In the midst of preparing for a hectic holiday shopping season, it’s tempting to play it safe and stick with what you know has worked last year in your marketing campaigns. But here’s a reality check: If you’re not innovating, you’re falling behind.
Most digital marketers understand this but struggle to meaningfully integrate new features and trends into their brand. After all, a great holiday marketing campaign requires a lot of time and resources, and you want to make sure you’re not investing in – or strategizing around – a fad.
On the other hand, taking a smart and careful leap is necessary for healthy growth. The social media sphere is filled with endless opportunities for people to critique their experience with your brand, so it’s important not to get bogged down trying to please everyone.
To survive and thrive in any big holiday campaign, you need to first identify your obstacles and opportunities, then build your strategy from there. In this guide, we’ll discuss some of the most common issues that businesses encounter during the holiday season and provide four strategies to help you overcome these challenges.
1. Cut through the noise with social media live promotions
Some holiday marketing campaigns, like Black Friday sales, require shoppers to live in the moment. Deals expire rapidly, giving people very little time to contemplate a purchase. Unfortunately, changes in algorithms across nearly all social media platforms have resulted in feeds that show you old (relatively speaking) content. However, innovations such as Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Instagram Stories have created new opportunities for immediacy, which are also less saturated than a platform’s traditional feed. Your holiday campaigns present prime opportunities to invest resources in one or more of these tools.
Should you decide to tackle a live promotion, remember that while the “here and now” aesthetic is meant to feel scrappy, you should still take the time to create and iterate on shot lists and practice with potential on-air talent. For example, if you are reporting live from a brick and mortar, how can you use that frantic, yet exciting energy to direct social media users to your online store? Execution is half the battle, and it begins long before you start broadcasting.
Source: Addition Elle
Even in the fleeting nature of “going live”, thoughtful programming can be worth the investment. For example, Addition Elle used Facebook Live — putting them front and center in the action by live streaming directly from the runway — to give potential customers a taste of New York Fashion Week. The result? They lifted sales by five percent.
Not sure how to get started with a Facebook Live stream? Learn the basics here.
For example, whiskey brand Lagavulin released a 45-minute video of actor, writer, and podcast host Nick Offerman sitting beside a crackling “Yule log” fire while casually drinking and looking at the camera in complete silence. The post went viral and the social media holiday campaign was a huge success, which led to the brand releasing a 10-hour version meant to be played at holiday parties.
With a consistent stream of creative and engaging social media content, you can turn those one-time holiday shoppers into some of your most loyal brand advocates.
Use social media to make the most of your holiday marketing campaigns
Social media can help you boost the performance of your upcoming holiday campaigns and retain first-time customers long after the deals are over. Use live promotions to stand out in social media feeds, boost communication efficiency with a chatbot, leverage pre-packaged social media storefronts for an exceptional mobile experience, and turn one-time holiday purchasers into long-term customers through compelling content.
If you aren’t sure where to get started, contact us to learn how we can help you develop and scale upcoming holiday marketing campaigns. Our tools help you uncover key insights about your audience, which you can use to create engaging content that builds long-lasting relationships with customers.
Request a demo to see how Khoros can help your business simplify social media management.
