Ho-ho-ho! Brace your social media strategy for Christmas

Supermarket aisles are full of baubles, lights and small figurines of Santa Claus. The shopping spree is definitely getting there and it is hard not to feel Christmassy – the same goes for social media.

Marketers and e-commerce managers need to come up with Christmas marketing ideas and implement them quickly, otherwise, their competitors will do it, stealing their clients. What’s more – Christmas is not the only thing they need to take care of in terms of marketing.

The Black Week is coming and e-commerce owners have to think about deals of the year for then, but the year is coming to an end, too, so making some summaries would not hurt either. How to not go crazy during such a busy period?

What to do to shine bright (like a Christmas candle) on social media? What are the most common mistakes, but also practices to follow? How to bundle up your social media strategy before Christmas with some great Christmas posts?

So many questions, not too many answers, so let us provide you with some of them. Below, you’ll find some social media strategies examples that you can follow, as well as more inspiration and Christmas marketing ideas you can use as your social media strategy plan example.

How important is social media in terms of Christmas?

The statistics speak for themselves. Consumers go crazy over Christmas and are more often heading to social media for some advice, shopping impulses and actual purchases. According to Wordstream statistics, 68% of shoppers visit YouTube on their smartphones to determine what to buy. NRF reports that 55% of Christmas shopping will take place online.

Social media plays a crucial role in Christmas marketing. With wide audiences waiting for new offers and communication on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, marketers have easy access to many potential clients.

It does not come as a surprise, then, that social media teams plan their activities so far in advance. Some of them start as early as… when the previous Christmas period comes to an end. You’ll see such examples later on. 

What to take into account when planning Christmas posts?

Christmas marketing ideas are great, but after all, they are only ideas that won’t mean much without proper execution. You need to implement them using e.g. social media posts. What should you consider when publishing them?

• Are they compliant with your social media strategy? It is easy to be blown away with too much Christmassy decor, but you should always make sure that your posts stay in line with your strategy. It also applies to such “details” as the colour palette or font.
  
  
• The Pre-Christmas period is a no-mercy one. You won’t have much time or space for testing here, you should rather rely on some tactics (e.g. referral marketing) that you’ve checked before. That is why you shouldn’t plan it too late. Recognize when your followers are the most active and try to plan your strategy around it, too! It can give some indication as to what time is best to post on social media.
  
  
• Believe us or not – you will have a lot of work to do before Christmas, and social media posts may actually be a lower priority for you. But some things you can, and should, plan in advance – social media communication is one of them. Then, during the actual Pre-Christmas period in marketing, you will have to focus on community management, paid advertising and handling customer service. Coming up with some Christmas post ideas only then can waste a lot of your time. Plan your social media manager’s working day and have clear task management at your disposal.

All you want for Christmas… is a plan.

A set of social media tactics for you to apply.

There is no good strategy without a plan! It is not a bad idea to actually start all over again and create some Christmas-exclusive tactics. This social media marketing strategy template we published earlier in the year can be really helpful for you.

SWOT

You should definitely start your activities from SWOT analysis. What are your strong points regarding your strategy? What are the weaknesses you should be aware of? Where could be your big chance during that busy Christmas period, and what should you consider as a threat? The sooner, and more comprehensive, you make it, the better for you.

Target group

We guess that you know it already, but you can always get to know it better. Find out what kind of communication they like the most and try to wear it like some Christmas jumpers. What do they like? What makes them sad? What makes their hearts melt? Get to know them as if they would be your BFF.

In your social media marketing strategy template, you should recognize who your personas are and how willing they are to purchase anything from your store or interact with your communication.

Competition

Many social media managers completely miss this point here. They do not check what their competitors are doing, or they only check a few sites and that is all. You need to check their Christmas posts and other Christmas marketing ideas in order not to copy… or to get inspired. No copy-paste here, you’ll be spotted in seconds!

Big idea

What should be the main motto of your campaign? What is the password to your clients’ hearts? You’ll see some great examples below.

Communication lines & channels

What channels should you choose? It is better to conquer two or three instead of trying to be everywhere, especially when your resources are limited. Choose lines for your Christmas marketing ideas and start making them true!

However, remember that social media marketing plan examples are not going to be sufficient during this time without proper research. As the clock is ticking, you don’t have a lot of time for testing.

Checklist – what should you do before you launch your Christmas communication / campaign?

• make sure that you planned Christmas posts on each and every platform you involve into communication. Don’t leave any crucial platform unattended.
• get your customer service ready for more potential enquiries, especially when you offer a special deal.
• double-check whether there are no bottlenecks on your website or in your shop online. If you miss this point, you can face some consequences later on – low conversion, high bounce rate, decrease in customer satisfaction, and therefore, long story short, less income. Even the best Christmas marketing ideas may be in vain if your website will not be functional.
• strengthen your community management – you may encounter more interactions than ever before, so be prepared for answering quickly and on point, both under your Christmas posts and to private messages.
• check what your competitors are doing once a day. You can check their profiles manually, use Facebook Ads Library to find out what posts they promote, and also check channels outside of social media.
• follow marketing groups regularly in order to find out about the latest updates and news that you can still apply to your communication and social media marketing plan templates. 
• have a handy set of all graphics and creatives in case you’d need them for other marketing activities. And that may happen when you do not expect it to. For example, prepare a set of Christmas cover photos that you can use on every platform, going along with your Christmas posts.

Great social media strategies examples

While brands are not particularly willing to share their thoroughly planned social media strategy plan examples, you can take a look at their efforts anyway and try to figure out whether you can transfer any of these insights to your social media marketing strategy template for Christmas. Below, you’ll find a few Christmas marketing ideas implemented by brands all over the world.

#SeeMyWish – BVLGARI

Our first social media marketing strategy example had a really simple mechanism – every time someone either shared a special video or took a selfie, and published it with the #SeeMyWish hashtag on social media, BVLGARI donated $1 for children in need to a leading charity organization Save the Children. The campaign quickly reached their $250,000 goal with shared Christmas posts, but the brand decided to double the donation, giving a jaw-dropping $500,000 for this beautiful purpose.

Key learning: you can use a simple mechanism for making things viral. Even if you are not able to follow BVLGARI’s steps, you can make it on a smaller scale.

Reach out and gift – Sephora

We all know that Sephora loves spicing up the marketing game, so it does not come as a surprise that we chose it as one of our social media strategies examples.

In their Christmas campaign called Reach out and gift, Sephora decided to involve their employees in holiday communication and implement their Christmas marketing ideas with some of their crew.

Over a thousand of them had a task to accomplish – to show, in the form of video – what they consider as beauty. 10 of them were lucky winners, chosen for a special photoshoot, which then featured in store windows and social media campaigns.

They became models of the brand, and soon after Sephora revealed that some of them had started working on Sephora’s YouTube channel and other marketing activities.

Key learning: involve your team members or employees in holiday communication and social media marketing plan templates – they may become a great source of unveiled creativity, creating a real bond with your brand. 

#MontyThePenguin by John Lewis

More social media strategies examples? John Lewis always cracks us up with Christmas adverts, but the one from the year 2014 is one of their best creatives. Even if it all revolves around TV advert, it was surrounded by many social media posts and additional marketing activities, which was crucial for its overall success. 

What is the #MontyThePenguin campaign?

It was a massive commercial success – not only did it get astounding millions of views, but it is still considered as the best John Lewis Christmas ad and one of the best Christmas adverts of our times. Needless to say that the cute penguin teddy bear was sold out on Amazon, and it was very likely a record-breaking penguin there being bought for as much as £500!

Well, see yourself what kind of Christmas marketing ideas amazed people back in 2014. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSxOjBIjyhI

Key learning: if you work in a company that dedicates almost all of its financial resources to TV advertisements, do not forget about social media anyway. It can be a great extension of your current efforts and Christmas marketing ideas that your clients and potential clients will see on TV. John Lewis would not be that successful with the aforementioned campaign if not the fact that they made the most of social media, and made the video go viral.

#KevinTheCarrot

Who would have thought that you can make a campaign about… a carrot? ALDI in the UK brought one of the most common Christmas vegetables back to life, wrapping them up in a lovely, heartwarming story. They decided to continue this social media marketing strategy example over the following years, thanks to both critical acclaim and client satisfaction. Kevin’s exploits encourage many to follow their lead!

While it was mainly a TV campaign, it had quite a few accompanying posts on social media including cliffhangers and trailers of the campaign. It got to the point where people were guessing what would happen next!

Key learning: If something was a Christmas blockbuster, try to continue the saga – as Aldi UK did. Christmas marketing ideas of… a carrot worked out beautifully for this brand.

Extras: take a look at Aldi UK’s Instagram. Incredibly inspiring and one of only a few to implement a grid so nicely!

Allegro  – English for beginners

This social media marketing strategy example comes from Poland and… we can feel the impact of inspiration from UK campaigns here – some storytelling that makes your heart melt. We are not going to spoil it for you, but you may shed a tear (well, we did). 

The campaign was widely shared on social media, and YouTube became the main channel for the broadcasting of this particular advert. While we don’t know what social media strategy plan example they followed in particular, we can say without a doubt that YouTube and Facebook played a crucial role, and relying on trusted insights took them places.

Key learning: Watch insights and Christmas marketing ideas around you. This advert was spot on because it touches the difficult time of Christmas for many (we won’t spoil it!), but also because it learned some lessons from other markets. Following these contributed to the success of this social media marketing strategy example.

Ideas for post formats and activities

• Christmas contests and giveaways – people love participating in Christmassy competitions! Make sure that you prepare some amazing contests for them and choose the prize carefully. Some Christmas marketing ideas for contests could be to publish a photo of some Christmas cakes or describe a perfect Christmas evening. For example, if you run a local business, be sure that you reach the right people from your area. If your business is local, your prizes should be local too. People from London probably won’t be delighted with tickets for a show in Edinburgh. Your followers from NYC won’t fly over to Seattle just to see one comedy gig either. Even if you don’t have a huge budget for contests, you can add something small to your social media strategy plan example for Christmas.
  
  
• Special offers – everyone adores and actually awaits deals, so prepare something special for your followers and surprise them with a great deal. Presenting offers in carousels gives you some opportunities to show your offer in a new light. This format plays well for Dynamic Product Ads, too.
  
  
• Short videos – some people seem to worry that preparing a professional video clip takes a lot of time – that is true! However, with many online creators, it does not have to take that much effort, and you should add them to your social media marketing plan templates! Give it a go, in many social media strategies examples you can see that videos during Christmas deliver amazing results.
  
  
• Instagram Stories – you need to make the most of Instagram! Not using Instagram Stories is one of the crucial mistakes you can make on Instagram. There are many native features that you can use, such as polls or questions, so there is no excuse for you not to use them. It goes without saying that with nicely designed Stories you can achieve more, and your social media marketing strategy template can shine bright like a diamond.
  
  
• Christmas design – do you decorate your house for Christmas? You should do the same with your social media profiles. Prepare some Christmas profile pics and Christmas cover photos for Facebook, but also Christmas cover photos for other platforms. 

How to measure the success of your Christmas social media marketing plan? 

KPI & ROI. They are not buzzwords or made-up abbreviations, they are actually indicators of your Christmas performance. Are you snowed in by orders, or instead are your results quite poor?

Track in real time all of the important metrics: sales, CPM, CPC or CPL. Measure reach in your target group. Take a look at engagement and engagement rate too, if your campaign is just to raise brand awareness.

Depending on the goal of the campaign, you may be looking at different things. Your social media marketing plan templates should consist of a set of KPIs that is clear to the whole team responsible for social media.

Wrap it up!

We hope that our short guide will not only get you right in the Christmas mood, but also inspire you to create amazing social media marketing plan templates and come up with some Christmas marketing ideas to win your customers’ hearts.

You don’t have to be a big fish to make some buzz around your brand in this magical period – just take a look at the competition and your resources, and try to find all of the ingredients for a tasty, heartwarming campaign like one of the great social media marketing strategy examples that we shared above.

It is one hell of a ride during this crazy time, so you better prepare your content in advance and get it approved by all concerned parties before the shopping haul hits. If you decide to get into content optimization and create posts based on some of these social media marketing strategy templates and examples, it’s great to get approval from your clients. With Kontentino, your Christmas strategy planning can be totally hassle-free.

Remember it is not enough to achieve your business goals during this time, you need to keep an eye on community management, customer service and paid advertising as well – but at least, with a bit of help, you can get your Christmas posts sorted. Also, make the most of the social media strategy plan example we published earlier this year on our blog. Just add a bit of Christmas glitter there and you’re good to go!