With the holidays just around the corner, it’s time to get your marketing campaign into gear. Likely, you’ve put some thought into your campaign by this point in the year, but social media offers some excellent marketing options you may not have considered. Be sure to schedule some time between holiday gatherings and your own shopping to sketch out a plan for social media marketing. It’s a great time of year to reach out and engage prospective clients, as they’re sure to be on the lookout for great gifts!
There are a multitude of ways to reach your target audience before the joyous New Year, you just need to find the one that works best with your image. Standing out in a sea of holiday-themed marketing campaigns will take some effort. In this post, we’ll highlight some effective strategies for each of the major social networks. This way, you’ll get ideas for a well-rounded approach to holiday marketing.
Facebook offer from ID.me.
Have an upcoming holiday sale or discount? You can promote it through your business’s Facebook page, as long as you have at least 50 likes. Using a Facebook offer (seen on the right), you’ll be able to promote what is essentially a coupon into potential customers’ news feeds. You can set an offer image, description, quantity, expiration date, target audience, budget, and even a redemption link. Users will be able to claim the offer through the post in their news feed, and will subsequently receive an email with further instructions to redeem the offer.
Posting contests and sharing seasonal content are also great ways to catch attention over the holidays. Data shows that prospective customers are more active on social media at this time of the year, so sharing in the excitement is very likely to drive up your views and user engagement.
Target’s organized Pinterest boards.
For a social networking site, Pinterest catches the consumer in an advantageous position — as they’re browsing and ready to make a purchase. That’s why a holiday campaign on Pinterest is a must for any business that sells goods over services.The simpler you make the shopping process through social media, the more likely you will make a sale. This means that organization and descriptiveness are key.
Turn each of your products into a pin that links to the point of purchase. Then, organize these pins into boards based on who they’re marketed toward. In other words, your boards would have names like “The Perfect Gifts for a Handy Dad,” or “Gift Ideas for an Athletic Daughter.” Don’t be afraid to get specific or creative — people often turn to Pinterest for the trickiest people on their shopping lists.
Rich Pins are also a great for pushing sales through Pinterest. Specifically, Product Pins give you the option of including product details such as real time price, availability, and descriptions. Essentially, they turn your Pinterest boards into mini catalogs. Once users add a Product Pin to their own board, they’ll receive email alerts about price drops. Your followers will be able to compare products without ever leaving Pinterest.
Tweet by American Apparel.
These days, marketing on Twitter is all about creating a unique persona for your brand. Is your company sarcastic, edgy, or sweet? Find your niche and use it across all marketing campaigns to really make yourself stand out in a Twitter feed. A little personality will go a long way — especially over the holidays.
If you’re really looking to show off your brand’s charisma, throw together a Vine and post it to Twitter. Vines allow followers to get a behind-the-scenes view of your company and really relate to your brand. You might show off a new shipment of festive product or moments from a company holiday party. Vine allows you to express your creativity without the restriction of 140 characters. Check out how American Apparel uses Vine for things as simple as showing off a new plaid shirt (Take advice from this company — they sold $50K in a flash sale on Twitter in just one hour!).
Twitter Cards are another way to capitalize on visual marketing. This your opportunity to write a description of your site, highlighting your most important goods or services and driving traffic to your site. You’ll also include an engaging image — something that speaks for your brand and draws in the customer. Include a strong call to action and track conversions from your card to your website. Just like a regular ad, you’ll be able to target the audience most interested in your business.
General Tips
The best advice we can give for social media marketing over the holidays is to get creative! Even if you aren’t prepared to take on any or all of the strategies listed above, you should at least be sharing some festive images and messaging. Take some time to add holiday cheer to your Facebook and Twitter cover photos. You can also include #holidayhashtags in your posts to keep them relevant and join in conversations. Even small efforts like these will keep your profiles fresh and users interested.
The most important thing to remember is that the purpose of your marketing is to engage users, which will likely result in sales. Your ads and posts should be interesting, informative, and really show off your brand’s individuality. At this time of year, it shouldn’t be too difficult to come up with content that will resonate with followers.
Keeping up with an online persona is often a full time job — especially when you’re in holiday-overload. If you’re interested in leaving yours in the hands of professionals, check out our internet marketing services.
