I always refused to think about Christmas until after Halloween. I’d get annoyed by shops having both Halloween decorations and Christmas decorations next to each other. Around the 15th of December, I might make Christmas Day plans and you’ll usually find me Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve – or on Christmas Eve Eve at best!
And yet, this week I’ll be asking my clients about their Christmas plans.
Here are 7 questions to ask yourself today:
1. Will you be closing for Christmas?
Your followers don’t need to know yet if you’re closing for Christmas or not. But if you are closing, or if you have a last day for Christmas orders, that will affect your marketing plan.
Personally, although I tend to have a hectic time between Christmas and New Year, it doesn’t affect my clients at all.
2. When do you need to start promoting your Christmas specials?
Thankfully, not everyone is as last minute as I am about Christmas, and people will want to start buying presents soon – if they haven’t already. If you’re running Christmas Specials or hosting a Christmasy event, you want to give yourself a minimum of six weeks to spread the word. And, ideally, start building up the excitement and teasing about it eight to ten weeks in advance.
Personally, except for this blog, I’m not mentioning Christmas until November 1st. Partly because I love Halloween, but mainly because I don’t have to worry about postage and I’m not planning anything special.
3. What goal would you like to reach by the end of the year?
Have a look at your insights. What would you like to improve by the end of the year? An obvious one might be that you want to reach a certain number of followers. Remember though that your reach is a very important insight to track. Now, what can you do to make sure you achieve that goal?
4. Will the frequency of your posts change for December?
December is a great month to post daily. Social media advent calendars are great for growing your reach and engagement. It might be that you share a tip, a discount code or a motivational quote every day in the lead-up to Christmas. By providing value on a daily basis, you might see your number of profile visits increase as well!
Posting daily might sound impossible, but with a nice template and some scheduling, the posts for an advent calendar can come together very quickly.
I’m planning to run an advent calendar this year and I’d like it all scheduled by mid-November. What would you rather see – quick tips or post ideas?
5. When do you need to plan for January?
Usually, I’ll get a content plan ready for my client around the 20th of the previous month, but January gets planned earlier. If you spend early-December rushing to get all your 2023 chores off your to-do list and spend late-December out of the office, you might want to make in note in your calendar to plan for January in November.
6. Have you considered a Christmas Collaboration?
Collaborations are great year-round but, if you ask me, there’s something really special about two businesses joining forces around Christmas time. If you’re going to fit this collaboration into your marketing plan (and into theirs!), you’ll need to start reaching out to people this month.
7. Do you need short-term support?
Did you know I offer short-term support? That might be to help you create a marketing plan for your Christmas Specials, it might be to help you get your December posts scheduled, or it might be to actively engage for you while you enjoy some time off.
Thanks for reading! I share a blog like this one every other Tuesday, and if you feel like they help your social media presence, and more importantly, your business – then please consider leaving a tip.
Tesni xx
