Effective Social media marketing for this Season

In order to effectively manage your marketing campaign for this Season, you to implement a plan for each promotion you are going to present to your target audience. Adapt seasonal trend is a must to attain the success you aim for this season.

Which channel to use for Christmas Promotion?

When we say social media the first thing that comes into our mind is Facebook, and for this season it should be the one channel that you should put an extra effort to. Facebook has a lot of helpful tools that can help you market your Christmas promos.

·         Facebook – you can promote your products through Facebook promo creator, where you can insert your promo and let your followers enter their email address through this promo code they can apply for the given promo by your business. You can also create facebook album especially for your discounted products, you can share and tag your followers who you can assume will be interested in your products.

·         Twitter – although twitter has limited characters you can still share links and direct message as well as images of your products on sale.

·         Google plus – a great place to tribute great contents and share with your community, there is also a album feature where you can create the same as on Facebook.

·         LInkedin – you can share your promos with your business network on linkedin, you can join or create Christmas sale community that is relevant to your business, you ask other businesses to join the group and share it on all your social media accounts.

·         Pinterest – on Pinterest it is great to share gift ideas, Christmas tips, images of your products. Ask other pinners to pin to your boards

How you can measure your success on social media marketing

It is important to monitor your marketing campaign, to know which is less popular and you can start revising your campaign. Remember that social media is 95% word of mouth, and most consumers are inspired to purchase an item if it is socially popular. So new followers, new likes and new mentions should be taken into account when evaluating marketing campaign.

Use these online measures:

·         Social Sprout

·         Google analytics

·         Tweetdeck

Do not push too far

Consumers are more open for promotional tips, contents, advertisement and emails this season but watch out and do no push too far, some are still in their own little bubble and would like to have the proper space to decide for their own. Remember Christmas shoppers inquire here and there and might jump into the next offer after another if they find it more interesting and attractive. All you can do is inform your target audience what you can offer them and do not lower your prices you might lose the sale that you have not gotten yet. As a small business owner you also have a certain budget you have to monitor, as consumers have.

Do not frown if you have not gotten the sales that you aim for, Christmas is not the only Holiday of the year, there are more to come

How to use social media for your Christmas marketing campaign

The first question is when planning social media Christmas marketing campaign, is how much time do you need for your plan to take action and how much budget do you intend for your Christmas marketing campaign. As early as mid November lots of businesses from large to small are preparing their Christmas campaign and sales pitch. With lots of graphic editing, photo categorizing and more, Christmas should be the time of the year where business should focus more on their target audience and brand visibility.

Social media and Christmas promos

As we all know social media is the best place to start promoting your products, with the right strategies you can attain success. Social media platforms are different from each other, for instance Twitter is for more direct and short message with link and image attached. Where Facebook can do a lot more for small businesses such as create page, promotions, survey and poll and by way contents.

You should list down the things you need to market on these different platforms, take advantage of the features each of these social media sites offer their users.

You need to think of a certain budget, where to invest the most and how to run the campaign at the most appropriate time and attitude. Remember that Christmas season, you can allow your marketing to bold and pushy.

Twitter

Although twitter only offers 140 characters on status, it is enough to give your followers updates on what is happening in your firm, like shouting out new Christmas promos and links to your website. You could also attach image on twitter, this is a great idea for your promotional product images for Christmas.

You can do small editing such as profile picture and cover photo into Christmas theme on your twitter account this will allow your followers to know that you have started your Christmas marketing campaign.

Facebook

When we hear the word social media, the first thing that comes into our mind is Facebook. This is the platform where you can share lots of Christmas marketing campaign, such as creating Christmas polls, contests and promo codes.

Facebook has a special feature for promos that you do not see on other social platforms example here. You can also post your other promotions such as from Scoop.it and Slideshare.

Most small businesses tend to promote more of their blogs, promos, deals and contests on facebook because facebook has a feature that allows you to post only to your target audience.

Google +

Google+ has also been a trendy social app lately, where large and small businesses can be found. There are lots of marketing campaign going on, on Google+ as well, but this app is more for integrating with small business owners like you and other marketers, you can add a circle for your target audience and name them into categories for example, plumbers, women over 30 etc., whatever relevant to your type of business.

On Google+ you can create promos from your blog or website and share with interesting status and image, it is also a great idea to change your cover photo that is related to your promos or Christmas season such as here.

Do not forget to add the small details like Website, blogs, contact information etc. where your followers can easily contact you. This is a great sample of Google+ Christmas marketing, if you notice promotional status with link and date of promo expiration as well as contact info.

Pinterest

Pinterest is not the place ideal for Christmas Greetings, but you can create an album of Christmas promos and deals that will attract your followers. To be more interesting add other Christmas related images too, such as Christmas recipes, Christmas handmade gift ideas etc. whatever that you feel is relevant for your followers and what is interesting.

It is also a great idea to get followers to pin to your boards by inviting them, making your pin more popular and shareable. You can invite them to share their promos and deals on your board for more fun and exciting Christmas season sales.

Instagram

Instagram is another popular social media platform used mostly by mobile/tablet users, this is the place where you can promote your products and brand for your mobile audience. Share your creative images of different promo and deals tag the people you think, would be interested on your products.

Other ways to share your marketing campaign for Christmas

There are lots of online platforms that you can freely use for your Christmas Marketing campaign, such as

1.       Slideshare

2.       Scoop.it

3.       Youtube

4.       Your Business blog

5.       Events (offline marketing)

Conclusion:

Successful social media marketing during Holidays, takes time and effort, effort in rearranging your products to make bundle promo and package deals, redesigning your website to have a Christmas theme, creating images of your marketing campaign from your products to typogrpahy. But Christmas should be about bringing more sales to your company, because people stretched their budget within this period and small business owners should take advantage of that by creating interesting and unique marketing campaign.

Should you be needing redesigning for your website and logo, Socratic SBC | Small Business Consulting is here to help you create the most festive yet simple website redesign as well as logo creation. Will you need more for your company this season, feel free to browse our package deals which we offer 10 to 30% discounts depending on the type of business that you have. Remember your Company Website is your main asset.

Marketing ideas for Christmas to promote your small business

More than 70% of US citizens will spend on Christmas gifts and look for gift ideas online or making purchase online. If you have an online store it is a great idea to solely promote your store through online marketing. To help your boost your sales this Christmas you might want to try these ideas below.

1.     Add a little Holiday décor to your website

 Photos are one way to attract your online target audience, create some personalized images with Christmas theme, such as package promos with a little touch of Christmas décor into it. That way your target audience will identify the items to be a great Christmas deal.

Categorize your products and make a list of the products that you want to include in your Christmas package deal, you may also want to create a Christmas gift inspiration board to make it easier for your visitors to choose the items that are on sale this Holidays.

Make your website extra user friendly and search friendly for your visitors, put all your promotions on the front page and have click for more button to view the rest of the product description.

The point is you will make online shopping experience for your customers easy and effective

2.     Gift ideas for your customers

Do not just promote gift ideas but your products should be a part of the Christmas event, you could be selling clothes, products or services you can add the word Christmas to your product name and description, this will also help boost your SEO.

Promote gift cards to your customers, separate listing with gift cards that says “unsure and can’t decide the size, gift cards are great way to let your loved one decide” or something more unique message to let your audience know that gift cards are available.

For your loyal customers you can add discounts or coupons, keep loyal customers closer on this kind of event, they can bring you more customers who are interested in your products and services.

Add personalized gift cards available for your customers, where you have your company name and logo and a short message about your company, you can offer this as free or included on every item purchased, this way they do not need to remember to buy cards.

The best of all you can offer them free gift wrap with name tag, so when the item arrives it is ready to be given away.

3.     Marketing ideas for your online store

Prepare everything you need such as images, banners, and contests as well as give-aways before you go through with your online marketing. Once you have redesigned your website and categorize your products for the promotions, you are then ready to promote your sales online.

·         Think shoppable and shareable – on these special occasions it is important to have strong connection with your social network, you will need their support to share your online promotions. Make your promotions as visible as possible, which means you will need more effort in marketing your products on social media sites

·         Facebook remain to be the key to social media marketing, create Christmas contest and promotions on social media which will automatically be delivered to your twitter account, other things you can create on Facebook to make your online store more attractive is to add albums for each product Christmas promotions as well as update your cover photo.

·         Use PPC advertisement – this is a great time to invest on PPC ads for which your promotions can truly be delivered online and create a great impact for the public. The more people see your ads online the more the curiosity arises.

·         Blog and content – although you have all the marketing and promotion going on, leave your blog to be about Christmas tips rather than Promotions, although it is a busy season people do like to read blog about gift ideas, Christmas tips etc, make sure though that it is relevant to your niche. Create content about Christmas and share it with your social network.

Small Business seasonal social media marketing tips

Holidays are right at the door step, and many businesses are already vamping up with their Holiday Marketing campaigns. Small Businesses has already started their seasonal social media marketing campaign, to ultimately increase traffic and revenue. Social media marketing through Holiday seasons are highly effective, 66% of purchase happens on occasions like these, therefore this is the busiest time of the year for the marketers.

S E Ho ho ho, make this season a selling success

If you have not started your seasonal marketing campaign yet, do no fret there is still time to make holiday greeting cards and marketing promos for the Christmas season.

First let’s take a look at last year’s selling figures from Christmas season, to give you more inspiration for your seasonal marketing campaign.

·         US consumers spent whooping 43Million dollars from Nov 1 to Dec 31 on holiday shopping

·         Holiday marketing data last year search engines were key driver traffic to website, so it pays a lot to get your SEO updated

·         Our website needs to be more mobile friendly for all devices, most purchase since last year happened through mobile.

How to get your website optimized for the Holidays

Before you even begin with social media marketing and content marketing for Christmas, you need to get your website optimized for the holidays first. Here are some few tips on how to do so”

1.       Modify onsite optimization, you can do that by rewriting your tags, meta description and keywords

2.       Consider revising your product description and add words like: Christmas Sale, Christmas give aways, Christmas present, Holiday Season sales, etc.

3.       Website theme – make sure that you organize your website with Christmas theme, to attract more visitors for the Christmas promos on your products and services

Merrier social media statuses

Implementing Social media marketing even more this holiday season as sales tool is important, consumers expect Companies to follow and acknowledge the Holidays as well. Using a few different social media channels to get your Christmas sales to get your holiday messages to your target audience will be easier with theme and sales pitch for the holidays.

• ·         Humanize your marketing campaign this season, share some fun and memorable photos online
• ·         Make your Facebook Cover Photo and Twitter header merrier by adding some cool and interesting images.
• ·         Post product on Vine and YouTube with Christmas music or slideshow effect
• ·         Be more active this season without being too promotional
• ·         Be natural in promoting your Christmas sale and discounts
• ·         Be more frank and send out promotional emails that will make a call-to-action for your readers.
• ·         Start a Christmas contest on Facebook
• ·         Prepare some give aways for your loyal customers.
• ·         Get more likes or followers through easy contests such as post your Christmas image with this product today and win etc.
• ·         Be more creative this Christmas season to close sales and increase your revenue
• ·         Sponsor charity fund for holidays, people are very sensitive this time of year and like to help more than any other occasions.
• ·         Create an event

Deliver exclusive Holidays email

Sending your customers coupons and reminding them about the important events from your company such as Holiday cut offs, holiday promotions, loyal customer rewards or last minute shopping, the email marketing on this type of season is to find the right timing to send the email. Marketing campaigns such as email marketing needs to have target audience make sure to review your list before sending out these promotional emails about your products.

Mobilize your online presence

Remember lots of mobile users want to purchase through their devices as well, 58% of US mobile users have used their mobile device to purchase items efficiently and easily. Make sure your website offer such efficiency to your customers as well. Ways to attract mobile users:

• 1.       Mobile Coupons 
• 2.       Combine Mobile, desktop and in-store engagement
• 3.       Deploy mobile only deals

Conclusion

Remember Christmas season is the busiest time for consumers, while it is important to review your marketing campaign this holidays such as mobile marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, do not forget the most important things about Christmas it is about giving. This is the time of the year that you give out something to reward your customers for their loyalty and to enjoy the moment of new clients they too need rewards for company above all the others. As mentioned Christmas is the busiest time for shoppers therefore make sure your check out page gives your customers the best experience purchasing from your online store.

Support Small Business this Christmas and get your Christmas Website and Logo here at Socratic SBC | Small Business Consulting and get FREE mobile website

Give us a ring!

or email us

Socratic SBC | Small Business Consulting

2 Wisconsin Circle Suite 700 Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Office: (410) 929-6395   

Fax: (202) 318-0689

admin@socraticsbc.com