To Craft Your Holiday Social Media Strategy

In order to avoid having your company become a social media holiday horror story, be choosy about which social media platforms you’ll use. Don’t try to be on so many platforms and post so often that you tax your staff and resources beyond their abilities. Unfortunately, being too busy and multitasking on social media can lead to abandoned feeds or, even worse, nightmare stories of mistakes gone viral. Instead, focus on the platforms where your social media marketing strategy template paying customers are most likely to be, and be consistent about how you’ll engage them on these networks. One way to increase engagement over the holiday season when crafting your holiday social media strategy is to offer special deals only to those who follow you on social media. The likelihood is high that people will share these deals with their friends and family by sharing and retweeting, leading to additional followers and brand exposure. Whether it’s free social media marketing resume gift wrapping in your store or a special discount on an online purchase, use social media based promotions to your benefit. Go straight to your customers to find out what they want most. According to one recent survey, 46.7% of consumers said free shipping or other shipping promotions are important factors in their decision of where to shop. And since consumers plan to spend 46% of their shopping dollars online this holiday season, this is an important consideration. If you’re able to offer free shipping without destroying your profit margins, make sure your social promotions mention this perk, or offer special “free shipping” coupon codes to your social media followers alone.

Use Giveaways to Build Your Email List

Because people interact with businesses so much more frequently during the holidays, it’s a great time to use social media to run a list-building giveaway. People are always interested in freebies and deals, but that interest reaches a fever pitch in November and December. And you can harness this to build a list that you’ll be able to leverage into the new year. You can take advantage of this when crafting your holiday social social media marketing campaigns media strategy by doing a drawing, creating an online game, or awarding something to followers who share a specific promotion with their family and friends on social media. Just be sure you’re aware of the social media platform’s Terms of Service, as well as any local rules and restrictions, surrounding contests. The last thing you want is for your holiday giveaway to be shut down after running afoul of local laws. All social media platforms, even Twitter, report higher user engagement when pictures are a part of the post that’s shared. To take advantage of this interest, find or create pictures and videos that share specific deals, or simply post pictures that give a behind-the-scenes look at your store during the holidays. Creative companies even use pictures and video to create social media games – anything from a scavenger hunt to an animated challenge – to engage customers social media marketing service and drive additional sharing of their content. Even if you don’t have the resources to create a JibJab-like experience (in 2007, the company’s “Elf Yourself” campaign generated 193 million website visitors for OfficeMax), you can still use pictures and videos on a smaller scale to pique your customers’ interest.

Provide Great Customer Service on Social Media

No sales funnel is complete without the amazing customer service needed to drive repeat business and referrals after the holidays. Just don’t think that you’re limited to launching promotions and facilitating customer interactions on social media. Many companies, including JetBlue and Nike, rock at customer service across Twitter and beyond. However you reach your customers, it’s crucial that you know how to respond quickly social media marketing conference to questions and complaints, and how and when to direct an unhappy customer off social and into a phone call or email conversation. Don’t stop at tracking mentions of your company. Track keywords and hashtags as well to find opportunities to respond to even more customers. I know you’ve already got a lot on your plate, but a holiday social media strategy helps ensure you don’t miss out on the billions of dollars that will be spent online this holiday season. By incorporating these seven must-haves into your business’ holiday social media strategy, you’ll be well on your way to holiday sales success. Customers love a personalized shopping experience. When crafting your holiday social media strategy, take advantage effective social media marketing of the data available on social media, from your followers’ location to their ages and interests, to personalize their experience accordingly. For example, use the targeting features of Facebook ads to reach a very specific demographic with your message. You can also refer to you customer by their online name in comment replies and keep up a dedicated customer service presence on social media. Essentially, the idea is to find ways to wow your customers during the holidays to drive repeat business during the rest of the year.