There is no doubt Christmas is fast approaching and for those running a small business, social media may be the least of your worries.
Your social media accounts should not be neglected over this period, regardless of how busy you are.
In fact, this is the time you want your brand to be most active, especially if you’re selling a product or service which could be a gift.
Here’s how to make the most out of your Facebook, Instagram and more this holiday season.
5 Simple Ideas for Christmas Marketing on Social Media
1. Use your reviews as content.
Research shows 97% of consumers consult a product or service review before making a purchase.
At the end of the day, people want an easy solution. They want all the information they need to make a decision handed to them on a silver platter. Reviews are one of the best ways you can do this, even more so making use of them on your social media this Christmas.
Now, we don’t mean screenshotting your reviews on your Google My Business profile and posting them as is.
Take the contents of those reviews and make them more visually appealing in an online graphic design platform like Canva. At the end of the day, for your content to succeed on any platform, it needs to be appealing to the audience it was intended for.
Why, you ask? Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and every other social media platform at the end of the day are businesses with the end goal of keeping users on their platforms longer. If you’re producing content which helps the platforms achieve this they’re going to show it to more people more often.
Where can I get reviews for my business?
Getting reviews for your business is easier than it seems. There are plenty of free platforms available including, Localsearch.com.au, Google My Business and Trustpilot.
A note regarding medical businesses and reviews:
Remember, if you are a medical business, it may be against Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency guidelines to display reviews in advertising. Visit the AHPRA website for more information.
2. Take advantage of user-generated content.
Christmas is the perfect time to take advantage of content generated by your very own customers and followers. But, what is user-generated content?
User-generated content is content, such as photos, videos and text posts, created by customers featuring products from your brand. A great example of this is a clothing brand may be tagged in a customer’s Instagram post featuring them wearing the business’s clothing.
Many business owners are hesitant to use user-generated content, and we can’t blame them. User-generated content is likely to look less polished and somewhat candid. If you’ve worked hard to maintain a polished look on your social media accounts, it can be hard to part with.
However, it may help to know, user-generated content is the most trusted content by consumers, as you’ll see below.
Why use user-generated content?
Research recently conducted by Stackla suggests consumers find user-generated content to be 9.8 times more impactful than other content types. In fact, 79% of people say user-generated content plays an important role in their purchase decision.
Think of user-generated content as visual reviews of your business. If someone is voluntarily posting your product or service on their social media, that’s the highest accolade. Consumers see it this way too.
How to encourage user-generated content.
Receiving user-generated content is easier than you may think. One of the easiest ways to get your consumers to create this content is to run a competition.
Simply ask your followers to post a photo of them using your product or service for them to go in the draw to win a voucher or free product/service. It’s that simple!
3. Run a 12 Days of Christmas campaign.
Christmas is the season of giving. One of the easiest and most successful types of holiday social media marketing ideas is a 12 days of Christmas campaign. These campaigns can be run any which way you please. There really are no rules as long as the campaign runs for 12 days around Christmas time.
How do you run a 12 Days of Christmas organic campaign?
Running a 12 days of Christmas campaign may be easier than you think. The first thing you’ll need to do is decide on the prizes, discounts or even information you wish to offer during the campaign. You can do 12 products, 12 discount codes or even a mix — it’s completely up to you. This is also another way to team up with other local businesses for some cross-promotion.
Now you’ve decided on your prizes, it’s time to create some epic content! Creating content for Christmas campaigns like this is simple.
It’s one of the only times you will only need to create one great template. Once you have your template, simply switch out your photos, graphics and text as you need — also remembering to switch out the day number.
Remember, you’ll also need some basic T&C to cover you legally and to adhere to Facebook’s guidelines for promotions.
Once you have created some artwork for your giveaway, it’s time to start promoting your campaign. Start hyping up your social media following a few days before the campaign starts. Where possible, it may be worth boosting a post or two to get the word out.
Now it’s time to run your campaign!
4. Switch up your artwork.
Just like a brick and mortar store decorates their shop window, it’s important to decorate your social media and website for Christmas too. First things first, trying to incorporate the holiday season into your profile picture and cover photo. This is easier than you may think. Here are a few things you could do:
- Turn your logo into holiday colours.
- Add some festive baubles to your cover photo.
- Sneak a small Christmas tree or Santa into your profile picture.
It’s also a good idea to add some festivities into your posts and can be done easily across all your social media platforms. It may be as simple as using Christmas colouring throughout your posts for the month of December, or you may be more subtle and hone in on the emotions of the season by sharing thoughtful and kind content.
5. Invest in social media advertising.
It’s no secret social media marketing pushes your business out to more people, and fast! Ads on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger place your business right in front of consumers in their feeds.
Depending on your end goal, the type of ad you want to run will change. For example, if you just want to push a Christmas-themed competition or 12 days of Christmas giveaway, it may be best to simply boost some posts. If your goal is to generate leads and sales, then it may not be so simple.
However, running your own ads can be time consuming and frankly, just plain daunting. It is for this reason we recommend enlisting the help of a social media marketer.
Social media marketers are paid to keep up to date with all the constant changes Facebook is pushing out through its ad platform. When selecting an agency, be on the lookout for those with a Facebook Partner Badge. This means they’ve been vetted by Faceboook themselves and are a trusted provider of social media marketing.
5 Easy Christmas Social Media Ideas to Boost Engagement
- Run a Christmas-themed ‘This or That’ on your Instagram and Facebook Story.
- Take part in a 12 Days of Christmas campaign, or run another offer.
- Ask your followers what they wish for this Christmas.
- Encourage and use user-generated content.
- Create a unique Christmas gift guide filled with your products and services.