SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND BRAND COMMUNICATION DURING COVID-19 CRISIS IN INDIA

Social media has created a huge impact on marketing strategies of almost all the industries worldwide. The deeper penetration of internet coupled with affordable smart phones has leveled up the entire process of reaching the existing and prospective customers. During the pandemic (after lockdown was imposed), there has been great surge in consumption of social media. So social media became the appropriate platform for projection of branding activities and marketing techniques as through social media platforms they are easy to understand, quickly grasped, widely shared and can also be measured. Many brands used their old advertisements to which the audiences could connect due to nostalgia. The fact that most of the communication taking place through these platforms is real-time and is mostly consumer-driven, helps engaging more people and allows room for innovation in content creation. Online presence of brands across social media platforms has opened new horizons of opportunities for brands to combat some effects of the pandemic and infodemic with innovative strategies. User-generated content, influencer-marketing are some of the strategies that have been well-received by the netizens. However, the key to drive a successful social media strategy is seen to be continual responses to the existing and potential customers and prepare for future while learning from present situation. This helped in dealing with the pandemic and ‘infodemic. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, Whats App, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest and like, provide explicit prospects for brand management and user-engagement. This study explores the potential of social media for brand communications during the covid-19 crisis in India.