October means the start of the build up to Christmas, so here's how to write all your social media posts for the festive period.
I'm going to let you into a secret... I hate Christmas!
As a Mum of two, I find it stressful and my to-do list is always so full that I never see the end of it.
So any way to take some pressure of is gratefully appreciated and, last year, one of the things I did to make sure the Christmas period was easier was to get all my social media posts written and scheduled ahead of time.
Sounds daunting though, right? THREE months of content is ALOT of posts. Where would you even start?
Well, here are 5 simple steps you can take to write all your social media posts for the build up to Christmas:
1. The most important thing is to work out what the key dates are for your business.
What is the last date people can order from you?
What is your last date for posting the items out?
What is the last date that they can book an appointment with you?
When will you stop working for Christmas?
These dates will form the structure of your Content Plan.
You can talk about each of these events in your posts and you can also create countdown posts: e.g. "One week left to order one of my gift sets for Mums!"
What are you doing this Christmas?
Are you travelling to see family?
When was the last time you saw them?
What did you do last year?
Was it affected by Covid?
Mark each of these on your Content Plan to give your audience a look 'Behind the Scenes' of the business.
2. What are the key dates for you personally?
Your timelines are going to get very busy in the coming weeks with people trying to sell you lots of stuff... and you're probably going to get fed up with it!
Because, as social media consumers, we don't want to be hit with sales pitches all the time; we want to be entertained and we want to be part of a community.
So, sharing the story of what you are doing in the build up to Christmas will give them some content they will enjoy and, hopefully, interact with.
Think about:
Important family dates (any birthdays or get togethers?)
Is it your little one's first Christmas?
How about dinner or drinks with friends?
Are you having a Christmas party?
How will you be spending the big day?
Do you have any traditions you'd like to share?
What precious memories can you share from Christmases gone by?
3. The next step is to note down key dates for everyone else, national events that you can tap into.
October, November and December are packed full of events and awareness days that you can use to shape your content.
Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas are, of course, the obvious ones! But there are others too.
Over in my Facebook group, I share a list of the top awareness days ahead of each month and my members say they find that really helpful.
The thing is, you know that these are things people are going to want to talk about, they're the topics that are most likely to be trending.
A word of warning though, don't just join in with all of them - choose the ones that mean something to you and your business.
Anyone know if there's a National Wizard Day?
4. Now we step things up and have some fun: what can you do that will make your content stand out?
What can you do that is different to what others are doing?
What will make people smile or raise some compassion within them?
What can you do that is different to any posts you've published during the year?
Our timelines are going to be FULL of people selling over the coming months and your audience are going to want to see more posts making them want to spend more money.
So, what can you do that steps away from that to give variety to your content?
For example: last year, I created a Social Media Advent Calendar, where I shared a different tip for content creation every day.
I created some graphics to bring a feel of my brand to this campaign and the feedback from my followers was really positive.
5. Finally, think about what conversations might be happening that you will want to get involved in.
Every year, there are certain topics of conversation that you know will be trending on social media and in the news
Think 'How much money should you spend on your child?' Or, 'Is this woman spoiling her kids?'
It's the kind of topic that's bound to attract engagement, because everyone will have an opinion on it - and people do love to share opinions!
So, honestly, I think that one is a bit boring, but there will be lots of timely chats you can instigate that are perhaps less judgemental!
Here are some ideas:
Is it going to be a bigger one this year because we couldn't get together last year?
Are you staying at home or going away?
Will you have a Christmas party to go to, even though you work from home?
What Christmas Eve activities do you love?
Will you be working in the week between Christmas and New Year?
On a side note, are you doing anything to help other people?
Christmas is a time of giving, and there's always so many volunteering and fundraising activities taking place that it might be good for you to promote.
And it will be great for your followers to see this lovely thing you do for others, too!
This month, I'll be sharing more tips over on my Facebook group: The Content Planning Wizards
Or to book a 2 hours, 1-2-1, Content Planning Session with me, you can click here.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about that.
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