Holiday Season Meets Social Media

While “social media” has been around since the good old days of Usenet groups and AOL chat rooms, this past year has seen it explode in popularity with Facebook reaching 300 million users and the media bonanza about Ashton Kutcher reaching a million Twitter followers. Now, with the holiday season looming (my local Orange County Home Depot is already selling poinsettias and icicle lights!) we will see the social media juggernaut collide head on with the biggest season of the year for retailers-and those retailers are gearing up!

A recent eHoliday Study by the National Retail Federation indicates retailers are taking social media serious and are planning on using it a great deal to get their messages out: 

• Over 47% said they will be increasing their use of social media
• Over 60% have added a Facebook page, or improved their existing page
• Over 58% have added a Twitter account, or improved their existing account
• Over 66% have added a blog, or improved their existing blog

Now the question is-will any of it make a difference? It all depends on the methods being used. Unfortunately, many retailers will probably end up trying to force their traditional, square-peg marketing methods into the round hole of social media, which will return mixed results. Just because they have added a Twitter and Facebook page, doesn’t mean they are now engaging in social media if all they plan on doing is pushing ads, sales, and promotions on their customers.

It’s OK to offer these things, but you also have to add relevant content that they would not only like, but that they would also like to share with their own family and friends. Give them a reason to keep following you after the holidays are over. Don’t look at it as a marketing campaign, look as it as a step in building your presence in social media, so next holiday season, you won’t have to add or improve anything because you’re already where you need to be. And if you need help developing relevant and shareable content, don’t forget that Maples can help.