The novel coronavirus has filled us with new digital vocabulary and has given us a fresh perspective of our digitally dominated lives. The “joy of missing out” has been with me for some time because I genuinely relish being focused on who I am with, and what I am doing in my offline life. Sometimes I feel a twinge of not giving enough of myself online, but it’s silenced when I consider how many hours I dedicate to social media for clients.

During the lockdown, many brands enjoyed a significant surge in engagement. A blog post from Facebook in March, cited a 50% increase in messaging in the hardest-hit countries, and in Italy, group-calling increased by over 1,000%. Today, whether it’s due to Zoom fatigue, wanting to get outside and meet friends and family, there has been a sudden and dramatic drop in online engagement for brands. More importantly, many users no longer feel that finger-twitching sensation, known as the fear of missing out #FOMO.

Should brands disengage? No, because getting back into the game becomes that much harder. However, dialling it back a bit is warranted and is also a great time to take stock of your brand’s digital footprints. For many well-established brands, this may mean taking inventory and cleaning up your digital story. Purging ala Marie Kondo is probably not a good idea. Still, if old content is not relevant to your brand image and values, especially on easily consultable feeds like Instagram, a cleanup should generate a sensation of joy similar to when you purge your closet or garage.

  • Take a step back and look at the big picture. Is your digital strategy aligned with company objectives? How are you planning to weather the recession?
  • Assess your digital heritage: This is a fantastic time to look through the platforms which were useful a few years ago and consequently abandoned to focus on the next best thing.
    • Is there an opportunity to revive that old Pinterest account? A Twitter account sadly abandoned in 2016?
    • How about a refresh and a pinned post to redirect users to where you are most active?
    • With minimum effort, could your brand presence be tweaked and updated to reflect the brand’s image today?
  • Are you up on the next best thing? Early adoption can in and of itself be a plus to positioning your brand.
    • It may be adding a new layer depth or a more suitable platform for your communication.
    • It may also just mean leveraging better what you are already posting today.
    • New tools and functions are being added at a whirlwind pace and can be extremely useful.
    • Third-party apps can seriously improve the quality of your content.
  • Is your brand ready to compete for digital airtime this fall? Now is the time to get active, generate new ideas and get planning.