The holiday season looks a little different this year. Due to the pandemic and various closures, a large number of consumers plan to shop online instead of in person. Small businesses who could previously rely on walk-ins and store displays will need to get creative! Online promotions and social media will continue to play a larger role for small businesses in the coming weeks. That's why making sure your holiday social media content is on point is more important than ever.
Whether you're starting from scratch, or you're just trying to make sure you're not missing anything on your holiday social media content calendar, we've compiled six tips to help you plan your holiday social content this year.
Here are six tips to help you plan your social media content for the holiday season:
Tip #1: Promote sales and offers early
Stay ahead of the competition. Let your followers know about the sales you are offering or any upcoming sales for the holiday season. This can help them plan their shopping lists in advance. Plus, shopping has already started for the 2020 holiday season—it began in mid October! If you haven't started already, start posting your holiday content now, and plan out the rest of your content through December.
Tip #2: Use shops to create a virtual in-store experience
If you're a retail business, you should be utilizing the various e-commerce features available to you. This means setting up an Instagram shop and a Facebook shop (which can work on both Facebook and Instagram). Aside from actually helping you to sell your products on the social platform, shops can help you be discovered by potential customers that wouldn't have normally known about your business. If you haven't already set up a shop on your social platforms, consider doing it just in time for the holidays.
Tip #3: Post at the right times and be consistent
The pandemic has changed so much this year, including social media habits and trends. One of the major trends Covid-19 has shifted is the optimal times to post on social media. A study published by Sprout Social outlines how audience activity on different social networks has changed this year. Take some time to review the most popular times overall, but do some digging specific to your followers as well. Identify the times your followers are most likely to be online, then post at those periods of heightened activity. If you have a business account on Instagram or Facebook, you can check audience activity using Insights.
Tip #4: Respond to your customers, always
Responding to comments and direct messages left by your customers or followers on social media is extremely important. You have the opportunity to boost your brand, turn a negative experience into a positive one, and earn loyal customers. Be sure to respond to both positive and negative comments every time and in a timely manner. Customers can also provide you with valuable feedback or constructive criticism that you can choose to react to within your holiday content planning. If several customers are asking for more or less of a type of content, or simply engaging less in general, consider adjusting your content plan accordingly. Then, measure whether it becomes more effective after the shift.
Tip #5: Save time by scheduling your social media content
You can use Ripl to create your social media content, and then schedule it ahead of time to your social media channels. It's smart to plan and schedule content ahead of time to ensure that you don't miss any content opportunities, but also because it helps you save time in the long run. If you have all your holiday content scheduled out, you can shift your focus away from reactive posting to other business operations.
Tip #6: Create a cohesive look with your social media content
Decide what you want your holiday or seasonal content to look like. Choose a color palette or a theme and run with it. Ripl has professionally designed templates in different looks that make this easy. Whether you're looking for a Christmas theme, a winter snowy theme, or a warm cozy cabin theme, choosing a look for your social media channels will ensure your content looks cohesive this holiday season.
Need more holiday inspiration?
Read our social media guide to the holiday season and explore all of our seasonal template collections, all in one place!
