COVID-19 poses so many challenges to businesses struggling to stay afloat in these uncertain times.

For her SEJ eSummit session, Mary Davies, President of Beanstalk Internet Marketing, will share tips on how to use social media to build strong connections and long-lasting relationships with your user base and customers that will stand the test of time.

Here’s a recap of her presentation.

Connecting with people and focusing on the human element can create brand loyalty that lasts not only through the tough times but for years to come.

Here are three ways businesses can achieve this.

1. Be a Person

Talk with – Not at – Your Followers

Followers are friends, not “food.”

Remember that you’re going to connect with them as a person.

You’re neither going to gobble them up nor try and sell them stuff all of the time.

One great way to do this is to talk with – not at – your followers.

Social media is their space, not yours.

You are simply a guest and you need to be respectful of that as a brand.

This is a space where people like to get together, share pictures of their babies, look at cat videos, post what they ate for dinner, and the like.

This is not a space that people go to to be sold.

We do have ads that we’ll throw at them, but that’s not what they’re there for.

Implement a 50/50 rule: half of your content is connection-based and the other half is promotional.

To to find this balance, try…