Jolly Old St. Nick may be a luddite of sorts (as far as we know, he still employs an old-fashion sleigh and a generous dose of magic to get most of his work done) but that doesn’t mean he can’t teach you a thing or two about how to use social media. Here are some tips, straight from Santa’s Workshop, to help you out in the final stretch towards Christmas.
It Takes a (Christmas) Village
Santa doesn’t do it all on his own. He has an entire workshop of elves working full time to help him out. In the same way, it’s important to get everyone on your team thinking about the ways they can maximize your business’s presence on social networks. Customer service representatives can field incoming questions, while marketing associates can be on hand at events live-tweeting or uploading pictures to Instagram.
As long as all efforts are connected to an overarching strategy led by a dedicated user, there’s no reason to fear too many cooks in the kitchen. Assign one person to be the dedicated user. They’ll be responsible for filtering content and making sure the overall message is cohesive while the other elves work away.
It Doesn’t Pay to be Naughty
A good social media strategy is all about transparency, but when you’re being honest and open, it can be hard to conceal your flaws. In an age where your customers know more about you than ever before, it pays to be nice–not naughty. Throwing an epic tantrum online every time something doesn’t go your way is a sure ticket to getting coal in your stocking.
He Sees You When You’re Sleeping, He Knows When You’re Awake
Okay, so that particular line has always struck us as more than a little bit creepy, but it does shine a light on an important aspect of your social strategy: monitoring. If you’ve built a strong online presence on your social networks throughout the year, don’t be surprised to see an uptick of traffic during the holiday season. That’s because more people are doing online shopping than ever before.
Just take a look at this year’s blockbuster Cyber Monday sales. The holidays are an essential time to keep a closer eye on your social networks because customers expect you to answer questions about things like shipped packages and special deals. Ignoring questions on social media is a sure way to encourage customers to move on.
Keep an Open Ear
You can walk into any mall in America and find an attentive Santa carefully listening, poised to grant holiday wishes as best he can. Listen to what your customers are saying on social media. Do they wish you had special holiday hours so they can sneak in some holiday shopping? Are they hungry for end-of-the-year deals? Like Santa, you may not be able to fulfill every Christmas list, but by carefully listening to your customers, you’ll have a better idea of what they really want from you.
The biggest lesson of all? Keep things jolly. It’s the holiday season, after all. It’s a time of year to make sure your customers know you’re grateful for them, so be generous and create special coupons, in-store events and exclusive deals to give something back! Only Santa Claus can go around the world in one night and grant everyone’s wishes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t contribute to making the holiday season special for the people who support your business all year round.
