It’s stressful to think about, but we’re already in the middle of the holiday season! The slide from Halloween to New Year’s is a quick one – and it will feel like you’re speeding along past Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Hanukah, and Christmas. It’s a key season for many e-commerce businesses – not just retailers! If you don’t have a strong plan, your brand could suffer. Here’s what to do to master the holidays with strong social media.
Know Your Deals
It’s surprising, but many small and medium-sized brands don’t know their holiday deals.
Just like last-minute shoppers, far too many businesses scramble needlessly. They either discount everything, or don’t think wisely when picking the sale products. Your sales data should be guiding you. Have a hot item with a great margin? Push it out there. Have a product or service that undersold? Blow it out and give it a hard-to-reuse pricing. Go deep into your social metrics to find out what your best-performing items and ads are. A blanket discount sounds good, but if you discount the right items and package them into a strong ad, you will see better results. Line up your sales with your audience, and make sure you retarget the right sections of your audience. Be surgical!
Know Your Dates
There are more dates to remember in November than you might realize. Thanksgiving (November 22nd) and Black Friday (November 23rd) are the big ones, but the market is saturated by ads and deals, making it more difficult for you to break through against companies with massive ad budgets. It’s important to have Black Friday deals, but it’s the days after Black Friday that could likely yield your best results.
Cyber Monday (November 26th) is becoming a bigger deal each year, and it’s the perfect day for online retailers to get the attention brick and mortar stores got during the weekend. Plan your sales accordingly, and create ads that will capitalize on your audience. Retargeting is essential for Cyber Monday. Anyone that has shown interest in a product should be served an ad for the discounted price. Create a buzz that will push your audience to your website instead of a site like Amazon.
Other dates to remember are Small Business Saturday (November 24th), and Giving Tuesday (November 27th). Small Business Saturday is a small but growing day for shopping and lets you capitalize on the burnout from Friday. Giving Tuesday has become bigger every year, and finding ways to involve philanthropy with your brand isn’t just good for Giving Tuesday, but is a way to establish your brand’s personalities and values in a very real way.
Know Your Audience’s Limits
While you may be hot for sales, wall-to-wall ads will alienate your audience. You aren’t the only one stressed during this time of year; your audience is too. Overwhelming them with ads and aggressive promotion will only make them more stressed out. Work with your audience to become a resource and a community leader, not just a salesman.
This can be both the most stressful and the most rewarding time of year for you and your brand. Use this time to not only press for sales, but to highlight who you are.
Share the spirit of the season through pictures of your office decorations, your support of local charities, volunteer work, and tips about how to make the most of the season. Take pictures and videos and share your holiday cheer with your audience. Putting a smile on their face will be the best gift you can give your audience this year!
Using video is a key component of engaging your audience. Businesses and marketers who used video ended up growing revenue 49% faster than non-video users in 2017
If you’re unsure about how to most effectively use video for your brand, KWSM has an in-house video team that will help give your brand a human face and generates the results you’ve been looking for.
CONTACT US for a complimentary brainstorming session on how to add video to your website or digital marketing strategy.
