The holiday season is upon us! It's just that last bit of every year, where it seems physically painful to work, your surroundings are all festive and bright, and along with the festivals, the promise of the new year brings the holiday cheer to the table. There are more delicious cakes to have, gifts to give and receive and photos to click on. Another thing that has gone into overdrive this holiday season for quite some time now is social media. A lot of people use their social media accounts as logs for all that they do in a day, and with increased activities and socialising, during this time of the year, the social media accounts also go into overdrive.
However, it isn't random that this type of content is so important and popular. You might be asking why, then, is it so important to curate your posts and interactions a certain way? Here's why.
Holiday Content Is Easy To Create
Original material can be time-consuming and expensive to produce, but celebratory content is simple to produce if you have the correct tools. The first thing you'll need is a dependable, well-designed content schedule, so you know what to post and when, whether you're using Facebook, Instagram, or another social media platform. There are a lot of websites that provide this type of information, as well as a variety of social tools. You may also do research via social media and blogs. Some applications you can use are Canva, Pixlr, PromoRepublic and PicMonkey. All of these platforms may assist you in creating visually appealing content without the requirement for a graphic designer.
Celebrations are an excellent way to engage your social media audience. You'll receive the interaction you want as long as you keep your audience in mind and approach social media marketing with your heart.
Emotions Are Running High During This Time
Of course, there are lots of other holidays that make people joyful, and regardless of their religious beliefs, people are happiest on Christmas, with Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve close behind. Holiday posts help to develop a sense of community as well. Sure, you could use this moment to provide a great bargain to your audience ( as people tend to spend more money during the holidays), but a well-crafted Christmas article may make them feel like they are a part of something greater. Especially if your message inspires people to give back to the community, share for larger benefits, or remind them of what's truly essential during the holidays. Interactive articles are also beneficial in terms of boosting involvement and community.
Holiday Posts Are Relevant And Timely
Making sure the content you create and publish is contextual is a huge task, given the fact that there is an alarming speed at which it needs to be released in order to maintain relevance and grab the attention of your audience. It is also important to post-holiday messages in a timely fashion, which is neither too early nor too late. You may absolutely publish teases in the run-up to a holiday campaign, but don't rush into a big holiday post.
Also, take advantage of every opportunity to advertise a pleasant holiday in between national holidays. Another thing to keep in mind concerning holiday social posts is that the same post does not work every year. It's also a good idea to share holiday information related to your industry. Commenting on businesses or sales that are completely unrelated to your brand may spread some festive happiness, but it will not flow organically with the rest of your marketing chances and may even detract from them.
Holiday Posts Help In Sharing The Festive Spirit
People enjoy sharing Christmas spirit posts, and that is a fact. This improves interaction and, as a result, page likes and engagement. However, no social media post is shareable unless it contains spectacular pictures, a well-placed message, or an intriguing call to action. As long as your post has these three elements, it is bound to do fairly well this holiday season. According to studies, those who don't post frequently tend to post more over the holidays, with 30% stating they would post gifts they get on social media. Holidays that bring people together provide you with the opportunity to produce easy, aesthetically appealing, shareable postings.
How can you make your mark on social media this holiday season?
If you have no idea where to start with regards to managing your social media profile, worry not, we have got your back. Here is a list of a few things you can try to have a successful holiday season when it comes to your social media presence.
Plan ahead: the holiday season is a busy time if you consider all the year-end related workload and the plethora of personal commitments we end up having! Businesses will most likely become extremely busy, and the last thing you want to do is fall behind on your social media plan. What is the secret to success? Begin planning well in advance. Create a social plan for the Christmas season. Determine your holiday content buckets, define your goals, develop a social media advertising plan, and determine which social media holidays to include in your campaign. This will help immensely when it comes to a seamless posting schedule.
Maintain a theme and stick to it: This holiday season, following a certain theme and type of content helps your social media account look the part too! Warm colours, reds and greens, and content that almost smells like cinnamon and hot chocolate can be the way into the hearts of your customers.
Ensure engaging visuals and messages: Your content or your post has to stand out from the hoard of other posts that most everybody will be posting this holiday season. Creating visually appealing posts is thus of utmost importance. People hardly have the patience to read through long articles during the holiday season. Creating posts that grab the attention of your customers at a go and keep them engaged should be your motive.
Schedule your content: The holiday season gets especially hectic for most of us, which might make it an inconvenience to keep track of what to post and when in real-time. The smarter way to deal with all this is to design your content and posts beforehand and schedule them, making it much easier to manage your social media profiles. This will avoid last-minute snafus and will also ensure that your presence on social media is constant and organised.
Make sure your ads are ready to go: Every week, more than 60 million Instagram users save advertising from their feeds to personal collections, making Instagram Ads an excellent method to gain product visibility. When platforms are overburdened, everything takes longer, including ad approval. To get the most out of your Christmas advertisements, submit them for approval early and schedule them later.
Plan your budget: During the Christmas season, the internet advertising industry is flooded with new marketers. Prices are likely to rise, so be prepared to pay somewhat more for advertisements than you would on a typical day. Set a bid cap on Instagram and Facebook advertisements after you've determined your budget. This will protect you from going over budget per activity and will allow your budget to work for you.
Do not underestimate the power of the 'warm and fuzzies': Although promotional material is required, genuine, warm and fuzzy Christmas messages are a crucial element of engaging with your audience. Plan genuine material to get your readers in the festive mood. Engage your audience by asking holiday-themed questions, adding holiday-themed "this or that" polls to your Instagram Story, and so on. Spread holiday cheer by telling them how much you appreciate them and wish them a great holiday season.
Prepare for an inbox overload: This holiday season, your social media inboxes may overflow. Clear your inbox ahead of time and devise a method for staying on top of messages as they begin to fill your inbox to prepare for the inevitable inbox overflow. This season also makes customers anxious, which in turn makes them more prone to send in messages asking for clarifications. While automated replies may be your go-to, for the first stage, sending in personalised replies, taking care to answer each specific query your customer might have only. Furthermore, replying to messages demonstrates to your audience that you are concerned about their worries.
Conclusion
We all know about the importance of social media and how much impact it has with regard to your marketing efforts and your brand awareness and promotion. If the holiday season intimidated you earlier, it is now time to let all that go and be an overall superstar at managing your social media accounts without any hiccups or glitches!
Happy New Year!
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