The holidays always create an atmosphere that’s a little more festive, fun, warm, and exciting. As your business approaches the season often referred to as “the most wonderful time of the year,” make sure your business leverages its social media during the holidays to make customers merry and bright.
Use the holidays as an opportunity to humanize your brand, show off another side of your business, and connect more personally and warmly with your customers, clients, and patients. Here are a few ways you can use social media during the holidays.
#1) Change Your Profile and Header Images
Spruce up your social media profiles by adding holiday-themed frames or accents to your featured photos. Add a Santa’s hat to your logo or wrap Christmas lights around your profile picture. Change your header images to seasonally styled themes that use holiday colors or imagery.
To quickly make new graphics for your social profiles, check out the free tool Canva which has a selection of premade holiday images.
#2) Create Holiday Wishes Posts
Create graphics to send holiday wishes to your followers on social media. Canva also includes templates to create professionally styled cards.
#3) Schedule Holiday Posts
Don’t make someone on your staff responsible for posting the day of a holiday. Set posts using social media schedulers to go out on Christmas Eve, Christmas, the days of Hanukkah, and New Year’s Day and Eve.
Keep in mind that that average lifespan of a Tweet (the amount of time a Tweet is available for people to see in their feed) is an average of only 18 minutes, so schedule more than one holiday post on that platform.
#4) Share Company Photos
Use the holiday season as an opportunity to show parts of your business that are otherwise hidden from your customers, clients, or patients.
- Share candid photos from your holiday party.
- Show a behind-the-scenes look at how your business prepares for the holiday season.
- Post images of your holiday decorations (or images of you putting up holiday decorations).
- Capture and share images of your team giving back around the holidays.
#5) Create Company Videos
Take it one step further and create videos that offer an inside look at your business around the holidays. More than 50% of people watch videos online every day, so they are an excellent way to use social media during the holidays.
#6) Go Live
You can keep it simple with your video marketing and cut out the editing and uploading process by going live with your videos.
Facebook, Twitter, and Periscope allow you to live stream events as they are happening. And, platforms like Snapchat and Instagram allow you to update a 24-hour story with clips and short videos. Use these live tools as an opportunity to connect in real-time with your customers and clients throughout the holidays.
#7) Ask Your Customers to Create Content
Let the sharing go both ways and ask your audience to post their own videos and images. Promote an incentive for customers and clients to share holiday content they create. Contests can take place on one day for a set prize or last all month long to generate more interest and the chance of more winners.
#8) Create Holiday-Themed Content Related Your Offerings
Use social media during the holidays to show how your products or services relate to the season. Create content that ties your offerings with the holidays.
- A doctor’s office could create content about how turkey affects the body or how to avoid germs while at holiday parties.
- A clothing retailer could create a style guide for the holidays and feature items from their clothing lines.
- An auto shop could share facts about how much distance is between cities and the North Pole while connecting stats to information about cars.
#9) Promote Gift Lists
Another way to use content to promote your products and services through social media is creating gift guides. Create holiday themed guides and Pinterest boards that have curated lists of gifts for certain people, interests, or support small businesses.
#10) Cross Promote with Other Businesses
Look for other local businesses you can partner with during the holidays. Cross promotions double your exposure on social media because you have another business actively promoting yours.
So if you are a hospital, you could partner with a local retailer by giving your patients exclusive coupons to the store. Or, if you are an auto shop, you could sponsor a Santa appearance at a local mall. Pick a promotion and work with you partner to share it on both of your branded social media platforms.
#11) Start a Holiday-Themed Hashtag
Centralize your social media around the holidays by using a hashtags that ties it all together. Create a phrase that you can use to curate all of your holiday related posts or messages.
#12) Get Active On Holiday-Related Hashtag
You don’t have to restrict social media posts to hashtags you create. Get involved with other trending hashtags and participate in the conversations. Keep an eye on trending hashtags and jump in when you can.
#13) Create Exclusive Social Media Promotions and Deals
Reward your followers and give an incentive to others to find you on social media by offering exclusive social media promotions and deals. Provide links to special pricing and offers that are only available through certain social media platforms.
#14) Offer Customer Service Through Social Media
The holidays are a busy time for both businesses and consumers, so offer an extra helping hand through your social media platforms. Drive customers and clients to social media as an additional customer service tool during the holidays.
#15) Promote Charity Initiatives
The holidays are a season for giving back so partner with a charity and offer a way for your customers, clients, and patient to get involved. Promote initiatives and direct your audience toward how they can participate.
Don’t Forget to Use Social Media During the Holidays
The holidays give businesses an opportunity to show a more personal side of their organization. This year as your business goes into the holiday season, use social media as a way to make more meaningful connections with your customers, clients, and patients.