Let's Get Festive
We hope everyone had a delicious Thanksgiving! With any luck, you're spending today getting over that residual food coma and nibbling leftovers.
In between bites of breakfast pie is a perfect time to start thinking about your holiday marketing strategy. Or, at the very least, it's a good excuse to avoid Black Friday shopping. (Did you know that social media posts about Black Friday are overwhelmingly negative?)
64% of shoppers visit social media platforms to find gift ideas. Even if you're not selling a "typical" holiday gift, this time of year is an opportunity to talk to your customers when they're nose-deep in their iPhones a lot more than usual.
Grab a pen or open up your digital to-do lists, y'all. Here are a few resources to jump-start your holiday marketing brainstorm:
Stuck in a tryptophan coma? Here’s 100 ideas to get your mind moving, from showcasing recipes to hosting contests (but please, no Festivus feats of strength). Best case scenario, you’ll be inspired by REI’s #OptOutside; worst case, watch a 45-minute video of Nick Offerman sitting in front of a fire drinking whiskey.
Holidays are all about the photos! So take your Instagram game to the next level. You could even try out the new live and disappearing videos.
You don't have to reinvent the wheel, you know. Check out these brilliant holiday campaigns and see what you can learn from some of the best.
Don’t forget that tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, and next week is Giving Tuesday. It’s not too late to get involved in either! Here are some tips to help you get started.
And don't forget about social media advertising. The competition is fierce when everyone is trying to sell at the same time, so give yourself a budget and boost your message. At the least, you'll learn a lot about your targeting and messaging; at the most, you may discover a solid new channel for bringing in customers throughout the year.
One more thing: Take a very serious look at your website and your social media profiles on your phone, and ask some friends or family to do the same. If your website isn't mobile-friendly, you could lose 1/3 of your potential sales.