Get Ahead of the Holidays with Your Social Media Strategy

I just saw a meme that said there are 15 Fridays until Christmas. Crazy, right? That means it is time to start figuring out your plan for your social media marketing initiatives for the end of the year. This post will walk you through things to consider as you get to planning.

Prioritize Your Holiday Focus & Messaging

Depending on your brand and your objectives, you should prioritize the upcoming holidays. To help with prioritization, figure out when you need to be in front of people as they begin to think about when they would need your products. If you are a food brand, the week leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas is a crucial time as people are planning their grocery lists. Is Black Friday the biggest day of the year for your company? It makes more sense to heavy up prior to this day than during Christmas. Timing is a key part to your holiday strategy.

Messaging is also important to be able to break through all the clutter that is being thrown at consumers through their social feeds. Always keep in mind the WIIFM factor—what is in it for the consumers. Be conscious of how salesy and promotional your copy and images come across. As you are crafting your message, a top consideration is the action you want the user to take. Is it to click through to buy a product online? Is it a new recipe that they can bring to the upcoming holiday party? Once you have your messaging, consider what the best message of delivery would be (i.e. video, image, link post, canvas ad, etc.)

Plan Your Media Budget Effectively

Now that you have your holiday messaging finalized, it is time to draft your media plan. As mentioned previously, it is important to prioritize your focus since buying media placements during this season can be more expensive than other times of the year. To be the most efficient with your media budget, consider running your buys the days or even weeks leading up to the actual holiday. Running media on the actual holiday can be more expensive and potentially not as effective.

Using Influencers during the Holidays

If you plan to leverage influencers during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons you need to start reaching out sooner rather than later. This is a very busy time for influencers and the top tier ones will be snatched up quickly. Not to mention, influencers also like to spend time with their families during these seasons, so many try to get as much done in advance as possible. Brands should account for longer lead times during the holidays. Also, given the high demand for influencers, keep in mind that the cost of influencers might also increase.

Have you started your social media plan for the holidays? If not, shoot us a note and we would be happy to help.



Ignite Social Media