Improve your holiday campaigns to drive sales and visibility with well-developed opportunities on social media. More people are following brands when they see interesting ways there products and services are incorporated with social media.

Ask yourself: Are you taking advantage of social media trends during the holiday season? In this blog, you will discover 7 tips to drive sales during the holidays. Let’s get started!

1. Plan your holiday marketing for effective social media strategy: Think about what calendar events are happening — Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Chanukah and New Year – just to name a few! Create a content calendar with these key dates to be prepared in advance when developing graphics and text. Holiday Calendar Resource.

2. Update your social media profile & cover images: Enhance your brand visibility with seasonal graphics that bring out the holiday cheer! Update your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or Google+ brand pages to add extra spice to your personality! Here are a few examples of brands incorporating seasonality in their branding:

@Starbucks

@BestBuy

@The Container Store

3. Participate in social media hashtag trends: There are endless opportunities to incorporate hashtag marketing in your social media plan. Popular hashtags may include #CyberMonday #BlackFriday #HolidayDeals #HolidaySeason #CyberWeekend. Add a hashtag in your social media tweets or posts for users to find your content more easily. You can find relevant hashtags by viewing top posts or viewing the trending area on social media networks. I like to check related hashtags using Hashtagify.me: http://hashtagify.me/hashtag/blackfriday

4. Run specials to incentive your network. Develop social media advertisements to push your products or services in front of your audience. Add a call to action like a “Buy Now” “Shop Now” “Book Now” to make a direct click to action. Include a promo code and expiration date to imply a sense of urgency. Remember.. Facebook posts that have 20% more text than images do not perform well as advertisements. You can check how much space your text is covering with the grid tool (https://www.facebook.com/ads/tools/text_overlay).

5. Incorporate shareable graphics or videos in social media posts: Nowadays, it takes more than just a deal to get shoppers to purchase from your eCommerce store. Consumers are seeking a personal connection with your brand. You need to add personality to win them over in a sale. It is very easy to whip out a quick graphic using Canva – there are different templates to choose from!

Here are a few examples of social media advertisements that were served on my newsfeed while browsing the web during BlackFriday sales:

Dica de @maybelline_eldorado 💄💄 A nossa Black Friday, que já era ótima, ficará SENSACIONAL a partir de amanhã!! 😍Compre um Batom Color Sensational por R$19,53, 2 por R$16,74 cada e três por R$13,95 cada!! 😱Perfeito para dar de presente para as amigas!! 👩‍❤️‍👩 Abriremos das 9:00hrs às 23:00!! 🎉 #blackfriday #maybellinebrasil #shoppingeldorado #promocao #batom #make

A photo posted by ✨Netbeleza✨ (@netbeleza) on Nov 25, 2016 at 5:20pm PST

Use GIFS in social media advertisements

⚠️ #ROKU 1 GIVEAWAY ⚠️

⚫️ RT & follow to enter
⚪️ Contest ends 11/27
🇺🇸 Only

➡️ #BlackFriday deals: https://t.co/KR1x55d6LA pic.twitter.com/CB5fwBbljL

— Roku (@RokuPlayer) November 26, 2016

Use VIDEO in your holiday social media tweets!

Shop #BlackFriday on the best network. Get phones like Google Pixel & MotoZ Droid as low as $10/mo today only. https://t.co/sWzYCh6xxQ pic.twitter.com/3GUGxf3JZw

— Verizon (@verizon) November 23, 2016

6. Add Shopping functionality to your Facebook shop or Pinterest: If your business has products, it would be instrumental for your brand to have a shopping section. Take a quick look at this Black Friday sale that Velosock is using to enhance their shopping section.

7. Take advantage of Snapchat advertisements / filters:
There are more than a billion views per day on Snapchat. Snapchat is a video / camera social media network that shares memories in real-time with friends, family and friends! Many brands are starting to realize the benefits of incorporating Snapchat in their social media strategy. Here are a few examples of Snapchat filters that were being used during the holiday season:

I hope you found inspiration for your social media campaigns during this holiday season. There are many opportunities to capture the holiday shoppers by spending time on creating a comprehensive social media strategy.

You may enjoy a few additional blogs on social media strategy to enhance your brand visibility:

5 Elements of a Successful Brand on Social Media

8 Social Media Marketing To-Dos

10 Social Media Do'(s) And Don’t(s)

Looking for additional social media consulting for your brand, hire me.