6 Social Media and Customer Service Tips for the Holidays
The holidays are nearly here, and it may come as no surprise that this time of year is the most competitive for a lot of businesses. Whether you’re a store retailer, in e-commerce, or a part of the service industry, it’s a must to get your brand out there during the holiday season. But, how do you make a lasting impact during the holidays? Here’s a list of holiday social media and customer service tips that will help you cut through the noise and get your name out there.
Pay attention to what your customer base wants this yeaR
If you want your business to be part of your customers’ holiday plans, it’s time to deliver content they actually care about. Yes, this is important all year, but it’s especially important during the holidays when your customers are busy and bombarded with content from other businesses fighting for their attention. Consider using a survey to collect customer feedback to better gauge what your customers are interested in receiving from your business this holiday season. You can send your survey to all of your email subscribers or post it on your Facebook Page. Your customers want to know that they’re important, so engage with them and really listen to what they have to say.
Develop a schedule to help build holiday momentum
Momentum is crucial in determining whether or not this year’s holiday season will be one worth celebrating for your business. One way to start is by creating a schedule. For example, retailers can leverage traffic insights throughout the holiday season. Focusing on the top busiest shopping days can help inform scheduling decisions, merchandise floor sets, inventory fulfillment, and even loss presentation awareness. If you’re in the service industry or work in e-commerce, you can promote digital ads and campaigns all the way through the end of the year. The specific holidays you plan to target may vary based on your business and your customer base, but all businesses should be aware of the biggest shopping and giving days of the holiday season:
11/29/2019 – Black Friday
11/30/2019 – Small Business Saturday
12/02/2019 – Cyber Monday
12/03/2019 – Giving Tuesday
12/07/2019 – First Saturday in December
12/14/2019 – Two Saturdays before Christmas
12/21/2019 – Super Saturday (Saturday before Christmas)
12/22/2019 – Sunday before Christmas
12/23/2019 – Monday before Christmas
12/26/2019 – Day after Christmas, aka “Boxing Day,” in some global regions
12/27/2019 – Friday after Christmas
12/28/2019 – Saturday after Christmas
There’s ample opportunity to appeal to your customer base during the latter part of the year. You can use this holiday season and the coming New Year as a springboard for your business’s sales and success that will carry over into 2020.
Engage with your followers online by using video
Make no mistake, people are on social media during the holidays. Everyone’s posting videos of holiday activities and sharing their favorite moments with their friends and followers. Yes, don’t forget that your target audience also has an audience of their own! If your customers see your content and comment or share it, all of their followers will see it to. The bottom line is to engage with people online and in the real world. According to HubSpot, 50% of people search for a video of a product before they visit an online store; and 92 % of mobile video viewers share videos with others. Based on the stats, we’d say that using video ads during the holidays is a must.
Focus on creating and providing helpful content
The holidays come with their own set of challenges and seemingly never-ending to-do lists like cooking, traveling, staying with relatives, decorating, and choosing gifts. The holidays can be overwhelming, and people need help. To capitalize on this, avoid the hard sell and instead focus on producing and sharing social media content that helps make the holidays easier. For example, share holiday culinary tips, ideas on gift-giving, and holiday fashion do’s and don’ts. Your customer base will appreciate your help, and they most likely will share your tips with their own social circle.
Utilize user-generated content
The holidays are a perfect time for user-generated content because people are doing special things that they want to share. It gives people a fun way to have a conversation with your business and contribute their own thoughts and ideas. User-generated content can drive engagement with your brand better than most other content.
Offering a platform where people can share their holiday experiences will always be a big hit. For example, a few years ago, Starbucks gave consumers a chance to design a Starbucks holiday cup in their #redcupcontest campaign. A #redcupcontest photo was shared every 14 seconds, and the contest received over 40,000 entries. How incredible is that! Moral of the story: people love to get involved and interact with a brand that puts the opportunity out there.
Create a New Year’s social media campaign
Events like Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas often take the spotlight during the holiday season. Unfortunately, people sometimes forget about New Year’s, which gives businesses great opportunities for attracting more business. Because New Years is more universally celebrated than Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can appeal to a wider audience with your New Year’s campaigns. Not to mention, New Year’s deals are a smart way to sell any old stock to make room for new products and services to be introduced in the new year.
Once you’re all set and reaching out to your holiday audience, tag us on social media and let us know how your ads are working for you!