11 Dec Top Social Marketing Tips for the Holidays

Festive garlands are up, lights are twinkling, and there’s a photo-ready Santa in the center of every mall across America. Yup, the holiday shopping season is officially here. While you’re rounding out plans for Thanksgiving dinner, you should also be thinking about your holiday social marketing campaigns.   Recent data released by Marin Software reveals that contrary to the heavy advertising dollars businesses spend in the month of December, return on investment is far more significant during the surrounding weeks of Thanksgiving. In an effort to avoid the headaches of hazardous holiday shopping, consumers are buying gifts farther in advance every year. Is your marketing strategy on par with the early shopping birds?   Here’s our top social marketing tips to help keep you on top of the holiday shopping trends in 2014:   Unwrap Your Social Tool Box Presents Early   Tools, guidelines and features are constantly changing on all social platforms. Not to mention, that there could be an entirely new app or social network you can utilize to double your potential customer outreach.   While this can seem like a massive thing to grasp during this time of year, new tools and outlets are actually gifts. Be on top of the changes to understand how they can give your holiday campaign the edge it needs to jingle your profit bells.   Tis’ the Season (of Smartphone Shopping)   In an article recently published by Google, 52 percent of smartphone owners used their mobile device while shopping for holiday gifts in 2013. As a business owner, the biggest marketing mistake you can make is not making social campaigns mobile ready.   More importantly, don’t forget about optimizing your business website for mobile. There’s nothing worse than sending potential customers on a confusing hunt for critical information such as price and availability, or, purchasing tools like buy and call buttons, digital gift certificates, or deals via social media promotions.   E-commerce sites and social media platforms are making it easier than ever to make your business site as finger-swipe friendly as possible. Embeds and other convenient features make purchasing and following a breeze for your online customers. Make sure your taking advantage of these valuable (and often free) tools.   Market Like Santa: Make a list, and check it twice!   An AOL advertising survey indicated that more than half of consumer purchases are impacted by online advertising. Here are some key stats:  

• 69% said they use the internet to research holiday gifts
• 30% said ads reminded them to buy holiday items on sale
• 18% said ads for promotions made them more likely to purchase sale items

  Clearly, creative and timely marketing is critical for seasonal campaign success. If you’re looking to top last year’s returns, reviewing a list of holiday strategies is a must.   Ask yourself:  

• What worked well last holiday season?
• What didn’t work well last season?
• How can I improve this year’s results?

  By using last year’s marketing campaign results as a guide, you can devise a winning game plan for this year. The slightest social tweak can have a major impact on your end-of-the year outcomes.   The holiday season can the craziest time of year for your business, no matter what size–but it doesn’t have to be. Partner with us as Social Spice Media. We can help you not only through the hectic holidays, but all year ‘round with stellar social marketing expertise , website optimization, and cutting-edge media services. Call us direct at (805) 482-8312, or, email us at  info@socialspicemedia.com.