As we approach the end of the year holidays, business owners face a unique challenge. On one hand, the general mood may shift toward this being a time for friendship and family. On the other hand, consumer spending during the holidays spikes. During this period, it is one of the most critical times of the year to connect with customers.
If you use social media to connect with your audience, you may be wondering how this time of the year may influence your digital marketing strategy. Here are a few considerations to help you to generate leads and reach your consumers in the last months of the year. Note this is just a general guide, and there is simply no substitute for a professional digital marketing expertise.
Table of Contents
- When to Post on Social Media During the Holidays
- Best Days and Times to Post
- When is the Best Posting Frequency?
- What Kind of Content to Create
When to Post on Social Media During The Holidays
Although each platform is unique, the trends show that people tend to visit social media sites at certain times of the day and week. That means getting the maximum number of eyes on your ad or organic post takes careful consideration. Ideally, you should be uploading while people are most likely online. Posting during off-hours carries the risk of having your content going unseen as newer content projects onto your audiences’ timelines.
Also, it’s important to note that businesses may need to make a few assumptions regarding the below information. First, understand that your target audience may primarily use a certain social media platform more than others. That means you need to know where to focus your efforts before deciding what time to post. Creating content at the perfect time on Instagram is meaningless if your target audience uses LinkedIn as their primary social media platform.
Best Days and Times to Post
Posting Schedule
The time to begin planning your social media campaigns for the holidays should be at least three months ahead. That means by September, you should already know how you plan to reach your audiences during the winter holidays. When students are preparing to go back to school in August, your Thanksgiving plans should already be set.
For Thanksgiving and Christmas, plan purposeful content on social media during the month of the relevant holiday. Most people start transitioning into Thanksgiving the week after Halloween and then move to Christmas around December 1st.
Save any paid marketing until the last two weeks before the holiday. While there is always a temptation to get an early start, studies show that most people go Christmas shopping in the days before the holiday. That means you will likely get the best value for your money by waiting to display the ads when last-minute shoppers are most active.
When is the Best Posting Frequency?
As a general rule, visual content connects with audiences better. Videos are more engaging than pictures, and images are more appealing than words. It also takes much more time to create quality video content, versus the time to create interesting images.
Accordingly, the optimal number of holiday-themed posts per week is higher on platforms like Twitter that primarily use words. You may need to post content nearly every day on Twitter to best connect with your audience. Facebook is also primarily word-based, but they provide more options for video and images. Therefore, be prepared to share new content every other day on that platform.
YouTube is entirely video, so these posts can have the highest potential engagement. Updating new content once a week should be enough to keep your audience interested.
Cross-Posting
Remember also, that cross-posting between platforms is a great idea. For example, it might be possible to create a Youtube video that covers unboxing the top ten gifts your company can offer. For the rest of the week, 3 to 6 Facebook and Twitter posts can be created to highlight specific entries on the YouTube list.
Hashtags
One of the most interesting Instagram marketing tips involves the use of hashtags. Adding hashtags to content creates a way to track interest in the topic, and link to other relevant posts. This is an especially powerful tool in videos because it can help to link the most engaging format of content to other entries. Hashtags can also help to maximize the power of cross-posting.
Creating unique and original hashtags may sometimes be a challenge. Keep all words together and do not add spaces or special characters. The concept should be simple and easy to follow. It is also possible to piggyback on other trending hashtags.
What Kind of Content to Create
This may be the hardest part of all. Now that you know the rules of scheduling and optimal platforms, what kind of content do you create? As a general practice, more genuine posts tend to perform better than surface-level attempts to capture the spirit of the holidays.
You might sell the best office equipment in town, but making a bunch of posts linking quality desks to smiles at Christmas may turn people off. Humanizing content, on the other hand, may help to establish trust with your organization.
Sharing personal stories of shopping with your family, or decorating for the holidays may connect with people doing the same activities. If your organization is involved in charity work, now may be the time to tell the story of some of the people who have benefited from your activities. It is okay to tie your products and services to the holidays if there is an actual genuine connection.
Let the Digital Marketing Experts Help
Let’s face the truth, no single article is going to give you everything you need to maximize your holiday exposure. Unless you have a few years to spend gaining your own expertise in Instagram marketing tips, it is best to take advantage of the online advertising experts at L7 Advertising. Contact us today to get started on your holiday marketing campaigns.