This is probably the busiest time of year for your business and it’s easy to lose sight of how social media can benefit you during this time. Because of this, it’s extremely important to continue posting throughout the holidays. You’ll most likely get more views than you do outside of the holidays. One reason is that many folks are traveling and spending time with family. Believe it or not, that means a lot of time looking at phones. People use social media as an escape, a time killer, and for entertainment. There’s a lot of need for that when you’re traveling and off work.
Common Business Social Media Mistakes During the Holiday
Not Knowing Your Audience. You need to know who you’re producing content for. For instance, are they celebrating the “winter holiday” or “Christmas”? Either side can get a little annoyed if you’re using the wrong terminology. Understand your demographic and speak to them for best results.
Receiving and Not Giving. Sharing is caring but not when it’s only sharing your stuff. There’s plenty of good content out there. Share some that’s not yours.
Not Planning for the Holiday Break (from a content perspective). Some people think time off means their social media channels should go dark. This is a big mistake. If you don’t plan on working over the holiday, set your posts ahead of time. Write a blog post and schedule it. But please for the love of all snowflakes, continue to monitor what’s going on in the world. If a global or national tragedy occurs, you’ll want to interrupt your feeds so that you do not appear to be heartless.
This time of year is also a great time to repurpose old posts. If you don’t plan on writing new articles, you can do a post of your “Best of 2016” or “Most Overlooked Posts.”
Not Monitoring Social Media During the Holidays. Life doesn’t stop because you are on vacation. Continue to monitor your social media channels and listen for people talking about your product or service. Remember, people tend to get testy this time of year when things don’t work out according to plan. Leaving for a week or more and not answering questions, commentary, and the like can turn into a huge PR problem.
You Miss the Opportunity to Connect. The holidays are the perfect time to show another side of your business. Why not create a video of your Christmas decorations at your office or use Jib Jab to create a funny e-card?
Delight your customers and prospects and show them why this really is the “most wonderful time of the year.”
