Have you been spending a boat-load of time online lately? Maybe you’ve been finding some amazing new artists to follow or some neat, inspiring things?
Seeing how much I’ve been on my phone and computer got me to wondering exactly how much the quarantine is changing the amount of time we spend on social media. I’ve been curious about it so when I found a few numbers I wanted to share them with you.
As it turns out, Facebook and Instagram have seen a 40% increase in usage due to Covid-19, with views for Instagram Live and Facebook Live doubling in one week (report by Kantar).
Story views have increased 21% the week ending 3/21 over the previous week. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So videos are getting a lot of play right now. What this means to you, as someone who wants to sell their work, is that it might be a good time to consider using videos if you're looking to get eyes on your work. ⠀⠀
Your followers are spending more time online, too. A lot more. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And with all the rapid changes that are happening, on a day-to-day basis, I know it’s easy to feel paralyzed and unsure about what to talk about when you think about posting online. So showing up on social media, much less video, may give you pause. I totally get it.
If you’re like me, I know showing up on social media works best when I’m sensitive to the current world situation, and when I communicate in a way that doesn't dismiss EVERYTHING that's going on around us right now. It's not business as usual. For everyone, things ARE changing at a rapid pace.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Even with this being the case, as a professional, you still need to show up online and share what you’re working on so you can keep those connections alive within your community. Stopping your outreach and promotions around what you make and your offers isn't going to help you or your audience. You may need to approach what you share with more sensitivity and awareness, though.
Still feel like you’re in a pickle?
Can you think about what your audience needs and would enjoy most right now? Can you think about what excites you with your work and the things you’re doing right now? When you hit on something that feels good to share and like you’re doing it from a positive place, can you then try sharing it in a video?
You can go live on both Instagram and Facebook. You can pre-record a video and upload it to your social media platforms. It doesn’t have to be perfect because right now, the world is looking for genuine connection and the stats are showing that they’re looking for it in the form of videos right now.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This week I did a live video on Instagram and it was imperfect. And, I’ve got a live video scheduled for Friday in the Open Studios Group on Facebook. It’s likely to be imperfect, too. It's okay though because I’m willing to give it a try. I hope you will test it out, too and see if doing videos online are a fit for what you share. Are you game to give it a try this week? I'm cheering you on. Let me know in the comments if you think it'd be fun.
Cheers to a new age of showing up socially,
Kate