Della Cornish, Owner and Principal Consultant at Social Ekho has been kind enough to contribute some very useful information for those engaging with stakeholders on social media during the festive season.
The key to using social media for Christmas marketing is to make the most of the opportunity that it presents to reach out, connect, engage and provide value to your audience.
Here are 5 of my tips for producing content this Christmas season:
- Christmas offer – use the ‘silly season’ to promote a special Christmas offer. Be sure to post and promote your exclusive seasonal offer early in October or November to get the most impact.
- Seasonal Services – use the season to promote a new product or service that is unique to the season. Perhaps it might be added value such as early or free delivery.
- Trading hours – make sure that your company’s hours of trade/operation over the Christmas and New Year period are posted to social media and understood by all. On Facebook you might like to change this under your page’s hours of operation also.
- Christmas Cheer – share the spirit of Christmas with a company Christmas Message. You might like to say what your company is thankful for this Christmas and include your personalised Christmas best wishes.
- End of the Year – join in the New Year celebration by posting a message of appreciation for your fans and customers goodwill over the past year. It’s not hard to do but it is greatly appreciated by all.
Have a little fun personalising your company’s Christmas content this year. Don’t pay to outsource the development of your Christmas message when you can do it all yourself – well if you have the time that is!
Here are our recommendation for three Christmas content apps you should try:
1. Christmas Booth Developer: Blue Panda Price: Free Rating: 7/10 Download: iTunes This is a cheeky little app that enables you to edit a standard picture and turn yourself into a Christmas character. The picture can be used as content or incorporated into an e-card to send with your Christmas greeting. | |
2. ElfYourself By OfficeMax Developer: Magic Mirror LLC Price: Free ($1.29 for additional music/layout options) Rating: 8/10 Download: iTunes, GooglePlay Create a customised elf Christmas video of yourself (and family or colleagues) dancing to some groovy jingles. This is a fun and entertaining video producing app that will spread the Christmas cheer far and wide. We highly recommend. | |
3. Santa Hats Developer: Appdicted Price: Free Rating: 6/10 Download: iTunes Simple to use app that enables you to add a variety of Santa hats to any standard picture of yourself. If you don’t like over-the-top edited Christmas pictures of yourself then this app is for you. Christmassy but not overdone. |
The key to the efficient use of social media is finding the balance between content automation and engagement. Automating your content over busy periods such as Christmas will ease the burden of managing your social media and allow you more time to engage in conversation with your audience.
So here are our 3 tips for automating your content for maximum impact this Christmas:
- Get the timing right – understand when is the best to post content to reach your target audience. Platforms such as Facebook offer insights on your specific audience and the times to best reach time. For other channels you may want to do a little research or make assumptions of your own.
- Find & setup your ideal automation tool – there are now a whole host of social media automation dashboards to choose from to schedule your company posts from. Some points to consider include the cost, the ease of use and the number of platforms that you can integrate into the dashboard. Try Hootsuite, Buffer, Tweetdeck, Postplanner or Socialoomph.
- Plan your content calendar – plan your content over the Christmas period in a calendar format listing your goals for each post. Remember to stick to the 80/20 rule to ensure that you have the right balance of content to keep your followers/fans interested and coming back for more.
About the Author
Della Cornish is the Principal Consultant of Social Ekho, a social media marketing consultancy based in Perth, Western Australia. With a diverse marketing background Della is able to use her years of corporate experience to your advantage.
Della can formulate an integrated social media marketing campaign for your business and offers experience and expertise to assist with the following services:
- Set-up new social media accounts.
- Optimisation of existing accounts.
- Design and branding.
- Facebook Customised App installation.
- Advertising campaigns.
- Content creation.
- Strategy planning.
- Ongoing Account Management.
To find out more about how Social Ekho can help you, contact Della directly, connect with us online or view our work on one of the below links.
CONTACT DELLA DIRECTLY: info@socialekho.com.au
CONNECT ONLINE: Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter
VIEW OUR WORK: www.socialekho.com.au