How Pinterest, Instagram & Facebook get festive on socials… and how your biz can too!
There are many indicators that Christmas is not too far away. The weather is warmer, bon bons and tinsel begin to appear in the supermarkets and our feeds become full of reposted reminders that it’s only x amount of days until the 25th (OMG, not long now!). But the markers that truly catch my eye in digi-marketer land? The slow and steady gear change on big social media platforms towards Christmas themed products, Boxing Day sales and some decor ideas that will knock your reindeer socks off! (As you may be able to tell I do enjoy this time of year...).
It’s pretty standard that these platforms get a lil serious around the festive season. Why? Well it is a GREAT time for customers and audiences to search for information, connect online with friends and family and look around for some perfect prezzies. As a result, businesses that market themselves online have the potential to gain new customers, increase their conversions and show their audience what Christmas is all about!
So to get all you hard working business owners out there ready for this exciting time, I’ve done some research on the wonderful ways in which Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram do Christmas, and the resources they have created to help you optimise their platforms for your success.
Let’s get into it! (*Blasts “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” by Michael Buble.)
Being known for its wonderful ability to act as a visual search engine for even the most simple of events, Pinny is all over Christmas and has basically been training for it ALL year. Whilst the user experience of Pinterest remains the same, they have spent their precious pinboarding time checking out what their users do during the holidays. What they search for, estimated timelines of when they start to think and plan for Christmas and most importantly for those in ecomm biz avenue, how they shop.
What’s even better is that they bundled up all of this juicy info and gave it to us like the generous bunch they are. Talk about getting into the Chrissy spirit hey? If you are a biz owner wanting to make a glittery, festive splash in your content marketing strategy and would love a bitta help then the Pinterest Festive Guide 2021 is worth a read over. You’ll get a look into the different types of shoppers that your audience may find themselves resembling, plus some fancy stats about how well businesses perform during this time of year and the tips and tricks they use to make the most of it. After all, Christmas is a holiday of family and spending time with your loved ones. But it’s also about gift giving, and can give you a great opportunity to shine brightly and engage your audience even more than you normally do!
Much like Pinterest, Facebook knows the power of its platform at Christmastime when it comes to business, content and the audiences that consume it. As a result, they have followed suit, creating their very own Holiday Insights for marketers and biz owners to read up on and utilise for some Facebook-approved content strategy - yay! Their wowza 31 market consumer research is a goodie, exploring the previous year and how the priorities and behaviours of consumers have evolved, providing a thorough as heck marketing guide that covers campaign planning, advice for the creative side of your content, shopper journeys and plenty more.
Another observation of Facebook’s enthusiasm for the holiday season and how they convey this is through introducing features in the app to make your profiles and pages that little bit more personalised. There is a Christmas animation added to the Facebook Logo that you will have spotted in the corner of your app or screen when December rolls around, as well as some cute filters to use in your Facebook Stories and who could forget those profile pic frames?
Facebook Messenger Kids even went the extra mile in previous years to give parents the opportunity to message their children as Santa Claus (titled The Santa Experience) within the app, giving them a direct link to the north pole - how good! Of course there are frames, stickers, filters and some quite awesome AR effects to also help connect kiddies with the joys of Christmas and the ability to communicate with their loved ones online with Messenger. A clever idea that brought a lot of smiles to a lot of faces.
These customisable features are a great organic way to show that you or your biz are very much into the Christmas spirit without needing to come up with a crazy ads budget!
Okay so do you remember how I was talking about Christmas and how Pinterest and Facebook release some conveniently researched know-how on what to do on the business marketing front before Santa arrives? We’ll Insta has also joined in the fun like the photo sharing, business operating multi-tasker that it is! Their Holiday Insights from Facebook IQ and How to plan for the holidays Christmas guide are perfect if you’re feeling unsure about where to start with your content, providing advice around Instagram shopping, engaging your community, goal setting and more!
For those who want to add some digital decoration to their Insta accounts in an organic way, you will be spoilt for choice with snazzy filters, gifs and stickers that will be available during December. The great thing about Instagram and Facebook is that you can use their general range of design features for Christmas all year round, which means that you can start your strategy in November or even earlier! I’m talking to you, early birds!
Whilst Christmas can feel super overwhelming from any point of view, Pinny, Facebook and Instagram know what’s up and have fun features and well researched information to teach and really support you in your content marketing strategy. Whether you are wanting to make a BANG with some serious campaigns to direct traffic or feel more inclined to focus on a Santa approved content calendar that will hustle up some engagement, there are opportunities for everyone at all price points to make this year your best and most profitable festive season yet!
Gotta go, there are some snowman gifs that need testing ASAP!