Celebrate the season without spending hours on your social content
We’re almost to the last month of the year – a key shopping timeframe and end of year business sprint. Do you have a plan for your December social media to close out the year strong? Are you hoping to be more memorable than “a December to remember” or “unwrap your Christmas savings” taglines?
Although many holiday content themes and taglines are tired, businesses tend to fall back on these easy ideas because the end of the year is so chaotic. Many business owners simply do not have the time to come up with new creative concepts.
Here are a few simple ideas to make your December social media a little more festive, fun and relevant without going overboard. No matter what you choose be authentic to your brand and think about what will make your customers feel a connection to you.
Stocking stuffers ideas in a shoppable post
Although people love Christmas presents, don’t underestimate the excitement of a well-stocked stocking. If your business sells small goods you can easily stage a quick snap like the Love Shack Fancy idea below. All you need is a stocking, your products and a few decorations. You can make the scene look a little undone, like someone has just excitedly unboxed their stocking.
As a pro tip, make sure your lighting is solid. Lighting is often the difference between a polished versus amateur looking photo. In the below example although the staging is more organic, notice how the bright lighting really brings out the colors, textures and products. If you don’t have professional lighting you can try bright sunlight, a ring light or the light from another cell phone.
Another smart aspect of this particular post is they created a carousel to zoom in on individual items in subsequent images. This is a great way to spotlight several products in one fun shoppable post.
If you sell larger goods or a service you could promote a gift card with this idea. You can still create a visually compelling and festive image with your gift card prominently displayed in the photo amongst other relevant gifts or decorations.
Make sure to put a strong call to action in your caption so people know what exactly you are promoting and how to buy from you!
Connect with real customer experiences
Although most holiday advertising may be glossy and dripping in sugary sweet messaging, many people just don’t feel that vibe around this time of year. There are a range of emotions, personal circumstances and family dynamics that can be exacerbated by the December holidays. Some happy, some not.
Simply acknowledging those customers who might have a mix of emotions like loss, stress, loneliness, etc is often well-received. People like to be seen and understood. When you do this you’ll not only have good content in the short-term, but you’ll also create long-term goodwill with those customers who will feel more connected with you because you made the effort to acknowledge their personal situation amidst a world that is preoccupied with holiday cheer.
BetterHelp has a simple yet effective example below that goes beyond the cheery surface and names other feelings people experience during the holidays. Given their focus on mental health services, this is a slam dunk to show that they understand their audience.
The key to doing this right is to make your content authentic to your brand values, products or services. It may not always be comfortable or relevant for your brand to lean into emotional content. If you can link your message to what problem your business solves, it will be more natural. Some high level examples could be:
- Home cleaning service relieving the stress of hosting
- Children’s goods company acknowledging those parents who have experienced loss or infertility and may not have the family Christmas morning they’d wanted
- Value brands or those having sales acknowledging that many struggle financially throughout the holidays
- Wellness brands discussing social gathering burnout for introverts
If you need some inspiration simply ask your customers how they are doing. How are they REALLY doing? What are they happy about, worried about, looking forward to, or dreading this holiday season. Use that insight to craft your content to be relatable and relevant.
Use social media to recap the year for your business
The end of one year and the beginning of another is a natural time for reflection. Your brand can do the same. It’s a good time to talk about your business, the service you’ve done for the community, what you are proud of, and the goals you’ve reached.
In this example, @mollyrodhamrealtor, an Instagram influencer and Realtor in Scottsdale, AZ goes so far to share her revenue by month for the year. She’s not only touting her real estate services to prospective clients, but also promoting her education for other realtors to grow their business. It’s inspirational for her audience of aspiring Realtors to see where they could be one year from now.
This exact approach and level of transparency will not be right for everyone. The key is to find the things that your audience will care about, and what will continue building your brand with your customers.
You could shout out your staff, number of new hires, customers served, new store locations, money saved for customers versus an alternative product or service, or any other metric that is relevant to the impact you make.
Your loyal customers will root for your success and will be happy to see that you are thriving.
Again, authenticity is key. Be honest about your ups and downs and don’t force anything that doesn’t fit with your brand.
Conclusion
Have a great holiday season and keep posting! It’s an important time of the year to be festive, creative, acknowledge real customer feelings, and celebrate your year. After all, you have put in a lot of work to run your business and deserve some holiday cheer yourself.
I hope you are able to use at least one of these easy December social media ideas for your business. Subscribe for more marketing tips!