There can be so much going on during the holiday season that it can be difficult to keep up with your social media accounts. We’re bringing back this blog post from last year with a few guidelines that will hopefully make keeping up with social media that much easier.
The holidays can be a great time for small businesses and organizations to gain exposure and make sales, but they can also be an extremely busy and stressful time of year. Here are a few of our tips for what to do and what not to do during the holiday season when it comes to social media.
Do: Post about sales and specials
If you do nothing else during the holidays, make sure that you’re posting about any sales and specials on social media! Special festive drinks or dishes, products, and events are all very popular this time of year, as are holiday sales. But your customers can’t shop them if they don’t know about them–using social media is a great way to get the word out there!
Don’t: Post about services that you aren’t prepared for
You might think that now is the perfect time to try out a new website feature to enroll clients or to start a Facebook Shop for your products–but if you aren’t familiar with the new technology or practice, things could get much more difficult once you begin advertising it. If anything goes wrong, you might not have time to fix it, and you’ll be left with additional work. Keep things as simple as possible during the holiday season, and try out that new feature in January or February once the hustle and bustle has died down.
Do: Keep up with online feedback
An increase in holiday sales can also bring an increase in online feedback–both positive and negative. Take a few minutes each day to check your social media accounts for comments, messages, and reviews, and try to respond to as many as possible, especially any negative ones. With so many people online shopping for holiday gifts, a review or comment can sometimes make or break a sale, and responding to negative feedback can show that you’re willing to take responsibility for mistakes and correct them so that everyone is satisfied.
Don’t: Spam social media with ads for your business or organization
The holidays are a great time to advertise, but if you’re posting an ad every day, you might be annoying some people and alienating customers. Try to switch up the posts on your account so that not every post is sales-y in nature, and instead offer posts like employee features to break things up. If you’re posting to Facebook Groups, try to limit those posts to once a week, and be sure to check the group rules to ensure you’re not breaking them accidentally.
Do: Continue posting regularly into the new year
Early January can be a difficult time–it’s often gloomy and cold, and the fun of the holiday season is mostly over. But your social media strategy doesn’t have to come to a stop! Instead, try to keep your holiday momentum going by posting often, coming up with creative ideas, and offering engaging options that will keep customers coming back long after the holidays. For example, consider offering an event in mid-January, when people might be longing for something fun to get out and do. Or create a special discount to clear out leftover holiday inventory.
What social media tips do you have for the holidays? Let us know in the comments!
Wreath Writing & Marketing Services 