8 Social Media Tips to Make the Holidays Pay Off
The holidays are quickly approaching! Has your brand taken the time to develop a social media strategy to drive traffic to your website or physical location? Tabletop Media Group has 8 social media tips to make the holidays pay off for your business.
1. Caption This!
The facts about images being used on social media are incredible! Did you know, posts that include images produce 650 percent higher engagement than text-only posts? (Source: webdam.com). One of our recommendations is to post a fun, holiday-themed photo from your place of business. Then, in the caption write: "Caption this!" This style of post is a great way to get your fans to engage.
What would you say about these chocolates? Caption this! (Photography by Stacey Sprenz)
2. Recipes
Perhaps your business specializes in selling a particular food product. For instance, we work with Heritage Farms Cheshire Pork based out of Goldsboro, NC. This company's fan base enjoys when we post #porktastic recipe ideas that use bacon! One suggestion would be to create a holiday recipe using your company's product, post it on your website, and then create a fun social media post promoting this recipe. Bacon chocolate chip cookies, anyone?
3. Holiday Photo Album
Photo albums get 180% more engagement than regular posts! (Source: Wishpond). Perhaps your business is selling a variety of new holiday "swag" or products. Create a photo album (we recommend using Facebook) that has a catchy name and description. If you aren't selling anything, take some photos of your place of business decorated for the holidays, along with some shots of your employees in ugly Christmas sweaters or dressed up for the season.
4. Contests and Coupons
Let's face it, everyone loves free stuff! Host a simple, yet engaging contest or offer coupons. Recently, our friends over at Roots Hummus hosted a Thanksgiving contest on Twitter and Facebook. They asked fans to post a photo of something they are thankful for this holiday. Fans who participated were entered to win free hummus and swag! Hosting a contest or offering coupons this holiday season are great ways to build brand loyalty and to spread cheer among your fans. As you can see from the image below, Roots Hummus was successful in receiving 25 comments on their contest post along with 18 post reactions.
5. Nostalgia
Do you love reading those BuzzFeed articles about the products everyone misses from the 90's? We do too. Your fans love nostalgia and the holidays are the best time to use this to your brand's advantage. One idea includes posting of photo of your company's founder dressed up for the holidays as a child. This will surely stir up a lot of buzz! (Especially if your founder was wearing a velvet dress and bright green reindeer tights - speaking from experience over here.)
6. #12Days (of something)
The Home Depot launched an awesome holiday campaign a few years ago, #12DaysOfTools. For twelve consecutive days leading up to Christmas, they featured a tool along with a special coupon. Think of ways that your business can start a #12Day (of something) campaign.
7. Gift ideas
One brand that we work with is University Place in Chapel Hill, NC. This mall features a wide variety of shops. From children's clothing to high-end jewelry, University Place has so many great gift ideas. Begin promoting these gift ideas on social media along with a nice photograph.
Please, please add this amazing toffee to our holiday wish list! (Photography by Stacey Sprenz)
8. This or That?
Does your business have a physical shop? Or perhaps you specialize in selling a particular type of food product? One engaging idea is to post "This or That?" photos on social media. For instance, if you're a chocolate company, post a photo of your peppermint chocolate bar as well as a photo of your sea salt caramel chocolate bar. Ask your fans "This or That?" and see how they respond!
Blog post written by Kristen Baughman, founder of Tabletop Media Group.