Marketing During the Holiday Season

Well, the holiday season is upon us. This week, in the U.S. we will celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas is fast approaching. This is a huge time of year for retail, restaurants and other businesses as people take time off, buy gifts, spend time with family and take advantage of special offers and sales.

Holiday Marketing

Because more stores, restaurants and businesses offering specials and sales during this time of year, there is more noise to compete with. Consumers are bombarded with ads from every angle. If you want to be heard this time of year, you may consider increasing the amount of messages you publish to social media, run more events on "off" nights (such as the middle of the week) and make your promotions can't miss opportunities.

This time of the year is one of the most competitive. If you don't want to be missed, you have to make sure your offers/events are heard and you have to make them worth coming to. Remember that most every other business is also running a sale. Let people know why yours is better.

Cyber Monday

Don't forget about Cyber Monday. If you have an e-commerce website or even if you allow people to purchase gift cards or simple items online, make sure to take advantage of Cyber Monday. Every year, millions of people participate in an online shopping surge the Monday after Thanksgiving. Make sure your business or restaurant does not miss out.

Play Off the Current Events and Holidays

Back in July (in honor of the Olympics), we presented a Tuesday Tip with suggestions for playing off of current events and pop culture with your events and promotions. These type of themes promotions can be used even by small businesses and give your marketing a sense of relativeness and freshness.

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Monitor Twitter Keywords and Generate Leads

In the Social Conversation Area of Squareberry, there are three main sections: Search, Social Feeds and Inbox. The Search section allows you to monitor keywords on Twitter. Any keywords you add will be on the left tabs and feed in public tweets using those keywords.

Search Tips

1. Use quotation marks to search for phrases. When you are inputting a search term, you can add quotation marks to search for the whole phrase. If you search for multiple words without quotation marks, your results will include Tweets with those keywords, though the words may be separate in the tweet.

2. Add Local Terms. Use your city name, neighborhoods, or local phrases to help bring in Tweets from people talking about your specific area. There are so many Tweeters out there, you want to do the best you can to bring in the best possible leads.

Reply to New Leads

Social conversation goes both ways. Not only will you monitor what is being said, but you can easily join the conversation. Hit "Reply" next to any of the Tweets in your search and you can instantly reply to that person. Recommend your business, answer their questions or even ask for feedback.

Think of these Tweeters as leads. Everyone out there Tweeting is a potential customer or new follower. The more you engage and be part of the conversation, the more traction your can gain, people you can influence and business you can generate.