Ho-ho-ho-ly cow! The holidays are upon us. Right UP ON us, I say! Are you organized? Thoughts gathered? Gift lists created? Social Media bedazzled?
No?
Social Media is like a home for those traveling around the interwebs, and like a home it needs to reflect the season. If you haven't already begun with a few fun and interesting holiday posts for Halloween or Thanksgiving, the Christmas/Hannakah/Kwanzaa seasons are a great place to kick off your decorating.
Some companies do a little sprucing of their logo, adding a tiny Santa hat or Christmas tree to their identified company name or symbol. This makes PR and branding folks a little nervous, so be sure to get adequate permissions and don't overuse this idea for every holiday. If I take some deep breaths, I can agree a Santa hat logo is quite fun. But NOT after the holiday is over, capicé?
You could also consider some holiday backgrounds for your pages, like Facebook has here:
Just don't go crazy. I swear if I see one St. Patrick's day logo, I am coming over there.
Walk Down Memory Lane
Now that you have decked the 'walls' (see what I did there?), you can focus on bringing your customers closer to you. Create some nostalgic conversations about holiday customs and get people talking to you. It doesn't have to tie directly about your product, but it WILL keep people coming back to keep the conversation going. And if it does somehow tie to products? Consider it mistletoe.
Share Events
Facebook and Twitter are a great place to share your holiday events, so go on! Why wouldn't you? Also consider Evite, which will invite people online and track comments, RSVP's, even the potluck list!
No events? Even a few snapshots of your holiday office party or some of your holiday volunteer work will help followers feel like they know you and your employees a little better. If your company is small, or doesn't do those things, post a fun holiday recipe or or a picture of a cute, furry animal instead. Who can resist that?
Feeling crazy? Consider online greetings! There are a lot of options to share the holiday joy electronically. Not only is it a greener way to go, but it is also less likely to get tossed in the circular file before viewing! Consider HTML-based options like Pitch Engine, MailChimp or Constant Contact to create an HTML-based greeting. Some are even mobile-ready. Rock on!
I know the holidays are crazy. I know you have a million things to do. (Schedule posts on Facebook to save time!) But don't get busy with the holiday rush and forget to post to your social networking pages. No matter how busy people are, when they are waiting in line, they are going to be checking into their networks, and that is just where you want to be.
Happy Holidays!
Personally, I love to see big business joining in the holiday spirit. When I see a seasonal nod from anyone I just love it. This mac girl even has the apps to make my lap top look adorned with Christmas lights and sing Christmas carols, yep...no shiz. I live in the land of Elementary teachers, so we love to buy for businesses who show their spirit. Also, St. Patrick's day is my favorite holiday in the whole wide world of holidays, so you should see my classroom and house that day.=) I absolutely am in love with one women's sporty magazine because the put the personal profiles of all of their models on their pages with witty little tidbits about each of them and it makes me so happy and yes, I buy from them.=) Great article Miss Onion.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to see a shift away from the commercial projection that companies have and one towards a real christmas spirit. I think that this would make for a better year round brand reputation then trying to sell everything.
ReplyDeleteDirect marketing is a good way to make sure this is achieved