6 Tips For Planning Your Christmas Content
With 2020 not turning out to be the year that any of us expected, it goes without saying that Christmas is going to look a little different this year. But what are the implications when it comes to creating seasonal content for your business and how can you adapt your brand message for the festive season?
It’s never too early to start planning your brand’s Christmas content as, without a clear plan of action, you’re guaranteed to be feeling the pressure once December hits. I’d always advise businesses to set some time aside to plan out their content for the festive season. In doing so you’re staying one step ahead and you can sit back and relax when the countdown to Christmas begins.
When creating your content, it’s important to always consider the context. Traditionally Christmas is all about getting together with our friends and family, attending parties and social gatherings and visiting busy Christmas markets and shops. This year things are going to be different and that’s tough for all of us. There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the ways in which we’ll be able to celebrate with our families this year and it’s important that you’re sensitive to that in your brand’s Christmas messaging. Ultimately though Christmas is a time to spread joy and keep things positive and that’s possibly even more important to remember in 2020 than it ever has been before.
To help you adapt your brand’s messaging this festive season, I’ve put together 6 tips to get you started.
Think about your audience
Whenever you’re creating new content for your business you should always have your target audience in mind and Christmas is no exception. Creating your Christmas content provides the perfect opportunity to revisit and review your target audience. Has your target audience changed at all in the last few months? Have a brainstorming session to think about what priorities your audience are likely to have this festive season. If you’re not sure, ask them. What do they really want to hear about? What will grab their attention?
Get creative and think about what makes your brand stand out from the competition. The festive season provides your business with the perfect opportunity to really showcase your products and services and keep you at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Make sure you also devote time to doing some keyword research. Think about what search terms your audience are likely to be using this Christmas. Making sure you include relevant keywords in your content this festive season is time well spent as it will help with your brand’s SEO.
Review your existing festive content
Go back and take a look at the festive content you have produced in previous years. Is there anything that you can repurpose and make use of again? Not all content has to be created from scratch and repurposing content can be a real time saver at what is already a very busy time of year. If you are going to repurpose content from previous years, remember to make sure that it still reflects your brand voice and message and is relevant to your target audience.
Have a plan
This one goes without saying but ensure that you have a clear plan and schedule for the content that you are going to post. Think about the timing of your posts and make sure that you post your content in a logical order. For example, if you want to let people know that you’re offering free shipping during December it makes sense to tell your audience about this first, before you begin showcasing your product ranges.
To help with timings and organisation you may want to look into using scheduling tools such as Planoly and Hootsuite to post your content to social media. That way, you can have all of your content uploaded and ready to go in advance, which can be a really useful organisational tool.
Be consistent
Consistency is always important when it comes to content creation and you need to ensure that your copy for the festive season is consistent across all of your brand’s channels. Whether that’s social media, blog posts, email newsletters or your website, your business needs to share its message consistently and ensure that both the copy and design reflects your theme. You may also want to consider working alongside a graphic designer to help you get consistent with your visuals and graphics for the Christmas period.
Share social stories
Christmas is a time for goodwill and helping others and, if this is something that you’ve been doing in your business, Christmas is a great time to share this with your audience. Many businesses have been giving something back during 2020, whether that’s been by helping the NHS and key workers during the pandemic, supporting a charity or other worthwhile cause, or raising awareness of an important issue. So why not let your audience know about it? Sharing stories that promote giving and supporting one another are really important at this time of year and can help you to share some Christmas spirt and inspire your audience to do the same.
Content advent calendars
If you’ve never thought about producing a content advent calendar before, 2020 could be the year to get started. A content advent calendar is a great way to start the countdown to Christmas by showcasing your business and products. Why not share with your audience some of the products that you offer that would make the perfect gift? Or you could provide some helpful Christmas ideas from your team? Using a content advent calendar for your brand as part of the countdown to the big day can be a great way to build anticipation, showcase your business and products and help to increase engagement with your brand.
One important thing to keep in mind when you’re planning your Christmas content is that it needs to make sense for your business. There’s no sense in putting content out there just for the sake of being festive. Your content needs to have a purpose and reflect your brand message and values.
If you need a bit of help creating your content for the festive season, just drop me an email to see how I can help.