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It’s getting down to crunch time this holiday season. But there is still time to boost sales for your online store using some strategic social media marketing. Most people, these days, never let their smartphone get too far away from their grasp, so social media is the fastest and most efficient way to reach out to them as the countdown to the biggest holiday of the year nears. Take advantage of that with the following tips for your last-minute push for sales.
You likely already decorated your website or online store for the holidays by this point. But if you haven’t decorated your social media pages for the holidays, as well, then now is the time! A few snowflakes and some gingerbread men will show your customers you are in the holiday spirit – and keep them in the gift-buying spirit.
Each of your social media pages has different areas where you can add some holiday decorations. You can change profile and cover images, or embed holiday images into tweets and status updates. Just be creative and post a combination of winter holiday-themed photos – candid and cheery product pictures.
Engage your followers with holiday content, not just sale or product information. Anything holiday-related will grab your audience’s attention at this time of year. Think about things like how-to’s, tip lists and holiday advice. It’s great if you can write content that relates to your products, but the aim is to engage your customers socially, not to sell products.
Just as you send holiday cards to your family and friends, you should consider sending out special holiday greetings to your customers. Using social media to do that makes it easy, but it still lets your loyal customers know that you appreciate them.
There are a lot of options on how to do this. You can create a Facebook or Instagram video and post it on your profiles, tweet your appreciation, or host a Google Hangout to visit with loyal shoppers. The possibilities are endless.
Everyone loves a contest. Why not put one up on your social media to grab your followers’ attention? There are lots of ways to do it, including using sites like Wyng and Antavo. Of course, you also can just post about it, ask followers to share, and pick a winner from those that do. Easy-peasy!
The holidays are the ideal time to offer exclusive deals and offers to your social media followers. If they like or follow your deals, you may get new followers and customers. You can use the same deals that you have on your online store website but add something great for your social media to spice it up. One way to do that is to offer sneak peeks to your followers before the deal goes live on your site.
Scheduling your posts will cut down on the amount of time you spend on social media, allowing you to work on all your other holiday tasks. You can sit down and knock out all your posts for the month at one time, and then schedule them to post at opportune times.
It’s important to set aside some time to interact with your customers. Asking questions of them about the holidays – their plans or wish lists – and then try to relate your responses back to your business’ brand.
It’s also a time that you may have more customer service inquiries and social media is often the place that shoppers attempt to reach out. Be sure that you respond to their questions and concerns quickly, and that you resolve any problems that may come up to your customers’ satisfaction. It’s a great opportunity to show that you value your customers and maybe even get some positive marketing out of it too.
Pinterest is very popular during the gift-giving holidays. People look to it for inspiration for gifts, decorations, recipes, and activities. It’s a great way for you to get your inventory of products viewed by a multitude of potential buyers. You can create your own boards on Pinterest or add Pin It buttons to your product pages on your online store to get your products seen. Be sure that you are keeping a close eye on your inventory quantities of items that you share on Pinterest or other sites. You don’t want to run out of stock at this time of year.
Social media is a great way to get news out to your customers, including updates like the last shipping day. You can even make it a Facebook event so that they receive notifications about the last day they can buy and receive shipments by December 24. It’s a strategy that creates urgency, and it will likely earn you some last-minute sales.
Your customers want to know that they are dealing with a generous, conscientious and compassionate company. Social media is one way to project that image to your customers. Set up a charitable giving site using Go Fund Me or YouCaring to publicize your own donation, as well as inviting your followers to give if they are able. You can also offer to match customer donations to increase customer involvement. The extra bonus is that you will feel good about yourself, and so will your customers.
At KISS PR, we can help you optimize your social media for the holidays, as well as the rest of the year. Contact us today at 972-737-1371 for help with social media and all your digital marketing needs.
Media Contact:
Katie Lynn
(T): (239) 373-5255
Follow KISS PR on Facebook for more information.
