A Social Media Guide To The Holidays

It’s officially holiday szn.

The busiest time of year for social media managers & solopreneurs. If you don’t have a social media manager, this blog is here to help. We spill the tea on the best social media practices, some being unconventional (that’s our thing) that will help drive sales, boost engagement and amp up the momentum so you can SLEIGH (slay) through the holiday season.

YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY

Your social media strategy should be airtight during this time. This will be different for everyone, depending on your target audience, your general marketing goals and your industry. Regardless of those things, it's essential for everyone to integrate storytelling and user-generated content Why is this so important? Stories are how people connect and build relationships. They humanise your brand and allow your audience to have a personal, intimate connection to you — and yes, this is regardless of whether you’re a service or product-based business.

Community is everything and the best way to build it is through relationship-building content, and guess what, a strong, army-like community indirectly leads to more sales. You don’t have to think twice, now is the time to implement this, because that emotional connection can prove invaluable during the holiday season when people are more inclined to make purchases.

NAVIGATING BLACK FRIDAY & CYBER MONDAY

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday (24th - 27th of November) weekend is a pivotal moment in the holiday season! It’s the time when everyone takes the opportunity to get discounted items, even those who aren’t buying Xmas presents! The only downside to this is that there will be SO many offers, yours can get lost in the sea of offers out there.

The key is to create anticipation through your content BEFORE this weekend. You don’t want to just show up on the day, with a random discount. You want to prime your audience properly beforehand. So begin teasing your Black Friday/ Cyber Monday offer through your content, NOW — yes, now. You can use Instagram’s good-old Countdown Timer closer to the date, and/or you can also tease it in unique, creative ways through your content.

Keep reading the tips we mention below, which encompass general holiday social media guidelines, that are also essential for the Black Friday - Cyber Monday weekend!

MAKE SHOPPING EASY

You want to make the shopping process as easy & seamless as possible. The more time that is wasted on your customer trying to figure out how to purchase a product, the more money you lose. In today’s time, everyone wants things fast, so you’re going to have to make it the journey between seeing your product to buying your product, you guessed it, fast.

So, to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible, here’s what you can do:

• if you’re a product-based business, tag all your products in your social media posts, so customers are able to find out more information about them.

• have the link in your bio labelled correctly, just as we do (using IG’s native link, see here), or through a third-party website (i.e. LinkTree or StanStore), just like Nicole does (see here).

• create a Holiday Gift Guide on IG Guides so your potential customers can get inspiration, or, create “holiday guide” videos for Instagram & TikTok, which you can see an example of here.

• make sure your website is primed to create a frictionless experience for your customers to go from browsing to buying, but we’re no experts in that, so we’re sending you right to the expert Danielle from Finding Design UK!

USING USER-GENERATED CONTENT FOR ADS

If you're running ads during this season, we urge you to leverage your user-generated content (UGC)! Stats from a recent study show that 86% of consumers are more likely to convert when an ad features UGC. We’re practically begging you to ditch the tacky graphics or the weird video transitions for UGC! P.S. If you’re worried that creators will dip into a large chunk of your budget, don’t worry, because you can create user-generated content yourself!

SHOWCASING YOUR REVIEWS

Now is the best time to be showcasing those positive reviews! According to GWI's 2022 flagship report, 41% of online shoppers claim that positive reviews are the leading factor in purchasing. So, this is your sign to amp up the posting on those positive reviews. Here are some creative ideas you can incorporate, rather than just posting your boring “review graphics” (Sorry, but they are boring! They envoke 0 emotion within your audience):

• infuse storytelling in your reviews by talking about your customer/ client success by using your service/ product,

• incorporate the classic talking-style video with a green screen effect to show visuals that help describe the “before” and “after” better, and keep your audience hooked into the video,

• create clear before & after visuals so your audience can see the difference that your product/ service makes (i.e. weight loss/ gain from your program, skin improvement from your product, social media results from your services, etc…).

To encourage more reviews, you can always run a program with your customers to offer a special discount when a review is left! And make sure to keep the conversation going by responding to reviews and engaging with your customers! It's not just about the reviews, but it's about fostering that powerful community and trust around your brand.

CREATING LOYALTY PROGRAMS

Setting up a loyalty program where returning customers can earn and redeem points, is another great way to boost holiday sales and spread the word amongst your community, so this might be something you begin to implement.

Preparing for Post-Holiday Marketing

Sorry to break it to you, but all that work you put in for the holiday season, shouldn’t be dropped as soon as it ends. Keep the momentum going and continue to showcase your products to your audience, continue to give value through your content and continue planning ahead for other holidays throughout the year! You want your brands to remain relevant and compelling even after Santa Claus has left town :)

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