December is an awkward month, isn’t it? For some small businesses, it’s one of the busiest times of the year, and for others, it’s an opportunity to take time off. With the nights drawing in early and your employed friends enjoying staff dos, motivation doesn’t always come easily.
As a result, social media tends to get deprioritised. Unfortunately, December is also a month when people like to spend and when communities come together.

So how can you get the best of both worlds in three easy steps?

Step 1 – Start planning now

Take some time this week to think about what you want to say through December. Take a piece of paper and write down what December means for you and your business. What do you love about this time of year?
Trying to think of a post at the last minute while ten thousand other things are going on, is virtually impossible. Find a bit of time and a quiet spot and plan out all your December posts. At first, plan out the general ideas of each post and then go into detail. Will there be an image or video? Do you want to tag anyone? What keywords do you want to include? What hashtags will you use?
Remember that December is an awkward month for everyone, not just for small business owners. Try to keep your posts short, fun and easy to engage with. Ask your followers questions and show that you care about them.

Step 2 – Schedule ahead

Can you imagine having all your December posts scheduled by the end of November? It doesn’t even have to cost you a penny!
Do you use Canva to create your images? Did you know you can link Canva to your Social Media platforms and use it as a scheduling tool? If you want to see your whole content calendar in one place, it’s perfect. I often use Canva scheduling for my clients, but there are some limitations. The main two are that you can’t tag people and the character limit is shorter.

Many platforms have their own scheduling options, but again there are limitations. For example, you have to use your browser to schedule to Twitter.

Step 3 – Engage with your followers

As I mentioned before, December is a month when communities come together. Throughout the year you’ve been building up a follower base. You’ve managed to get a group of people to think “This is alright, I wouldn’t mind seeing more posts from this business.” Now is the time when you can get people to become fans of your business – and to do that you need to engage with them! What does that involve?
♦ Now that you’ve got some fun posts scheduled to go out that are easy for people to comment on, you need to make sure you reply to every single comment. If you can, keep the conversation going and reply with a question.
♦ Spend ten minutes a day scrolling down your feed. It’s very easy to tap the like button and to keep scrolling. If you find yourself liking a post, take a moment and comment on it.
♦ Spend five minutes a day looking at posts from a specific hashtag. Some days, focus on a hashtag that your “competitors” use – build on what they’ve said and add something to the conversation. On other days, focus on a hashtag that your ideal client might use – make them intrigued and discreetly lead them to your profile.

By commenting on a post you are helping the creator, you are reaching their followers and you’re showing off your expertise to your followers. During these 15 minutes, try to remember to keep your current business goals in mind!

I know what you’re thinking; wasn’t the whole point of this blog post to help you spend more time away from Social Media? Well, yes, but it was also about helping you make the most out of Social Media through December. That’s why Ace of Media can take care of Step 3 for you. My “Stay Social this Festive Season” packages start at just £50!