The winter holidays are a great opportunity to get creative. You can decorate your social media just like you would your house or your office.
But first of all…should you decorate anything?
Let’s see!
Any way you look at it, decorating social media is an effort. So why should you? Well, because:
The bells, the colors, the togetherness hints — all scream winter holiday. Has it gotten too commercial?
Perhaps.
But one thing is certain: people love the festive atmosphere. It gives up an opportunity to escape the usual nitty-gritty of every day. And your buyers might expect to see some bells and whistles. Which takes us to the second point.
In fact, this is the time of year when they buy the most. Presents, treats, electronics, clothing, even subscriptions, and pet food.
Everyone wants to splurge everyone. Showing off some festive graphics can signal that they have come to the right place for splurging.
Some people put their tree up before Black Friday. Others wait until December 24th.
But even the laggards know that their shopping has to be done long before that. If their home is not adorned yet, your decorations can serve as a reminder to start buying early.
And, of course, one reason to ignore the holiday craze altogether:
Whether it’s a religious reason, a cultural one, or a personal one, you know for sure that Santa hats, snowflakes, and the grab-your-tissues type of commercials don’t work on your audience.
If you’re sure about this, ignore the festive trend altogether. Really!
Never jump on a bandwagon just because everyone else is doing it. Flaunt your uniqueness and you’ll earn hoards of new customers just for daring to be different.
Not the case for your crowd? OK then, let’s see how you can get your audience in the winter holiday mood.
First of all, set some branding goals. For instance, are you looking for a full-on Santa-lives-here look or are you trying to balance holiday messages with regular ones?
The answer to the question above will dictate how far you go with your festive decorations. The suggestions below aren’t necessarily bundled together — you can skip some and go stronger on others.
Cover photos are the simplest way to send a holiday-themed message. You can create a new photo from scratch or add an overlay over your existing one.
You can also use it as a way to communicate your best promotions and discounts.
The profile picture is a coin toss that largely depends on your brand voice. For example, some platforms (like Facebook) allow you to add videos. You can simply leave your usual photo and add a video overlay with snowflakes on top. Or a Santa hat. This is a minimal change that allows you to keep a well-performing design.
Check out some winter-themed cover photos ideas here.
I’m sure you’re already planning your posts announcing discounts and special promotions. But you can do so much more to get people in a festive mood. For example:
But for the holiday season you could switch to something like this:
You know what to do here. Offer your followers a gift and make their holidays! You can do something simple as Target did:
To get the most out of your contest:
Most email marketing solutions offer an ‘edit cover’ option. Some of them will even provide you with a few festive options that you can easily personalize.
Don’t hesitate to use them, especially if you’re sending out holiday-themed emails. If you have been using some of the above tips as well, it’s a good idea to co-ordinate your graphics. For instance, your newsletter cover could be identical to the one on your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
This continuity is a building block for any branding strategy. Play with too many colors and fonts and people will have a hard time distinguishing you from the other brands that email them or that they follow on social media.
Have you ever spent more than a few hours in a shopping mall that’s been decorated for the winter holidays? If so, you may remember that, at some point, you became tired for no apparent reason.
Too many lights and too much color can do that to you. Oftentimes, drivers complain that it’s hard to distinguish traffic lights and traffic signs at night when the city has been decorated.
The same principle applies to social media holiday decorations. Too much of anything is unhealthy. So aim for a healthy balance and alternate your holiday graphics and messages with ‘regular’ ones.
