As the festive season approaches, many of us are busy decorating, finding gifts and planning for the big day. Similarly, Christmas can also be an incredibly busy time for businesses. For many companies, particularly retail and hospitality, this is the time of year that will see a substantial spike in business. Therefore, we often see a ramping up of online marketing, as a way to capitalise on this increased demand. It’s also worth noting that other businesses, such as those that are service based, will see their quietist months at the end of the year, as people save for gifts. It’s therefore important for these companies to utilise social media as much as possible, to help boost business.
So, when it comes to Christmas content for social media, what’s the best way to ensure a successful final quarter?
Colour
Colour can be a powerful tool when creating content as we often experience it both consciously and unconsciously. Changing up the colours of your website or social media feeds is a cheap and easy way to acknowledge and celebrate the festive season. This sends a signal to consumers that you are ready for Christmas. Obviously, during this time of year, the popular colours are often the most traditional- red and green. Another benefit of using red is that it’s shown to be the best colour for grabbing attention. Ever noticed how banners, bubbles and stickers detailing prices, offers and sales are often red- this is why.
Emotion
We all know the power of tugging at the heart strings, particularly at Christmas, which is steeped in nostalgia. Why not create an ad campaign or a product range, using an emotive theme or aesthetic. For example, it could be happy memories of childhood Christmases, which the customer will then relate to and imprint this feeling on to your brand. The perfect example of this technique is John Lewis’s annual Christmas advert, which has become a modern tradition. They use an emotive story and sad music to elicit a strong response from the audience- who may then purchase a related mascot from their stores. This has been so successful that it’s now imitated by a whole range of other businesses and organisations.
Charity
Many people often feel more generous around Christmastime and it’s therefore a popular time for charities. Some businesses will partner with a charity or group of charities in order to raise funds over the festive period. This is one of the rare occasions were everyone wins. The business can use their platform to do some good, as well as attracting new customers, the customer can feel good about giving money and the charity gets some well needed funds and exposure. Whether it’s a website, social media networks or email blasts, there are so many ways for a business to generate interest in a charity.
Gifting
The main reason why Christmas is such a busy time for many businesses is due to an uptick in traffic because customers are looking for gifts. However, many people can become overwhelmed with deciding on what gifts to buy, especially if they leave it until the last minute. Therefore, any way in which a company can make this process easier for a consumer is going to attract business. A really good way in which to do this is to create a gift guide. This involves placing your products into simple, tiered categories, for example “Secret Santa” or “Perfect for Dad” or based on price. Creating an infographic gift guide is a great way to condense all of this information into a single piece of content, which can then be shared on social media.
Interact
It goes without saying that a successful business should be connecting with their customers and potential customers on a regular basis. However, Christmas is a time where you can shake things up and try something new. For example, many businesses will have giveaways or competitions at this time of year- which both attracts potential customers and showcases your products. However, interaction can be as simple as a Twitter thread on everyone’s favourite holiday movie or an Instagram post encouraging followers to take a well-earned break. Direct contact with consumers helps to build trust, loyalty and therefore potential repeat business.
Christmas can be stressful, particularly for businesses but it also allows you to have fun with your content. As with most marketing, the more effort you put into the festive season, the more likely you are to see this reflected in sales.
