It’s almost almost the most wonderful time of the year. But, if you’re in the retail world, chances are you’re already entering into the prep phase, which means getting your holiday content strategy in place. What can seem initially overwhelming is actually pretty manageable, provided you take the right steps and plan ahead. We’ve outlined a few of our favorite tactics for creating a plan to guide us through the hectic season.
It seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes we have to look at ourselves with a fresh lens and remember what exactly we are selling. Gone are the days (we hope!) where advertising anti-aging cream meant garishly pushing the message that if your husband looks younger than you, you may fall into “the tragedy that overtakes so many wives.” But, that still doesn’t mean moisturizer can be sold with the message: moisturizes. What experience will someone have if they commit to your cosmetics? And for bonus points, is that experience giftable?
The ingredients you use and the stories you sow enrich the buying experience. What could have been just a face cream is a self-care ritual that harnesses the power of ancient beauty practices with raw ingredients from across the world, designed to highlight your natural radiance. So, how can we ingrain this into the minds of our customers?
Content Pillars
We are serious advocates of content pillars. These make it really easy to organize your daily social media strategy and ensure there is variation in your posts. A great starting point can be to allocate a type of image to each day of the week. For instance, a #MotivationMonday post or #SelfcareSunday routine. You can build on this and get more detailed—will this week’s posts promote a particular color scheme? Does Tuesday’s product shot feature a short-form or long-form caption? How does UGC slot in? We love to use Pinterest to build boards dedicated to each pillar. This is a great way to repost and engage with other users.
If you already approach your social media strategy with content pillars in mind, take a look back. Which posts performed really well throughout the year? Review their categories and captions and determine how best to showcase your products over the holidays.
Influencer Strategy
For indie beauty brands, creating an influencer strategy can seem like an unfathomable challenge. It shouldn’t be. For new and smaller brands, look at other brands you like or can relate to—who is tagging them? There is almost no limit in influencers and micro-influencers who want to be an authority in their field of interest. If you already have loyal fans of your brand, why fix what isn’t broken. Focus on those who already love your products and have posted about them multiple times throughout the year and build long-term partnerships. These will be your best ambassadors and allies over the holidays.
Stories and Blogs
Instagram stories have become a big part of brand strategy. These are great ways to offer bitesize content on everything from how to use your product to promoting a local event. Stories can also pique audience interest and direct them to your blog. And, blogs are like the multivitamins of your content strategy—helpful in so many ways to strengthen your core strategy. Blogs help improve your SEO and SERP rankings, while offering useful educational content to your customers. Your blog is the backbone to your experience building and equips your customer with helpful information to influence their purchasing decisions.
Scheduled Posts
Spend an hour or so now to schedule your posts, so you can focus on other things later. It can seem all too tempting to fall into a routine of finding content and posting the day of, but this is not strategic and can become a chore. Use your Instagram Insights to determine the best time of day to post based on your followers’ engagement. We recommend Later or Planoly to schedule your posts, which can either post automatically or send you a reminder. A visual plan can help you arrange your assets and manage your posts, so you don’t have to worry about it the day of.
Measurement
Which KPIs will you use to determine the efficacy of your holiday campaign? Use past benchmarks to help you form future campaigns. For instance, which posts saw the highest engagement? When was your biggest follower growth? Use these metrics to create data-driven content, strategically designed to generate results.
Use these tactics to build a story around your products—all the while asking yourself if the content complements the experience and inspires giftability. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding your holiday content strategy, or leave a comment below.
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