The 2017 Holiday Season is quickly approaching - is your social media strategy ready to go? Don't panic, you have time! But it is never too early to start preparing for the holidays and how you plan to handle them through social media. From announcing your holiday hours to running paid advertisements on Facebook, you have a lot to think about. Let's dive in!
Identifying the Holidays That Matter to Your Customers
Before the Holiday Season begins, sit down and identify all of the holidays that matter most to your business and your customers. The most common holidays that come to mind are Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. However, depending on your clientele, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Chinese New Year are other cultural holidays to pay attention to. Additionally, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are huge for retailers while Giving Tuesday is a big one for nonprofits. Had you forgotten about some of these holidays? There are a lot to remember! That is why we recommend identifying the ones you plan to focus on.
Announcing Your Holiday Hours
It is important to let your customers know whether or not you will be open on certain holidays. If you're in the United States, you will likely need to make it clear if you are open on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Not only should you announce this on your social media pages, you should update your hours in Google My Business as well! Access your Google My Business account (or claim it if you haven't already) and adjust your hours on specific holidays. This way, when customers google you on Christmas day, they will know for sure whether or not you are open.
Creating an Editorial Calendar
Now that you have identified your important holidays, make sure to work them into your overall editorial calendar. We already mentioned announcing what your holiday store hours are. In addition, consider how you will market your business around these holidays. For some companies, this is as simple as wishing your customers a 'Happy Thanksgiving' on Turkey Day. If you're a retailer, you probably have a much larger strategy to work with. And talk to key stakeholders to decide whether your brand prefers 'Happy Holidays' or 'Merry Christmas'. Culture posts are also great to work in during this time of year. Whether your team has a Thanksgiving Potluck, decorates for the holidays or throws a New Year's Eve party, make sure to document it and share on social media!
Setting Up a Paid Advertisement Plan
If you plan to run paid advertisements on Facebook or another social media platform, the holidays are a great time to do so, especially for retailers. And if you plan to run a Giving Tuesday campaign, it's not a bad idea to put a little advertising spend toward the effort. Facebook carousel ads and Facebook canvas ads are two of our favorite social media advertising options. Retailers can use carousel ads to push specific product deals while nonprofits can use the canvas ads for promoting their Giving Tuesday campaign. And that's not all - there are a variety of different ways businesses from all different industries can take advantage of Facebook advertising during the Holiday Season.
The holidays are nearly upon is. If you need assistance with preparing your social media strategy for the Holiday Season, we can help. Contact Informatics Inc. today and our team of Digital Marketing experts will customize a plan just for you!
