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The use of social media at Christmas-time is a critical way to boost engagement and reach for any campaigns or messaging our clients may have. Here are six things our exec’s are doing for their client’s this Christmas and why it’s important for the overall marketing campaign objectives.
According to Hootsuite, half a billion people watch Instagram stories daily. Stories are an underrated tool for brands to use to keep their audience engaged. The Instagram algorithm is always changing and we know you don’t always see the most recent posts from your followers on your home page. However, we know that if we look at Instagram stories, we’re seeing fresh and relevant content that was posted within the last 24 hours. When promoting a client’s campaigns, scheduling a campaign creative to go live on stories every other day ensures this is instilled in follower’s minds, almost like social media subliminal messaging, if there was ever such a thing! Be careful though, too many stories can turn followers off from clicking through. We recommend up to seven stories a day for maximum follower retention. You can also save these in a highlight on the page for customers to look back on. Nothing on social media ever truly goes away!
If you find that engagement is quite low or you’re still not quite hitting your KPI’s, a giveaway or competition on your page works wonders for boosting up those statistics. Social media competitions are also a cost-effective marketing solution, allowing you to achieve results with minimal investment, especially if your ad spend budget isn’t too high. With competitions, we can also target specific audiences and build a strong brand community. Brand community is at the heart of the shopping centre/retail business, as it fosters retention, and in-turn means more sales. In short, competitions are a great way to drive brand awareness and audience engagement without directly promoting yourself, it’s a fun and interactive way for people to engage with your brand. Tie this in with Christmas and you are also targeting the time of the year where giving back is at its utmost high, meaning engagement will also be higher.
Reel videos are an excellent way to promote in-centre events and activities. These kinds of events often require a large investment, both in terms of time and money, to execute to a high level. Therefore, it’s imperative that we maximise the number of potential participants reached by the advertising, thus maximising our potential for a return on investment. This is where reels come into ‘play’, if you’ll excuse the pun. Reel videos offer a wider range of possibilities when it comes to how you show off the event, as opposed to a still image. For example, in a world where our social media feeds are becoming increasingly oversaturated with content, showing off the activities using a dynamic moving image, will help it to stand out from the crowd and grab the audience’s attention. Reels are also favored by Meta’s social media algorithms, meaning that they are pushed to people who aren’t currently following your profile as well as your existing follower-base, thus increasing the reach even further. This effect can be compounded even further, by utilising appropriate music/trending audio in the video, another advantage over still image photography!
Integrating our regular tenant-focused content into the strategy for marketing our events and activities, can also see a huge benefit in reach on social media. Audiences drawn to the brand-focused content will receive what they came for, but also engage with the advertising for the event/activity at the same time, when they perhaps wouldn’t have if marketed separately. The reverse also works, for example, promoting a toy donation charity initiative by putting the donation point next to a toy retailer at the centre, and including this in the social media content. This crosspollination of content further serves to promote both in-centre events and retailers, but doing so in an efficient and unique way by utilising a ‘two birds, one stone’ approach.
Whether you’re running festive events, competitions or showcasing incredible Christmas offers, utilising influencer marketing as part of your Christmas campaign is a strategic approach that increases brand visibility, reach and ultimately drive footfall. Influencers provide a personalised message and due to their trusted connection with their followers they can seamlessly integrate and share your campaign message, helping you to reach a wider and potentially new audience, not only spreading festive cheer but also your brands message!
Christmas is a busy time for businesses and consumers so making life simple is key! Facebook event pages allow you to compile all your event information in one place, plus with the added ability to “boost” using paid-media you can increase your event reach and targeted engagement. With features like reminders, RSVP functions and ability to share events, this user-friendly approach encourages broader participation and interaction, thereby making it an essential component for any festive event campaigns.
