20 Actionable Tips on Crafting a Killer Social Media Strategy for the Holidays

Holiday Season in North America is fast approaching, which means it is time to start considering how your marketing plan is going to get the most out of the a very heavily saturated and chaotic time.

While it’s true that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to any sort of marketing, these 20 tips should help you get your creative process going and at least come up with a couple solid marketing campaigns.

Of course not all these ideas are Holiday-specific, but lets take this opportunity to start doing things right anyhow.

1. What Worked Last Year?

First off, ask yourself what worked well in your business over the last few years, why it worked, and consider any elements that could work this season. There are often repeatable trends that an audience is already groomed and waiting for, so being on top and early on a repeating trend, can help get extra visibility from the start.

Consider what limitations you had in the past, to consider what you are capable of accomplishing this season, and make sure to review the stats from previous seasons to find out what efforts really resonated with your audience.

First year focusing on the holidays? You can figure most of this out from your competitors as well.

2. Choose Effective Strategies You Can Execute

The most important part of an effective marketing campaign is your ability to pull it off, so consider what current channels have provided the most return and engagement. Focus on the elements you can accomplish first, and then maybe pick one or two that are unique or somewhat of a stretch to strive for.

3. Utilize Pinterest’s Secret Board to Reveal Your Holiday Treats

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social communities and it has shown incredible buying influence over your audience. One thing they launched in November of 2012, was ‘secret boards‘, which are boards only you and your invited collaborators can see, so take advantage of this opportunity by putting up pins of special offers or anything else your creative minds can come up with, revealing it only to a select group of people.

You can also take a ‘secret board’ public, as the owner of the board, which allows some additional options around this strategy.

4. Launch Promotional Campaigns with Holiday Themes

This seems obvious enough, but so many companies miss out on this opportunity. Getting your brand into the Holiday spirit is something that audiences expect in that time of year, and they appreciate exuberant displays of your holiday spirit. Deck out your Facebook page, Twitter profile, Pinterest boards, etc, with Holiday-themed profile and cover photos, as well as timely posts that sets the tone for that special time of the year.

5. Ask Questions About the Holidays in Your Facebook Posts

One of the true benefits of social media is the ability to interact directly with your audience. Try asking them about their holiday experiences or plans, as it allows you to connect with them in a meaningful way, but also allows you to learn more about them in general.

6. Post Holiday-Related Tutorials and How-To’s

When it come to the holidays, people are always looking for neat ideas of things they can do to improve their experience. Whether it’s a recipe for some Holiday cookies or cupcakes, DIY decorations, etc, help provide them something that ultimately improves their holiday… they will remember you for it!

7. Encourage User-Generated Content

Getting audiences to participate lets them know that they’re a part of the process and can have their say about your brand’s current and future direction. Try running a contest or give-away, where users can submit images, share their experiences, or even create short videos, which can all be used to incorporate your brand and the holidays.

8. Aggregate Your Content

You cannot have every deal people want for the holidays, but when you see something your audience might like, make sure to share it with them. Aggregated content still associates your brand with their experience.

9. Schedule Posts in Advance

No one expects you to be online all the time, especially during the holidays, so plan ahead and schedule out updates for critical posts on social media. That way, even when you are not present, you are still wishing everyone well!

10. Get Visual

Just about every study conducted points to visuals performing the best online, so take the time to create some great holiday graphics. Whether you create Infographics, one pager graphics, social profile graphics, etc, make sure to focus on story telling and high quality design.

11. Make Your Product Descriptions Fit the Holiday

Especially when it comes to products that are ideal for the holidays, take the time to adjust the descriptions to focus on the specific holiday at hand.

12. Make a Special Category or Section for Holiday Products/Services

This is an extension of the last tip. If you have products that are especially for the Holidays, then you should make a separate section for them, whether it’s for your social media page or your website. This lets customers see that you’re paying special attention to the Holiday Season and they can easily see what you have set aside for them.

13. Make Product Videos

Video is very powerful, but making videos that focus on your products and the holiday, can help to showcase the connection they both have. Consider YouTube for the exposure and ability to run Adwords, consider Vimeo as well, and of course play off the popular Vine and Instagram video opportunities.

14. Include Hidden Offer Codes

You can do this with videos especially. Just leave a clue that there may be a hidden offer code in the video for your audience to find. It increases engagement and encourages people to buy from you using those offer codes.

15. Use Holiday-related Hashtags

Since hashtags are pretty widely implemented across social media, make the most of them by using popular Holiday-related hashtags with your product posts to increase your visibility. Make sure to research hashtags to pick ones that actually are in use, but also have a lower amount of competition.

16. Ask Your Audience to Share Tips

Yet another way to increase engagement with your audience is to have them share things they like doing during the holiday, favorite recipes, tips and tricks, etc. Hey, you might even get some ideas of your own from it.

17. Hold a Holiday-themed Giveaway

Gift money is tight this time of year and everyone has something they want on Amazon. Consider giving away an Amazon gift card through a giveaway. Since it can be used for any item, no one will feel excluded from entering or being able to use the prize.

18. Send Personal Holiday Greetings to Loyal Customers

This shows them that you really care about them as customers. Even if you automate this process, the fact that you even went through the effort of greeting them with “Happy Holidays” is more than enough to put yourself forth as a thoughtful and kindhearted brand.

19. Run Social Ads

Consider advanced targeting and promoting your holiday marketing initiatives through the various different social ads offerings. Site like Reddit and Facebook, allow great targeting to reach a specific audience. Need help, let us know!

20. Support a Worthy Cause

People are extra sentimental during this time of year, so showing that you and your brand are on the side of charity is a great way to show that you are not just about taking, but giving as well. They appreciate that and latch onto such demonstrations of good will.

Embrace the holidays, both from a personal and a professional stand point and have fun doing it!

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