‘Twas the month before Cyber Monday and all through the world, internet marketers were caught up in the swirl.  How to make their sites better, more desirable, they wondered, and how to avoid being the sites that floundered.

Yes, the holidays are upon us and companies and agencies alike are working around the clock to make sure their sites are the ones that shoppers will go to for their purchasing needs. I’ve already offered up 10 Tips for Holiday SEO to help you bring the most traffic to your sites for the holiday shopping season, but it’s our belief that all aspects of internet marketing should be attended to and work together for the greatest effectiveness.  Social media, being already geared towards sharing and caring, should definitely be at the top of your list for holiday marketing priorities.  The holidays are all about cheer and joy, so it’s my belief that you can get a little bit more creative and adventurous with your holiday social media.  Spend a little extra time brainstorming some unique ideas that you can implement for the holiday season.  To get you started, here are 5 tips for decking out your social media presence that will bring holiday cheer to you and your customers.

1. Decorate

Just like when you decorate your house for the holidays, decorating your social media pages is an easy way to promote some cheer and make your site feel festive and inviting to visitors.  Do you have any holiday specific products?  Incorporate them into your decorating or just add holiday colors or themes to your logo or offerings.  If you have a fan-gate, put these decorations there, in your profile picture and/or in the pictures featured on your page.  Small touches like these can transform a ho-hum social media page into one that is in the spirit and that people want to visit.  Check out how Starbucks incorporated their holiday product, the Pumpkin Spice Latte, into their holiday decorations (and utilized one of my other tips).

2. Include promotions and shipping information

Shopping is an increasingly social experience, with many sites displaying reviews and options for shoppers to share purchases or potential purchases with social networks.  As a result, people are used to the idea of looking to social media for shopping ideas and information.  Take advantage of this by making your promotions and purchasing information front and center.  If you have a fan-gate, consider placing a landing page (with decorations) with your holiday promotions or holiday specific gifts, complete with product and shipping information.  If you don’t, consider making one or a similar tab for the holidays, or include this information in frequent wall posts that describe the item, how to buy it and any other pertinent information (see my 10 tips for holiday SEO for more tips on optimizing product descriptions).  The more incentive and information you can give shoppers up front, the more likely they’ll be to stick with you rather than going off to look at a different site.

3. Spread some blog cheer

It’s a great idea to make your blog your social media home base where you can house your original content that it then pushed out to other networks.  This way, people can find all of your content in one place and you can drive traffic to your own site, rather than to a social network.  Blogs are also the prime location for more lengthy posts.  For the holidays, consider posting about gift ideas or ideas for activities, including your product or services, and include who the gift or activity would be perfect for, how to buy or any other instructions for the activity, and other important information like promotions, shipping or purchasing information.  Include videos and pictures to make shopping an enjoyable experience and really make your offerings stand out.  Also, include a “buy” button on the blog post to make it easy for shoppers to get to your product.  Nothing is worse for an ecommerce shopper than wanting to buy something, but having to go through 10 steps to get to that point.  Make it easy for them to get what they want for the holidays.

4. Easy purchasing makes for happy shoppers

Don’t just limit “buy” buttons to your blog and website.  “F-commerce”, as shopping activity through Facebook has been termed, is a great opportunity for many companies.  People are more likely to buy things that their friends or other trusted consumers already like.  Consider placing quick links to buy products in your posts so that people can go from seeing that 1,150 people “Like” your Authentic Elf Cookie Basket to eating those cookies in just a click or two.

5. Holiday word-of-mouth promotions

Finally, it’s the holiday season and the holiday season is a time when people are feeling a bit Scroogier due to the economy.  Everyone is going to be looking for a deal for their holiday shopping needs and will appreciate and gravitate towards companies that realize this.  You can couple holiday promotions with your marketing efforts by creating custom promotions for the holidays.  For example, “Everyone likes cookies. ReTweet this for a chance to win 5 free cookie gift baskets from Grandma’s Cookie Company,” and include the link to the cookies “buy” page.  Or, on Facebook, reward new fans who “like” your page with a coupon for 10% off their next purchase from you or create a post asking people to share their favorite flavor of your cookies on your wall for an entry into a contest to win free cookies for life.  You get the idea.  You can be as creative and as customized as you wish, but holiday promotions are most definitely a relatively quick and easy way to spread the word and get new shoppers to your page.

It should be noted that, while e-Commerce companies can and should take advantage of these tips to optimize their sites and presences for the holidays, other companies or organizations can get into the holiday spirit using these tips, as well.  Are you a non-profit that operates using public funds?  Start a holiday donation promotion just like the ones suggested above and deck your site out for the holidays.  While people may be looking to tighten their wallets, the holidays tend to make people feel more generous and this is a prime opportunity to get people on board with your cause.  If you offer services, consider creating your own holiday messaging and promotions to offer through social media.  To summarize, social media is one of the best channels for holiday marketing due to its social nature and should be included in your holiday marketing plans.

Don’t be left out in the cold this holiday season; take advantage of these tips to add some “Fa-la-la” to your social media presence and make it a welcoming destination that everyone wants to visit.

Tags: eCommerce, online shopping, SMM, social, Social Media

This entry was posted on Friday, October 28th, 2011 at 10:22 am and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.