Festive Cheer!: Your Social Media Strategy for the Holidays

Festive Cheer: The Social Way!

social media- gift wrapping it right this season

Once into Social Media, you are forever ‘on the job’ – even during the ‘holidays’! Work never slows down during the festive season; but the slog hours do. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s bring with them a short respite for all those who are ponderously into Social media as part of their job or as a hobby/ passion.

When the festive season approaches, all brands worry about one thing – how are they going to manage their social images – whether they should post new content or give it a miss for few days – what content will attract people when there is so much bling around to look at! Yes, that is a whole lot of decision making. Many brands either don’t post interactive content on their sites/ pages, fearing who will do a follow up or they come back after vacations, merrily posting belated wishes! Who stays in that festive mood once back to work? Right – no one.

Remember – people relate to consistency (living, non – living, virtual). Because even though for all Social media Professionals, the festive season is a break from ‘Social media’; there are others for whom it is all about social media – from uploading pictures, to check-ins, to status updates, to just about anything! It is all about building long lasting relations. I\’m not letting you guys get out of having a strategy over the holidays!

All marketing managers work really hard building their brand’s social image and the last thing they want, is to lose out on their driving force. Even though you have to work really hard to get into that ‘festive mood’; publicly, you need to present an image of festive ‘cheer’. According to Mashable, 65% of shoppers turn to social media to find the perfect gifts, so be there to welcome them with offers they can’t resist.

And it is not all that hard to keep up with your user’s festive spirit; not to forget, your own too! So if you don’t already have a holiday social media plan, here are a few tips to wrap up your work in a bright shiny cheery manner:

Your Social media plan should be handy. Prepare beforehand. Schedule your posts and tweets – there is a feature that lets you set time and date to publish your posts – on Facebook as well as Twitter – waiting to be explored by you!The only thing you can’t schedule is the interaction you make with your users; and it is okay! They understand how involved you are eulogizing with friends and family.
Keep users in the loop. Your users should be well aware of your presence or absence from the social media. Inform them about the days you are closed, the helpline they might want to use (they might not be able to do without you!), the happy hours, etc. You don’t want them to miss out on all that you have worked so hard on.
Voice your Festive Cheer. Consider your audience and maintain your brand voice in a cheery manner. (Festive season! Yay!) But make sure you don’t sound silly while doing so.
Less is GOOD. Don’t force yourself to post something just because you feel ‘you have to’; post when you feel like it! And the days you don’t, give it a miss. It’s OK to take a break.
Treat your social media channels like your privy condo. Give a personal touch to your profile picture or your cover – something that goes along with the theme of ‘festive cheer.’ Basically, revamp the way you market yourself. Show how blithely muddled you are with festivities and not just hell bent on ‘selling’!
Create some ‘fancy’ pins. People tend to plan things ahead of time. Pin! Pin! Pin! I might just need this!, I could buy this!, I could gift this! Create an album/ board full of such awesome stuff. You don’t want to drown your sales, only because you were ‘holidaying.’
Give them a visual treat. (You can’t really go about gifting everyone!) Visuals. Work on lots of visuals! It is all about what catches the eye. Something like-able and share-able really boosts your reputation as ‘creative.’
Gear up for some Holiday Contests. Conduct interesting Holiday Contests/ Competitions and give away some really interesting gifts to the winners! The whole idea is to engage users sitting at home, browsing your site; and not lose out on prospects coming your way during the ‘holidays.’
Find a stand-in. If you are one of those who can’t do without replying to their users, you might just want to start looking for someone who is ready to take on the job, while you are away. (And hopefully, you’ll find someone!)
Holiday experience – the creation of great social content. Use your holidays to create some great social content! Take a note of the experience and of course, stock up on some original images to share.