Ask Ashley- "Ashley, Christmas is in a few weeks and I have done no FEStive social media activity? - do you have any quick tips for me?"

So, we have a little under two weeks until the big day and Christmas provides a great opportunity to promote, engage and interact one last time before the herald of a new year.

There is still time to inject a last-minute Christmas social media marketing strategy. Here are my starters for ten:
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Send a digital Christmas cardDesign and create your own digital Christmas card easily, quickly and cost-effectively by using some online tools that can help you get your Christmas greeting presented in a seamless way. My favourite is Spark from Adobe that can provide you with the best tools available on a free sign-up. Send on to stakeholders, colleagues and contacts if you have emails, but better still post on social media and use the common hashtags like #Christmas #MerryChristmas, include industry hashtags too (see below or more popular hashtags)

https://spark.adobe.com/make/card-maker/christmas/

I always think it is nice to create bespoke Christmas cards for each country of the world you have clients, teams and social media following,

• French: Joyeux Noël
• German: Frohe Weinachten
• Spanish: Feliz Navidad
• Italian: Buon Natale
• Portuguese: Feliz Natal
• Dutch: Vrolijk kerstfeest
• Romanian: Crăciun fericit
• Polish: Wesołych świąt Bożego Narodzenia
• Swedish: God Jul
• Czech: Veselé Vánoce
  
  

A digital Christmas card can also provide you with analytics so you’ll know exactly how many people watched, opened and clicked through your communication. This is really useful if you want to see especially how each country reacts to your social media Christmas activity.

Christmas blogsIn the crowded online Christmas market, an insightful Christmas themed blog will give your social media marketing a point of difference, and a way to engage your social media audience and drive them back to your website.

Here are some pointers for Christmas content that will prove clickable:
Retail - Trends, stats and behaviour from shoppers on the high street are always good click-bait.

Oil and Gas - Conduct a retrospect of the last 12 months and the successes that will see the team have a wonderful Christmas.

Security - Talk about facts and figures of crime rates, etc at this time of year.

Education - Asses the lead up to the Christmas break and the highlights within education in the last year. Bring in the end of year statistics and pay respect to the teachers and students for hard work in a tough climate.

Technology - Trends in technology are big at Christmas, whether it be with small gadgets or technology that is shaping the industry, talk about it as if you are educating on a 'Technology Wishlist' for Christmas and beyond.

Launch an incentive discounts, incentives and competitions are a good tactic to include within your social media plan as they give you the opportunity to grow your audience, increase your engagement and outreach to B2B and B2C environments.

The 12 Days of Christmas concepts work well if you have offers that you can commit to a 12 day period. A 10% discount, BOGOF, free content, or a trial of a product can work well with this incentive. It may be a good time to weave in a customer satisfaction survey too - find out what your customer/client base is thinking and use it within an end of year report, use social media hashtagsUsing the proper hashtag can get you exposed and grow your followers, especially this time of the year. Here are some of the best hashtags you can use during the festive season with approximate numbers of hashtags users across all social media channels:

#merrychristmas (30.3 million)
#happychristmas (1.1 million)
#christmasdeals (23.5k)
#christmassale (246k)
#merrychristmastoall (69.8k)
#happychristmastoall (2.2k)
#merrychristmaseveryone (198k)
#merrychristmasyall (57k)
#merrychristmastoyou (9.2k)
#happychristmasholidays (2.3k)
#happychristmastime (2.9k)
#christmasgift (2.5 million)
#christmasgiftideas (202k)
#christmasgiftguide (20.1k)
#christmasgiftbox (2.6k)
#christmasgiftsforher (7.7k)
#christmasgiftsforhim (2.1k)
#christmasgiveaway (62k)
#christmascontest (6k)
#xmassale (32k)
#xmasoffer (1.8k)
#xmasdeals (2.9k)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  Last year I volunteered at Reading Family Aid. It was absolutely heartbreaking to read some of the children’s wish-lists...a teenage girl requests some nail varnish and clothing, a 4-year-old requests lego and a ball. They can’t and don’t request the new iPhone, expensive headphones, computer games, etc - just small requests. I am thankful I have never struggled, but the reality is the people I walk alongside in this country every day do. This type of community outreach and local charity initiative is obviously a great thing to do to help those who are less fortunate and to raise awareness of some great causes. Do something small or just donate and support a charity on social media and showcase your values as a company that understands its CSR.
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Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!