“Social distancing” is the phrase du jour, but Jenna Gross of Moving Targets explains why it’s imperative during these times for clubs to remain engaged on social media.
With the COVID-19 pandemic effectively forcing the majority of the American populace to shutter its doors and stay sheltered at home, maintaining communication with loved ones remotely has been a harped-on point.
Gentlemen’s clubs, that goes for you, too.
With clubs nationwide shutdown as part of preventative measures, Jenna Gross of Moving Targets—a company that tracks, analyzes social media data and works with clients on bolstering their social media presence—says it’s critical for clubs to keep their finger on their Facebook pulse.
“This is so tough,” says Gross, who has delivered sage social media advice at previous Expos. “For clubs, it’s important to keep communication with customers and staff because you don’t want to ghost them. It’s like a relationship, you build up this relationship with your fans whether it be Facebook, Instagram and just because clubs are closed and it’s a terrible situation, you don’t want to abandon that relationship with your customers.”
With the well content seemingly running dry due to lack of ongoing events and social participation, Gross reassures clubs there is plenty to post about.
“It could be throwback pictures, pictures of girls, memes, upcoming events—something over the summer—or set up your events for the year,” she says, adding certain holidays are surefire club events, like a Christmas party.
“Now is the time clubs have to map out the rest of the year,” Gross continues. “(Upcoming event posts) show up on people’s feeds and are still relevant content to your fans because they’ll see it. And you’re keeping your name in front of them. If any entertainers are posting content and they’re OK with it, you can share that on club pages. Anything to keep communicating in any way to remain relevant.”
Sale specials are also something to possibly promote as a means of regaining some lost revenue—be it VIP passes, memberships, or reduced-cover packages.
Idle time like this, while not ideal, does present an opportunity for clubs to take a big-picture look at operations as a whole—not just social media.
“It’s like a relationship, you build up this relationship with your fans whether it be Facebook, Instagram and just because clubs are closed and it’s a terrible situation, you don’t want to abandon that relationship with your customers.”
— Jenna Gross
“Reevaluate everything; operations, any marketing done in the past six months and correlate that to sales, what worked, what didn’t work?” says Gross. “I know everyone gets busy and when the clubs open again, they want to come back strong. Now is the time clubs can evaluate what’s going on, what’s happened in the past and do it better.
“I know sometimes decisions are made emotionally, you think something went well in the moment, but look back at the numbers and see what that looks like,” advises Gross. “Daily specials, happy hours, are those numbers translating to sales? If so, great. If not? It’s time to adjust, because you don’t want to be giving away discounts for no reason. This is a good time for evaluating business as a whole. That way, when things do ramp up, you’re better off than you were going into this.”
For more information on Moving Targets, visit movingtargets.com.
