How Brands Can Increase Their Social Media Activity This Holiday Season
The holidays are a time for family, friends, and of course, food. But for brands, the holidays are also a time to step up their social media game. With people spending more time indoors and on their phones, there’s a big opportunity for brands to connect with their audiences on a deeper level. So how can brands crank up the social media this Christmas season? Here are a few ideas .
- Serve up a warm serving of nostalgia.
People often use the holidays as an opportunity to relive happy childhood memories and conversations with grandparents that are no longer with us. Brands can help stir up those warm and fuzzy feelings by serving up content that taps into vintage trends or celebrating the traditions of days gone by.
- Get super friendly with your brand persona.
People connect with brands for all kinds of reasons, so why not give it a heart, a brain, a personality…a soul? By tapping into deeper characters and narrative, you can earn trust and make your brand more memorable. Imagine your logo as an icon in a cartoon—that kind of humor is super popular right now.
A brand persona can also help you introduce limited-edition holiday flavors, like this absurdly delightful cartoon from Frank & Sons.
- Turn your products inside out.
By revealing the inner workings of what makes your brand tick—figuratively and literally—you create a “see the magic” kind of moment that’s interesting, informative, and compelling. For example, if you’re sharing interior shots of a delivery truck, you’re revealing the effort and manpower it takes to get food to your customers. That kind of authenticity is relatable and resonates with consumers.
A similar idea is to reveal the hidden stories and personalities of the people who work for your company. This Instagram story from Vicks shows how their cough drops are handmade with love (and a little peppermint) in an colorful factory. The story is echoed in their caption.
- Use visual cues to help shoppers stay warm and calm while shopping.
The temperature outside is freezing, but consumers are hot and ready to buy during the holiday season. Color and design can help keep them warm and relaxed as they shop, so let’ calm-inducing blues and deep colors have a moment.
- Turn up the fun with a surprise party.
Why not include a surprise GIF or meme in your brand promotions? It’s a low-cost, high-reward tactic that can elicit lots of laughs (and maybe a few “Likes” too).
- Tell stories with a twist.
Can’t reveal your January 1, 2020 coupons in a boring way? Tell a story that reveals a funny, unexpected, or secret aspect of the offer.
- Expand your vision—literally.
You can make the most of AR with some of the trending themes we mentioned above, like icon icons and cartoon characters. For example, TUNE created an AR experience that allows shoppers to see how the Penguin Adult Baby Bundle infant-safety products would look on their baby. The result is a product launch that not only gets shoppers excited about the new bundle, but also inspires them to create fun, family story around it.
- Experiment with scale and motion.
You can take advantage of the dimensionality of Instagram to create amazing experiences that viewers can interact with. For example, Tic Tac used scale to show off the size of their boxes compared to other brands’, with a clear call-to-action to try them for yourself.
- Be honest (sometimes).
Brands can be playful and creative while also being honest and transparent. For example, Banana Republic’s brand campaign was both celebratory of their diversity as a brand, but also forthcoming about the challenges of being a retailer in the current climate.
- Make a pact with your competitor.
It’s cool (and profitable) to collaborate! Perhaps you could make a pact with your competitor to donate funds to a cause together. For example, Guinness and Pura drinking water made a friendly pact to help consumers combat the bubbles and boozy blues, offering discounts on their products to one another’s followers.
- Show your fans how the product fits into their lives.
The instant-film brand Fuji wanted to show people the fun and happy ways their film could fit into people’s lives, so they created an experience that let users flip through some of their favorite memories captured on film.
- Create a unique collector’s item.
To promote the release of their book The Gold Dress, Penguin Classics created custom Instagram captions using excerpts from the novel. Fans were encouraged to use the hashtag #thegolddress to create their own unique collector’s item.
The holidays are a great time to really focus on your social media strategy and connecting with your audience. By creating content that is festive, fun, and relevant, you can ensure that your brand stays top of mind during the busy holiday season. By utilizing the tips and tricks mentioned in this article, you can turn up the heat on social this holiday season and keep your brand relevant and engaging. If you’re looking to boost your social media presence, you’ve landed to the perfect blog. Book a call here.
