The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it will come a wave of marketing campaigns, many of which will be based out of social media platforms this year.
In the U.S. alone, customers are projected to spend $650 billion on holiday shopping, according to an Offerpop survey. And as the gifts fly off the shelves faster, 70 percent of U.S. brands are expected to coordinate social media marketing campaigns in order to bring in consumers. With massive resources expected to be invested in social media campaigns this year, it is important to understand how to properly utilize your business' online presence in order to attract customers.
The goal behind this massive social media push is, for the most part, to fuel transactions and increase brand reach, the survey found. With the huge majority of marketers taking to social media this holiday season in order to drive sales, how do small businesses break through the noise?
Below are several tips that Ross Kimbarovsky, co-founder of crowdSPRING, wrote on Mashable about how to get started on a variety of social media platforms in order to make sure your business' voice is heard this holiday season:
1. Facebook
Facebook is a great low-cost marketing solution, according to Kimbarovsky. The website offers small businesses an amazing opportunity to reach out to over 300 million users – a pretty useful retailing tool. First you will need to decide what kind of Facebook you want. A business account may sound right, but such profiles are quite limited, according to Kimbarovsky. Try making a business fan page instead. The first thing you should do with your Facebook is check out your competitors. Find out what kind of people they are reaching out to and how they are doing so. When Facebook users sign up as fans of your business, their friends will see too, significantly expanding your online presence.
2. Twitter
When you get a Twitter handle set up, a great first step is to begin searching keywords related to your business. This way you'll see how other people in your industry are utilizing Twitter for their own benefit. Another idea is to search your own store's name. Who knows, maybe the masses have already begun discussing your products. If so, then this would be a great way to discover strategies to improve your business. In addition, Kimbarovsky suggested looking into Twitter clients for your computer and phone that give you more flexibility with the social media platform.
3. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is more business-oriented than the previously mentioned social media platforms, but can also prove useful, Kimbarovsky wrote. The website has a large international user-base that can help with driving sales. Tools on LinkedIn include recommendations. With these, you can ask regular customers or local businesses to recommend you to their connections. This will help boost your credibility and drive your business up the LinkedIn search rankings. In addition, LinkedIn has a number of groups that can help you access communities of like-minded individuals or businesses.
4. Multimedia platforms
This encompasses several social media websites, and can become a very powerful marketing tool if utilized correctly. For example, you can create a YouTube account and upload videos for consumers, Kimbarovsky noted. You can use YouTube in order to reach a huge audience with your videos, and copy the embed codes in order to place them elsewhere on the Internet. For example, shoppers could enjoy a video with four financial tips for the holidays. In addition, Flickr is another multimedia site that can be used by small businesses for marketing purposes. Here you can post pictures of happy customers or useful products in order to promote your store.
Utilizing these social media platforms can significantly extend your business' brand and help drive sales this holiday season. For advice in investing on other marketing tools for the holiday season, speak with a financial services expert.