Festive marketing dos and don’ts

How many myrrh Christmas puns are we going to see?!

Christmas is, of course, a huge opportunity for businesses to excel, but it can also cause damage to brand reputation if careful planning and foresight are overseen. Social media marketing is highly effective but there are certain things that must be avoided to prevent potential pitfalls.

Here are some of our top tips for what to do and what not to do…

Do

Show behind the scenes

Including the people behind the business. Many of us are keen to support smaller businesses, knowing that we are supporting someone directly rather than a huge corporation. This also reminds us that there are real people behind the business, which often encourages purchases.

Plan strategically

Continue to refer back to your goals, targets, audience and key messages. A content calendar can really help with the consistency, message and timeliness of your posts and campaigns. Make the most of key dates, such as Christmas Jumper Day, too!

Offer exclusive deals

Consider limited time deals, or free shipping, to incentivise purchases. Whether you decide to offer some bundles on specific best sellers, or offer a time sensitive site wide discount, customers feel as though you are helping them out and will want to respond to this.

Optimise for mobile

With more people doing their shopping online and responding to social media advertising, it is vital to ensure that it is quick and simple to purchase via mobile. The quicker and simpler this process is, the more likely a payment will be completed.

Have fun with it!

Your content doesn’t have to be (and shouldn’t be!) all directly promotional and about your product or service. Ensure that you also include some interactive elements such as polls and contests.

Don’t

Go too over the top

This applies to a huge host of things including promotional material, puns and frequency of posting. The last thing you want to do is saturate someone's newsfeed with salesy and boring content. It won’t take much for someone to click unfollow!

Use unoriginal content

With everyone having access to free stock image sites, such as Pexels and Unsplash, it is really key to ensure that your content and images are specific and original to you and your brand. This will significantly help your brand be more memorable and stand out from the crowd.

Overlook analytics

Firstly, it is a great idea to look back at your previous Christmas social media campaigns to see what worked and what didn’t. From this you can then shape your current campaigns and update your posts accordingly to your audience response.

Overpromise

This is a big one. Make sure that you have considered your stock levels, delivery times and everything in between. If people have ordered gifts with you for Christmas, they will be very unhappy if they don’t arrive on time!

The ultimate goal for social media marketing at Christmas is to leave your audience wanting more, and of course ensuring that they are enjoying all of the content you put out. The really key things to take away from this are:

• Be original

• Be strategic

• Have fun!

For lots of us, Christmas is a time filled with joy and celebrations, but it is important to be mindful of those who find it very stressful, or simply do not celebrate it.

Sunny wishes,

Jo & Vic