While you may be closing your business for the holidays, it might be wise not to shut down your online activities because social media is still very much ‘alive and kicking’ during the festive season.
As people become more relaxed and have more time to engage so activity becomes more apparent online. People spend their time on social media as well as surfing the internet to do their Christmas shopping, spend their year-end bonuses and generally take in more information. In fact, the online market becomes more captive than ever before.
Even Google is advertising to “try Google AdWords this Christmas” because you’ll “reach people as they’re searching for things”.
Keep in mind that social media never sleeps or takes a holiday, which means you can be sure that your competitors have already planned their online holiday campaign. Social media is an appealing and cost effective tool to keeping your brand ‘alive and kicking’ in the minds of your market.
Here are 10 tips to help keep your brand social this holiday season:
- Now more than ever hook up with hootsuite.com. This social media management tool is simple to use and will quite literally manage your social media while you’re on holiday. All it takes is a well-planned online campaign and some input before you leave, and Hootsuite will do the rest.
- Employ the services of an expert writer to create engaging content that will grab the attention of your readers and hold their interest.
- Ensure that your social media content is aligned with your 2015 content marketing strategy – remember you want to impress online visitors with your overall brand plus your products and/or services and letting them know that you’re thinking ahead puts you ahead of the game. For example, don’t give them content about the past year; rather give them something to look forward to in the New Year.
- Don’t run specials if there isn’t anyone to answer the phone. However, you can mention great “New Year specials” or “Opening day discounts” when you reopen for business and this is an effective way to advertise your closing and opening dates.
- Remember that while people become more attentive to content posted online during the holidays, so other brands become more aggressive in their online marketing campaigns. Get smart with your content and at the same time keep it simple – here again it may be wise to employ content marketing experts to help you create an effective campaign that will work for your brand while you’re away from the business.
- Post images and videos regarding your business – products, testimonials, how to tips from your experts etc – using Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube. People on social media love viewing and sharing visual content so make sure these are linked to your other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Again, just as long as you provide the content, Hootsuite can do this for you.
- Run a giveaway during the holidays with the winner announcement to take place only once people are back in the swing of things again.
- Give people a break on Christmas Day and simply post a friendly festive greeting.
- Make use of Google AdWords and drive people to your website – do ensure you have a decent website for them to visit including a page of content promising something special in the New Year like “2015 opening discounts” or “free New Year consultations” etc.
- Produce at least 2 – 4 blog articles and make them holiday relevant. For example, “10 tips to shopping smartly this Christmas” or “5 of the most important safety rules to follow while on holiday” etc. Schedule your blogs on Hootsuite to be uploaded at specific times and ensure the links get posted to your other social media platforms, too.
Don’t let your competitors swoop in on your business during the holiday season! We can ensure your brand is working for you online while you’re taking a break. Call us on , email [email protected] or visit www.10plusmedia.co.za for all your content marketing requirements.
In a nutshell, shutting up shop does not mean you should take down your window display. Plan for a clever online content marketing campaign and let the platforms work for you while you relax. Happy holidays!
