4 Social Media Management Tips for Your Social Media Marketing Plan During the Holidays – Tips For S
Well here we are, smack dab in the middle of November, and the holidays are already here! (How did that happen?) If you're like most small business owners and entrepreneurs, you are getting ready for the biggest sales opportunity season of the entire year (even if you do not have a product based company). While us creative entrepreneurs and business owners are both excited and anxious for the buying season to begin, we can't afford to fall short and miss out on any selling opportunity this time of year can bring.
The key is to be prepared by having a solid social media content calendar that will make your social media management less stressful and easier to keep up with. So here are my go-to tips for holiday season social media management. (I use a mix of these, and more, for both my client accounts and my own business social media accounts, so consider this the “inside scoop”.)
1. Plan Ahead – The holiday buying season officially starts with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. But plan your sales and social media marketing strategy ahead of time so that you can start building buzz before a hard Black Friday holiday ad campaign launch. Dropping teasers and hints to your upcoming Black Friday promo sales should happen at least 8 days before Black Friday to establish interest and anticipation from your subscribers and followers. Utilize both social media and email marketing for this ad campaign pre-launch. Follow the same protocol for your Christmas and any New Year promotions as well.
2. Consistency is Key - We've all heard this time and time again (and it's so true.) But also keep in mind that relevant consistency is key. Many business owners like to pre-schedule their social media postings – some as far out as 30 days - but think twice before doing that. You don’t want your social media posts to seem too canned or outdated. I suggest scheduling posts no more than 1-2 weeks out at a time. And if you do pre-schedule your posts, don’t rely on the pre-scheduled posts to be the only ones posted to your social media accounts. I encourage clients to always fill in your social media feeds with up to date info and current topics applicable to your brand or post strategy.
3. It's All About the Visuals - Make sure your visuals are eye-catching, professional, and encourage engagement or action. Everything about social media is visual, so make sure your visual collateral is on point. Sure it’s important to include meaningful and informative strategic social media post content, but the visual is what’s going to get your followers attention first; then they’ll read the content if they are drawn in by the picture, video, or graphic.
4. Tis the Season - Run a holiday social media campaign like a contest, give-away, or a special offer, this will create relevant shares and engagement that your audience will be excited about. Think about offering value, as opposed to just providing self-promotion for the holidays. Employ the 80/20 rule: 80% of your content should be valuable to your follower, with no more than 20% being self-promoting. Additionally, do something charitable like giving back to your community or a charitable foundation in a notable way, then share the story and invite others to do the same (in a "pay it forward" kind of way). The holidays are “all about the feels”, so create content that will have your followers connect to you emotionally. Emotional connections build brand loyalty.
These 4 holiday social media management content planning tips are really just the tip of the iceberg. If you are a small business owner handling social media on your own, you know there’s so much more to the science and strategy of your holiday social media management campaign than just implementing the 4 tips above. Each of the suggested tasks require planning and strategy of their own. So please remember that investing in your social media enough to have it impact your business will take time and effort. Social media marketing ROI is a marathon, not a sprint. If you are ready to take back some of your time and lighten up the load of all the things you have to do during the holidays, consider the expert social media management and strategy campaign services of Savvy Girl PR. We have social media management plans to fit your needs and budget. Contact us today and we will create your personal plan for having a Merry Social Media Management Holiday Season!
About: Priscilla Nakane is founder and social media consultant of Savvy Girl PR and Marketing. A marketing and communications expert, Priscilla creates all process modules, funnels, and protocols for Savvy Girl PR client social media management and growth services and programs, teaches creative marketing to corporate trainees and via seminars, edu-sessions, and one-on-one training. For more information on Savvy Girl PR Social Media Click Here.
