There is a saying that holidays and social media go together like Santa and his reindeer. Actually, this is not a real saying (yet) but the fact is that social media networks are adding to the anticipation and magic of the holidays. During the holiday season people are connecting with their friends, sharing their hopes and resolutions, posting family photos and searching for holiday inspiration (Pinterest is overflowing with things like traditional Christmas recipes and handmade decorations this time of the year) and it can be difficult for a business to engage social media users, unless the communication is meaningful and carefully crafted to fit the platform.

To make sure your seasonal social media campaigns have great engagement rates and deliver the expected results, here are some tips to make your marketing efforts merry and bright:

1. Start with a letter to marketing Santa:

Well, maybe not a letter. It can be an Excel file 🙂
You know what we mean – think about what you would like to achieve this holiday season as this will help you find the best marketing mix to support your goal.

Is it online sales, store visits, quality leads, app installs or phone calls maybe? It can be all of them and even more, depending on the type of business. You can now start thinking strategy, finding the channels that align most with your goals. Planning is essential – you want to start your campaigns as early as possible. Before you begin spending money on ad campaigns make sure your website loading speed is above average and it’s optimized for mobile devices. If you have an online shop, it’s important to have product pages with quality photos and reviews and you should be able to guarantee a frictionless shopping experience.

2.. Facebook & Instagram – Santa’s little helpers:

Facebook and Instagram are some of the best ways to promote your products and services, both locally and internationally. Due to great audience targeting capabilities and various types of creative assets (from images and videos to full-screen experiences) Facebook ads campaigns can help you attract visitors to your website, get people to install your app or visit your offline store/office. Here you will find a list of all types of Facebook ad campaign objectives – use the ones that best fit your goals!

After choosing the campaign objective it’s time to build your audiences – the users you would like to reach with your ads. Take advantage of the full power of

Facebook by using all types of audiences: new users you will target based on certain interests or demographic criteria, remarketing audiences with users that have previously visited your website, engaged with your Facebook page or already are your customers (you can upload your customer email database for example) and lookalike audiences – Facebook users that are similar to your customers or page fans. It’s easier to engage and to sell to users that have previously interacted with your business or our customers, so if your budget is limited you should focus on custom audiences.

3. It’s the season of giving – offer something extra:

Let the spirit of the holidays be reflected in your marketing. A great way to build loyalty among your customers is to offer them something as a gift. Offer incentives such as discounts or free products or services on certain purchases, which you will advertise on social media to increase your sales. Don’t forget about giveaways though – organize Facebook or Instagram contests to gain more exposure and to increase your fanbase.

If you have a brick-and-mortar store you can offer customers that buy from your shop a small, symbolic gift (a holiday card, a donation to a charity made in their name, a handmade decoration, samples of another product, etc.).

Offering a great online experience matters but keep in mind that the store experience still matters. There are people who prefer to buy offline because they can actually see and try the products. It’s possible to drive more store visits with Facebook ads by targeting people that are nearby (1 or 2 miles around your shop) – set up a campaign with the reach objective and add a request directions button. This way people interested in visiting the store will be directed to it. More info on this type of campaign here.

Extra tips for the most wonderful campaigns of the year:

– If you feel you need to find some inspiration for your Facebook ads creative you can have a look at what other businesses have done. Check out Adespressos’s amazing collection of Facebook ads from all major industries.

– The power of images was never stronger before. Users tend to click more often if the banner speaks to them. Use appropriate photos for each audience segment. Show for instance teenagers eating if you target young people with your restaurant discount offer and images with older persons going to the restaurant if you target seniors using the same service. Having an active subscription for a stock photo bank could save you a lot of time finding the right image.

– To make sure your campaigns are successful you need to be able to measure the results. If you have the Facebook Pixel installed on your website you will get valuable data about your campaign performance and you will be able to improve your Facebook advertising based on that. Become a Facebook Pixel master with this guide.

We hope that these tips will bring something merry and useful to your social media marketing efforts.

Read Also:

• Importance of Big Data in Social Media Marketing
• 10 Social Media Marketing Strategies for Companies (Info-graphic)