Be a Savvy Christmas Marketer

How can you stand out over the Christmas period?

Every year, Christmas seems to come out of nowhere! All of a sudden, we are met with a flurry of tempting shopping deals and Christmas advertisements left, right and centre.

So here are some tips to turn you into a savvy social marketer over the Christmas period.

Get your social media Christmas organised

Before diving straight in, it would be beneficial to devise a clear plan of the content you will be posting over the Christmas period and to which social networks.

A content calendar will help you lay out all the posts you want to share over the coming weeks. This will ensure you are not rushing around in the middle of your peak season trying to create content, or end up sharing all your content on Christmas Eve due to not making time beforehand.

Remember, it is never too early to start planning and creating your content.

 Add festive cheer to your pages

Effective social media usage can be as simple as making sure your accounts look the part. Take time to update your cover photos and profile images to reflect the festive period. This will help get your followers in the Christmas spirit and excited about your brand.

 Bring out the visuals

Much of the Christmas spirit is represented by red and green festive decorations and magical images of a winter wonderland. Add images to your Social Media posts that reflect this, and tie in with the content you’re posting over the period.

Remember: All images, even Christmas ones, should be optimised for the individual platform for optimal performance.

 Embrace stories and video

Social networks such as Facebook and Instagram have the story feature similar to Snapchat, which allow you to upload images and short videos. This limited view makes the content appear very current and lets followers immerse themselves in news and content in (almost) real time.

You can use this feature to give your followers a preview of festive decorations, special dishes being developed for Christmas menus or even products released specifically for Christmas. Doing this will help consumers feel included in the company as well as building anticipation for things to come.

 Share a heartwarming story

Tell a heartwarming story that will get readers into the spirit, and encourage them to join the experience.

You can story-tell via a blog, an interview feature, a series of images or even a brief caption or video. The key is brand cohesion and a structure that invites your audience in.

 Run a poll

Use the Poll feature on your Facebook Newsfeed with the option to add GIFs and images. Polls can be fun and festive, but also lend practical, valuable results. Compare two products against each-other or ask your followers for their opinion on something in the works!

Engage with your followers

If you’re already engaging with your followers and fans, bring some holiday cheer into the mix. A little personalisation goes a long way. If you’re not actively engaging on social media, there’s no better time to start!

 Host a photograph competition

Nothing says ‘Merry Christmas’ like a little friendly competition! There are several ways you can twist this; try something that involves using one of your products or something involved with your niche market. Post branded images on Instagram and circulate throughout the length of the competition. The winner can get a prize ranging from a free product or service to recognition on your blog!

Create a business themed video

Pick a theme and relate it back to your brand. Be smart here by utilising topics that come into play around this time of year, such as thankfulness, joy and giving. Add subtitles to reach a wider audience.

 Christmas office hours 

Social media has become the first point of call for people to find out information about businesses, such as current offers, developments and, most importantly, opening times. The Christmas period brings a change from the norm, with many businesses having different opening and closing times during the holiday season.

Make sure that you not only display your Christmas opening times clearly on your profile’s ‘About’ pages, but due to limited space in the Twitter and Instagram bios, it may be worth changing the links to lead to a specific blog post showing the change of hours.

 Schedule content

Everyone wants a little time off over Christmas, even if it is just for the day: this includes those who run social media accounts. This is where scheduling content comes in handy. There are apps such as Hootsuite and Buffer that allow you to schedule posts in advance, for free!

Scheduling a few posts a week will keep the accounts active.

 Share and engage 

Nothing says you are doing a great job on social media like your following engaging with your content and even creating their own user-generated content. For example, if you are an owner of a small business, such as a clothes shop, a photo of a customer wearing their Christmas party outfit bought from your shop will potentially send others your way. Make sure your user handle (your @name) and perhaps a personalised hashtag are easily found both online and offline, this will make it easier for you to track mentions and enable you to share the posts.

 Share the Joy of Christmas

Social media is meant to be social, so use the holiday season to give your posts some festive spin. You can start by creating posts that ask people what’s their most memorable Christmas moment, favorite holiday food, best part of Christmas: opening presents, dinner or the post lunch feeling?

The most wonderful time of the year is also a wonderful time to take advantage of growth opportunities on social media.

Although implementing every idea on social media isn’t realistic, you could see great results from a well-planned Christmas campaign with content that suits each platform.

If you keep these examples in mind, you’ll be on your way towards spreading holiday cheer for your business and your customers in no time!

Merry Christmas from Coconut Box

www.coconut-box.co.uk