support: to readers, consumers, Ukraine as a whole, and our Armed Forces.
3. Share useful information: where to find help, where to hide, verified contacts of volunteers
4. Share your plans for the time of war: whether you are working, whether you cannot work, if you are working, how you accept payments, whether all products are available, whether delivery is available
What kind of content can it be?
1. News content: because we are all looking for news, tracking events more than ever before.
2. Humorous content: it cheers up readers. In addition, mocking the enemy depresses the enemy himself and adds moral strength in the fight against him.
We keep the tone-of-voice, but we add relevance and take into account the context of the situation at the front: there are days when humorous content can be clearly perceived as mockery, and your audience needs support, not jokes, at this moment.
Where to publish on behalf of the brand?
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram. Also TikTok – this platform has become even more popular among the audience and businesses during the war.
How to communicate?
Obviously, in Ukrainian. This is determined by both law and common sense.
Talk to the audience honestly and openly, write frankly, write about the state of the brand. It’s okay to ask for help now. Now more than ever, we need to be tolerant of each other, to remain united.
What should you write about?
About yourself: about the people who work, about what you are actually doing now.
About volunteers, about the Armed Forces, terrorism and Ukraine – those who help defend the country.
Don’t forget about the three pillars of SMM!
1. Content: no matter what, SMM specialists should provide cool, high-quality content, high-quality visuals, text without errors.
2. Moderation: ban those who destabilize the situation, ban bots. We do not pay attention to such users, now we do not need to spend time on them to prove or convince them – just ban them and that’s it.
3. Targeting: each post needs to be targeted, depending on the brand strategy, it can be targeting your subscribers, Ukraine as a whole, or even a foreign audience. Targeting is necessary and required now.
