Holidays are here…with bells on!

It’s a special time when you feel connected to everyone, family, friends and even foes (LOL). A gala time when you can keep away from a moribund life and enjoy over comparing which is a better watch “Home Alone” or “A Christmas Story” or “Arthur’s Christmas”.

As holidays are special to everyone, so retailers and brands loves to take a dive in the festive pool to reach the potential customers. Months between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the biggest opportunity for online and offline retailers and incredibly competitive. It is an essential aspect to reach out to your target audience through the right channel.

And thinking of a channel, Social Media grabs all their attention as a powerful tool to deepen relationships exactly when you want customers to remember you most.

Social media is the game changer for any business.

There was a time when people sought gift inspiration from catalogs, and customer inquiries were handled in-store or over the phone. Now more and more customers are turning towards social media. They look at Pinterest for gift ideas, tips on house cleaning, discounts, and offers on Facebook, or on Twitter  to have a real-time customer updates.

At present, most people are highly vocal on social media channels. Look at your Facebook Business Page – Do you have customers who like your Facebook Business Page? Do you have customers who often Pins images from your website? Are you connected with clients and prospects on LinkedIn? Then, holidays are surely the best time for your business to tweet, pin, share, and connect a customer right back. If you are slow or lack social media activities, then holidays are going to give you the perfect reason to increase your social media activities.

As social media channels garners more attention from targeted prospects and help to increase sales, it’s time to follow some tips to stir some action and add some WOW factor to your business. Here are some ideas to push your social media activities –

Customers Displaying Sephora Eye-Liner After Self-Use

User Generated Contents to Raise High Holidays Spirits

Business that is able to generate user-generated contents is able to drive deep connections with fans. Most people programmed to ignore ads. Therefore, it is better to display authentic photos of your audience and drive intended messages. This would help to encourage deeper emotional interest from loyal fans. Relate them to real people as audiences find trust in real people using your products or service.
Key to holiday social media marketing success is creating content that resonate your followers. Not much small business is able to manage viral contents. If your posts are on discount updates, new product or service or holiday hours chances are there to that it will definitely grab your customers attention.
When you write a holiday post for social media sharing, let it –

#1. Be brief
#2. Must have active language
#3. Must ask question such as “Is this on your wish list?”
#4. Promote shares with words such as “Share it if you want it!”
#5. Link the post to a page on your website
Look at the Facebook Cover Page of Target Spreading the Holiday Spirit

Spread the Holiday Charm with Images

Statistics shows that images increase interaction on every social platform. Therefore, it is important to keep your social accounts updated with holiday images. The pictures must show that your business is in holiday spirits. Find photos to accompany your Facebook and Pinterest posts and even your Twitter and LinkedIn posts, cover images and display pictures. If your business uses Instagram, you will be using pictures continually. Post pictures on holiday moods or your employees or parties in the office premise or you can use the stock photography sites if you cannot take photos yourself.

Quick responses to Foster a Warm Relationship with Customers

Comment, questions, kudos and even complaints must get a timely response. Do not allow the feedback left unanswered on social channels in the holidays. This is true whether it is a holiday or not you must connect your mass almost immediately. The quick response of social media channels helps to create an expectation among customers that the brand is active and improve positive experience of your customers.

More Chimneys, More Presents

Facebook is one of the biggest social channels to promote holiday offers. Around 92 percent of the marketers are planning to organize an extensive campaign for this platform. However, 73 percent of the marketers believe Instagram as the breakout platform to offer holiday contents, promotions and promote their brands.

You must silo your brand to one social channel. Create contents for appropriate channels, target audience, and promote native contents focused on that particular channel. Facebook posts, Instagram, Tweets, and Pins must drive the same idea. However, customize the content to resonate best with channel’s unique community.

Open Up Your Inventory on Social Media

If you own a retail store that offers essential oils, French soaps, glassware or linen material or maybe home decors or clothes, then you must leap up to provide unique customer experience.
Use sites such as Facebook or Instagram and Pinterest to give the customer a look behind your shop over the web. Take a look of Pinterest of GAP that shares Christmas collection from their inventory. Share photos of the new holiday inventory, take snap of customers who have purchased them and even use creative pictures to let your customer stay updated during the holiday hours.

Say Thanks to Your Loyal Customers

Personalized Holiday Greetings for Your Loyal Customers

You might have heard about repeat business and reference business. If you want your old customer’s keeps coming back or bring new customer along with them, then you must consider yourself as the lucky one. This process both repeats and references your business expanding customer base and loyalty.
Therefore, holidays are the chance to keep your customers happy and make them keep coming back. Send holiday special greetings to customers via social media as a way to express appreciation. This can be an unexpected message for them that can affect your sales graph.

How to greet customers –

• 1.Create Instagram or a Vine video and post it to your Facebook Business Page timeline
• 2.Send out direct messages on Twitter to customers who follow you
• 3.Host a Google Hangout with your most loyal customers just to say a “hello”

Deck up the Social Walls

Let your socially shared posts have a viral lift and show your interactive experience. The more observable the campaign is, it becomes easier for your fans to imitate. You must create a social hub with aggregated content from multiple social channels that links your website or microsite to capture audiences online. This will allow your customer to share your posts within their social community. Provide social displays and easy call to actions Geo-targeting accordingly to generate more engagement.
Drive Local Social Media Cheer

Holiday experience in New York is different from Boston or in Dallas. Use the Geo-targeting tools to know where your customer belongs. Create content as per the location, something with which a customer can relate and send messages that resonates personalized brand experience.

Take a ride of the social media channels just like your little elves and put them to work this holiday season. Win your holiday retail battle with these tips and leave your customer filled with joy via SOCIAL MEDIA.

Give your customer a reason to “keep coming back” ….

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Image Credit: Project Socialize, Target, Sephora, McDonalds