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Get Customers Ready for the Holidays with Social Media and Email Marketing

Can you believe the holidays are upon us already?

With the busiest shopping days (and therefore busiest days for marketers) quickly approaching, you’ll want to make sure you can maximize the impact of your efforts. In particular, you’ll want your email and social media content is share worthy. This way your current audience will help you spread the word about your business to their friends, who make great prospects for shopping with you this holiday season.

So, how do you create share-worthy content? Here are 3 ideas:

1. Pay attention to what your fans, followers, and readers really want

If you want your business to be part of your customers’ holiday plans this season, you’re going to need to deliver content they actually care about. This is especially important during the holidays when your customers are not only busy, but are also being bombarded by content from a number of other businesses fighting for their attention.

Use a survey to collect feedback, sending it to all of your email subscribers and posting it on your Facebook Page. Ask your fans what they are most interested in receiving from your business this holiday season and use that customer feedback to not only improve the content your sending out, but to also better target your messages by segmenting your email contact list.

2. Be a resource, not just a sales pitch

While the holidays are—without a doubt—a time for celebration and giving thanks, they are also a time of great stress for a lot of your customers. Don’t add to that stress by overwhelming them with salesly content and aggressive promotion; instead provide them with something they can actually use this holiday season.

It can be something as simple as advice for preparing their shopping list, tips for throwing a dinner party, or even a special coupon for subscribers only. Post tips on Facebook or share articles on Twitter. If your business uses Pinterest, consider creating boards to give your followers inspiration leading up to the holiday season.

Start your holiday promotion by helping your customers; they’ll remember it when it comes time to buy.

3. Remember what works during the other seasons

Not everything changes during the holiday season. The best practices and strategies you use in your email marketing and social media throughout the year will not only still be effective in November and December, but they will help you engage your customers in September and October and get them ready for the holiday push. Using rich media, like photos and videos for example, is a great way to start building that excitement.

Think about the types of things we’ve already talked about: providing exclusive content, being a resource, not being too promotional—photos are a great way to accomplish all of these things. Post pictures from past holidays or give a sneak peak at new products, and then ask your fans to comment, like, or share.

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Gina Watkins is a leading expert on e-marketing for small business – and has a real passion for helping businesses to succeed. Her ongoing series of dynamic lectures are filled with real-world examples, humor and results-driven wisdom garnered from more than two decades of sales, business development and marketing experience. In addition to owning her own business, she is an award-winning direct marketer, has been featured on WUSA Channel 9’s Mind Over Money show, Dr. Gayle Carson’s Women In Business radio show, Morgan State’s Briefcase Radio program, and in numerous other media. In her role as Constant Contact Regional Development Director, she’s presented to more than ten thousand seminar attendees about the keys to success with easy, affordable, highly effective technology tools that grow trusted business relationships.

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