Social Media has been our go-to pastime for a while now but more so during this pandemic. Hours upon hours of mindless scrolling, sharing our life in quarantine, and interacting with people – even the ones we haven’t spoken to in a while, has been what life has become for the mass majority.

Before the pandemic, people said that social media was turning us into anti-social individuals who only ever interact on-screen but the circumstance we’re all in has changed that. More than ever, social media has become a great tool for keeping tabs with our friends and family and what used to be mindless scrolling, has turned into a more genuine, interactive experience simply because we’re aware that most people have nothing else to do – meaning we’re sure that real people are on the other side of a post.

Since people started to self-isolate, our social interactions become limited to those whom we can reach through a phone call, a text message, social media posts, and other platforms like Zoom. People have started to post more updates on their life in quarantine and engaging with these has become so easy since most of us are doing the same thing. Why is that? Why now?

The answer lies in one word: CONNECTION.

Now more than ever, people crave connection. We’re all stuck in our bubbles, with nothing else to do but stay safe and survive through this – and a huge part of survival is creating connections that keep us accountable for various things like sanity, health, and even productivity at times.

What does this mean for businesses? It means that now is not the time to give ridiculous discounts on offers to build a website for only $300 when it normally costs $3,000. Now is not the time to sell “how-to” guides on how your business can defeat Covid-19. And now is not the time to capitalise on fear because no amount of money in the world can ever get back the lives that are lost because of this virus.

This is a plea for businesses to start interacting with people – not consumers. People who are filled with anxiety about what the future holds or if there will even be a future to see, people who have to self-isolate far from their loved ones because they’re front liners, and people who are taking it one day at a time, craving for a deeper connection in a time where social media platforms are the only place they can “go” to.

Social media platforms are an avenue of advertising, yes. That’s how they remain free for the public. It’s funded by the advertising space businesses buy – but this doesn’t mean that your business is only there to interact with customers, consumers, and an audience. They are, first and foremost, people. People who need to be connected to, people who need interaction, people who need to bond with others, and people who are doing their best to keep it together.

Social media has been the main thing that brings people together these days. And after all of this blows over, social media might even be all we have. People are more likely to interact less physically from now on because of scepticism, fear, and trauma caused by the pandemic, so the best thing that your business can do right now is treat people as people.

You can do this by putting a face on your brand. People need to see someone they can relate with and these days, all you’ll get are clicks on the “Close Ad” button if the ads you have don’t have people in them. We can say this for certain because in a recent Facebook ad that we’ve done, we chose an image with a person in it. Not only is it the only Facebook post from that client’s account that didn’t receive any negative reactions, but it also created a space where people willingly chose to positively engage and interact with the company. By putting a person in the visual, we humanised the brand, making the tone friendlier and more approachable. Moreover, people got to empathise with the person, who’s an essential worker, and we believe that the world is kinder to these used-to-be unseen heroes.

When you become more human when you advertise, you’ll find that more people will start to engage with you because of the need for a sense of connection. Moreover, social media is one of the few platforms where your audience can respond to your ads directly. For example, it can be a space for people to express their gratitude to the hard-working individuals who keep our country going during these unprecedented times. This goes to show that people will, and are willing to, connect to brands when you have a person that serves as a vessel for connection.

You’re allowed to change your brand personality – especially right now. Be human and speak to humans because at the end of the day, behind any and all advertising are humans who think, feel, conceptualise, write, design, and create. This pandemic is presenting a perfect opportunity to motivate, inspire, and connect with others beyond the surface. People will remember how you make them feel – not the products and services you sell them. Perhaps even speak to your team about being the face and voice of your brand under these circumstances. They might even already be doing this on their social media – trying to uplift people in their close circles, bringing hope into people’s lives, and reassuring their loved ones that we can all get through this together. Use the very capable people in your team to speak to fellow human beings and see how the engagement in your ads changes.