It seems that each year, the holiday marketing season gets extended a little longer, and it starts a little sooner. Some businesses begin advertising their holiday offerings as soon as Halloween is over, rather than waiting until after Thanksgiving. Some other businesses have Pre-Black Friday sales to get an early start on the holiday sales season. It’s not hard to understand why this is happening, since it’s a well-known fact that the Christmas season is by far the best time of year for retail sales. This article will describe some ways that you can get more out of that special sales time of year by making good use of social media.
Holiday shopping on social media
Given the fact that approximately 90% of all businesses will use social media for marketing and advertising this year, it might be best for your company to start its campaign as soon as possible. Competition will undoubtedly be fierce among businesses, because everyone understands this is the most important season of the year, and they have to capitalize on it. As you prepare your holiday campaigns, keep in mind that it’s extremely important to target those platforms where your purchasing audience spends most of their time. If you ignore this fact, it’s likely that much of your effort will be wasted, and that even your best holiday message will fall on deaf ears.
How to approach social media advertising
Some of the most popular platforms for holiday advertising are TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. Below, we’ve described some of the ways that each of these platforms can be used to best advantage, so you can get the biggest bang for your buck.
- Pinterest – This platform really does go all-out at holiday time, and that’s one good reason for your business to have a strong presence there. People who spend time on Pinterest are always on the lookout for new holiday recipes, holiday clothing and outfits, household decor, and gift-giving ideas. To capitalize on this, create some shoppable Pins, and develop some fresh videos and images featuring your best holiday offerings. One really good idea is to create posts that can serve as gift-giving guides to your followers, and make sure to include some links back to your website in those posts. That should give you twice as much benefit from your advertising efforts.
- Twitter – For most users, the big appeal about Twitter is that it’s a great source for all the latest news and events, and this is something you can use to your advantage at holiday shopping time. Your holiday deals and discounts can represent some exciting bargains during the big shopping season, so make sure to use Twitter to good advantage. Even though the platform is primarily text-based in its posts, you can still include some images and videos that will highlight what you have to offer. You may want to host a Live Shopping Event on Twitter, in order to create some real excitement about your holiday products. If you happen to be launching any new products this season, the perfect way to garner attention for them is through Product Drop Tweets. You can encourage followers to sign up for any updates to these launchings and products, and that will provide you with customer leads for the season and beyond.
- TikTok – The thing to know about TikTok is that it has become the de facto search engine for Generation Z followers of the platform. If you can match your holiday offerings to the searches they conduct, you may hit the Holiday Jackpot. Show users of the platform how your products can help solve some of the typical holiday tasks, such as how to compose the perfect holiday menu, how to decorate a home like a professional, or how to do an expert job of Christmas tree decoration. You can reach the widest possible audience on TikTok by promoting your products that contribute to holiday aesthetics, and by tapping into the most popular trending sounds. TikTok users love to mix and re-mix songs and other sounds to create their own special results, and this is one great way of reaching more followers.
- Instagram – Instagram is recognized as a highly visual platform, with images being the dominant feature. This being the case, your best bet would be to promote your holiday products through images and videos that appeal to your audience. Promote all of your best deals by including them in shoppable posts and in your bio link. Take it one step further by creating a holiday gift guide for your followers. If there are already posts from happy users who have enjoyed your products, re-use these posts so as to convince a wider audience. User-generated content is often the most effective sales approach, because it amounts to approval from actual buyers, and that can be very convincing for those who are sitting on the fence.
Conclusion
Don’t get caught holding the bag this holiday season – start your holiday campaigns early on social media, because platform followers are already in full swing discussing ideas and searching for new ones. Take advantage of the strengths of each platform, and use it to direct followers to your website or to highlight some of your best offerings, using the available tools and features of each social media platform.
