According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 40 percent of consumers begin their holiday shopping by Halloween. And this year shoppers will be watching their wallets especially carefully because of inflation.

The big-box stores, including Walmart and Target, have already started their holiday deals, including early markdowns and price matching. They’re trying to help shoppers spread out their spending over a longer period, by enticing them with bigger bargains earlier in the season.

So if you don’t already have a holiday social media marketing plan in place, here’s what you need to do—as soon as possible.

  1. Create a plan and a schedule

What promotions will you offer, and how will you promote them? Do you have sharp, colorful photos of products that are also optimized for mobile devices? What products or services can you highlight in short videos or Reels?

In addition to the big shopping days—Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday—you can create special event days of your own leading up to the holidays.

Then decide:

  • what kind of discounts you can afford to offer
  • what offers you’ll feature throughout the season
  • when you’ll offer each promotion

Don’t forget to provide post-holiday deals to help sweeten your bottom line.

Then decide when you’ll post to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or send out your newsletter or emails. Facebook and Twitter both allow you to schedule posts well in advance, so schedule as many posts as you can early in the season.

Remember that with more people working from home these days, they have more opportunities to shop online at all hours; so don’t restrict your communications to just evenings and weekends.

  1. Generate interest

Use discounts, coupons, promo codes, contests, giveaways, and flash sales. Tease upcoming sales. And sprinkle your posts and emails with holiday images to set the mood.

Remember that social media is all about visuals, so be sure to post plenty of photos and videos of your products or services. Include videos of unusual ways to use your products, and how-to’s, if necessary, just as you would if they were in a brick-and-mortar store.

Create holiday gift boxes, which are always a hit because they look impressive to recipients and take the guesswork out of shopping for the givers. Gift certificates are more popular than ever for busy shoppers who want to be sure to please recipients.

Do a holiday countdown, with a daily contest: the 99th follower of the day wins a 50 percent off coupon; anyone who leaves their email address gets a 10 percent discount; etc.

  1. Give to get

The word “free” in any sales promotion is a guaranteed attention grabber. So offer freebies to increase interest in your product or service.

For example, in-store shoppers could receive a free holiday candle in exchange for providing their email address, or offer online shoppers a free ebook in your area of expertise. And always provide hints, tips, advice, ideas, recipes and so on, if not in every post, at least every few days.

Amazon Prime has trained online shoppers to expect free shipping, and surveys show it’s the biggest driver of online sales. So be prepared to offer it, not necessarily on every item, but for instance on purchases that total a specific price point, say $50. This not only satisfies the bargain hunter but also encourages them to buy more to reach the free shipping limit.

  1. Give them a little push

Holiday shoppers are overwhelmed with sales and promotional offers, so be sure to keep your sales message simple, and make it easy for them to buy: a clear (working) link to your website, a single swipe or click to purchase (or as few as possible).

Always include a clear call to action on every email and post: “Buy now,” “Click here to buy.”

And add a sense of urgency to your campaigns by letting them know their purchase window is short: “This offer ends at midnight Friday,” or, “Inventory is limited: Don’t miss out on this great deal!”

  1. Stay in touch

At this time of year, frustration runs high, so if your customers can’t resolve a problem quickly, they’ll abandon you and go elsewhere.

Surveys show that approximately 40 percent of social media consumers expect a response to a complaint within sixty minutes.

And remember that some platforms like Facebook provide a public “response time” rating for your business. So it’s even more important to quickly acknowledge every post, review, and mention on social media.

If you need help finding ways to maximize your holiday sales through effective social media marketing, contact us today!