Mindy Lepp from LEPPDESIGN gives stats on the current state of marketing for social media and direct mail in the midst of COVID-19 and talks about how you can utilize this time to engage your audience through those avenues of marketing.

1. Mindy Lepp
May 6, 2020
MARKETING IN THE COVID ERA
Social Media and Direct Mail Strategies

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SOCIAL MEDIA

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Why Social Media now?
• Number of people using the platforms are up (Facebook was up 37%)
• The amount of posts are down by 25%

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SOCIAL MEDIA
What should your goals be for Social Media?
This is the time to engage, engage, engage with your current audience and
grow your brand awareness. Do not focus too much on conversions right
now. Focus on relationships so that you are positioned at the top of their
minds when life gets “back to normal”.

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SOCIAL MEDIA
What Should You be Posting on
Social Media Right Now and
Coming out of COVID-19?

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Steps you are taking to
fight COVID-19
(Wearing masks, gloves,
increased sanitation, etc)

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Ways you have pivoted
to offer services
virtually

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Posts that talk about
how you are helping
the community

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Posts that thank
essential workers

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Positive and
encouraging messages

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Posts featuring other
local businesses

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Posts that respectfully
make people smile in
the midst of a
stressful and
challenging time

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Be cautious of posting the following on Social Media right now
• “We’re here for you” and similar phrases that may come off as insincere
• Posts making light of the seriousness of the virus itself
• Anything political
• Complaining posts
• Posts showing people in close proximity to each other

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SOCIAL MEDIA
What times should you post? (Data from Mid-April)
BEFORE
COVID-19
Wed.
11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Wed. at 11 a.m.
and Fri.
10 a.m.–11 a.m.
Wed. and Fri.
at 9 a.m.
Wed. 8–10 a.m.
and noon,
Thu. at 9 a.m.
and 1–2 p.m., and
Fri. at 9 a.m.
NOW
Mon., Wed. and Fri.
10–11 a.m
Mon., Tue. and Fri.
at 11 a.m. and
Tue. at 2 p.m.
Fri. 7–9 a.m
Wed. at 3 p.m,
Thu. 9–10 a.m. and
Fri. 11 a.m.-noon

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SOCIAL MEDIA
• As a result of COVID-19, 69% of brands expect they will decrease Ad spend in 2020, which means your Ads
will have better exposure
• The Coronavirus has had a significant impact on pre-booked advertising campaigns. 34% of advertisers claim
they have canceled a campaign altogether (pre-launch), and 45% have stopped or pulled a campaign mid-
flight. 38% have paused all new advertising efforts until later in the year. Overall, 89% have taken some action
with their ad budgets. Again, this means your Ads will have more exposure.
• Historically, cost per click (CPC) is lowest right after the new year. For instance, CPC after the new year was
$.11. February of this year, CPC was at $.13, but during the last week of March, it dropped down to $.09 CPC.
• Facebook is offering $100 million dollars in cash grants and ad credits to companies because of COVID-19.
https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants.
Why post Social Media Ads now and through the remainder of 2020?

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DIRECT MAIL

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DIRECT MAIL
• As a result of COVID-19, mail has been down from 20%-30%, which means that your mail piece will stand out
• Your mailings will get scanned or read by 75% of the households included in your campaign
• 70% of U.S. citizens consider postcard mailings more personal than online marketing methods
• On average direct mail stays in the house for 17 days
• You may start seeing reduced postage rates or promotions offered by the USPS to get small businesses to send
more mail because the USPS is really struggling right now
Why Direct Mail now?

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DIRECT MAIL
• Your goal in sending a mailer should be to extend and/or continue your
brand awareness
• Focus on staying in front of your audience
Goals and ideas for mailers

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DIRECT MAIL
Pardon Our Dust Mailer
Send this mailer to neighbors of the
house you are working on. It’s more
direct and permanent than just having
a yard sign in your client’s lot. You
could also piggy-back this mailer with a
“Thank you for your patience” mailer
when the job is complete.

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DIRECT MAIL
Postcard Mailer
This postcard simply tells
who you are and what
you do in order to
continue your brand
awareness during this
down time.

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DIRECT MAIL
EDDM Mailer
EDDM stands for “Every
Door Direct Mail”. Utilize
this USPS option to send
mailings out to your exact
target neighborhood zip
codes. Your mail piece can
vary in size, but a large
piece will stand out from
the rest.

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SOURCES
• https://www.rivaliq.com/blog/coronavirus-on-social-media-engagement-for-brands/
• https://www.business2community.com/crisis-management/why-was-direct-mail-not-part-of-the-
initial-covid-19-public-health-campaign-02299012
• https://www.primoprint.com/blog/eddm-and-direct-mail-for-small-businesses-during-the-covid-19/
• https://www.targetmarketingmag.com/post/covid-19s-effect-direct-mail-marketing-usps/
• https://influencermarketinghub.com/coronavirus-marketing-ad-spend-report/
• https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/26/report-whatsapp-has-seen-a-40-increase-in-usage-due-to-
covid-19-pandemic/
• https://later.com/blog/social-media-covid-19/
• https://sproutsocial.com/insights/covid19-social-media-changes/

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CLOSING
Closing thoughts and takeaways
• Your audience has increased
• Your competition has decreased
• Truly connect with people (do not focus on the sale)
• Numbers and stats are ever changing
• What/When to post on social media will change and evolve