​People handle challenges in different ways and this pandemic is no exception. While your business may target a particular demographic, it's likely this demographic has split since COVID-19. You now have people who while they may fall into the same age group, income bracket, gender, geographical region or other similar characteristics, their reaction to the coronavirus may differ greatly. As things begin to open up, it's essential that you understand the personalities you're dealing with and how best to market to them.

​Have you been hesitant to pay Facebook for your content to appear in your audience’s streams? Maybe you still remember the days when you could get good reach through just normal, consistent posting.
 
Those days are long gone.
 
If you want your audience to see you--and you really need that especially now--then you're going to have to “pay to play.”
 
But just handing over the money to Facebook won't bring you the traffic and sales you want. You need to learn how to write effective social media ads. And during the pandemic, the most effective content has changed a little. Here's what you need to know in order to create ads that drive sales while most businesses are shut down.

​Are you still marketing your business in the same way you were prior to the virus? I'm not asking about the content you post or what's in your ads. What marketing channels are you using?
 
If your business is still open, and you want it to remain so, you may need to change your marketing channels. Or at least reassess them. The marketing channels that are most effective for you now might not have worked a few weeks ago and vice versa.  
 
It’s time to take a closer look as to whether your audience is still attuned to the same things they were in February. It’s likely their lives have changed drastically and that may have altered where they are and what they’re paying attention to.
 

​About a week ago the people in my county received a very different type of emergency communication. I'm in a popular hurricane area so those who signed up for emergency text messages are no stranger to them. However, even when we were evacuated due to Hurricane Irma we didn't receive anything like this.
 
The first line of the text message was “be kind.” That took me aback and caused me to laugh a little. Be kind sounded a little like what our parents might’ve said to us as we were going off to kindergarten or--more appropriately--middle school.
 
Most of us probably think of ourselves as nice people. Being told to be kind seemed like a no-brainer. But being kind is more than just being nice.

​If you have had time to look in your email inbox recently, it's likely cluttered with messages from big brands telling you what they’re doing as we're facing the global pandemic of COVID-19. The point behind these communications is to quell fear and reassure people that it’s safe to patronize these businesses.