Getting Your Brand in the Holiday Spirit
Written by Courtney Raguso, Social Media Content Creator
Social observances and holidays provide great opportunities for brands to get involved and join the conversation. This Saturday marks the 4th of July, and many consumers are preparing to spend some cash on the festivities. Last year, nearly 90% of consumers celebrated the holiday, spending a whopping $6.7 billion on food, $1.5 billion on beer and wine, and nearly $1 billion on fireworks. Also, nearly 50 million people traveled on this holiday last year, spending even more money. Now with the Coronavirus still being an issue, many consumers are cutting back on the celebratory gatherings and especially on travel. Due to high unemployment rates, many will also be spending less this year. However, billions of dollars will still be spent on celebrating the holiday with a surveyed 76% of consumers planning to still do something for Independence Day. Recent studies also suggest that total spending will hit over $6.5 billion. With numbers like these, it’s no wonder that your brand should play a part in the event. It offers opportunities for growth in brand awareness as well as a way to express American pride in a creative way. There are many ways you can join in the fun safely and online without having to participate in any local events. You can run a sale, send out an email blast, post a giveaway on social media or even just write a themed blog like this one! The options are endless, it’s just a matter of deciding what works best for your brand and how you can successfully nail the holiday. 
Aside from Independence Day, there are so many other celebrated industry-specific holidays, as well as pop-culture events and monthly observances your brand can take part in. As social media has evolved into a content-sharing hub, you can guarantee that these observances can play a strong role in marketing your brand and helping express its identity. To start, social media is the ideal platform for joining conversations and has become a primary touchpoint for connection. However, even before social media became a thing, awareness days were created to help boost society’s understanding of some of the world’s most pressing issues. It was a way to promote conversations around certain topics of interest and get people and brands to connect and participate over shared interests. Now when it comes to planning what to participate in, there are a few things you will want to keep in mind. You will need to stay up to date on all the latest trends and topics people are discussing. Brands can have a powerful effect on society and make a real difference through their product and messaging. Thanks to social media, brands have the ability to address social responsibility, raise awareness about the problems their society faces, and be a part of positive change. Also, realize that today’s average customer cares more about a brand’s purpose in how they can better society instead of just bringing value to their own individual life. They require an emotional connection and need to feel that they share the same values with the brand. Listen to your audience and focus on their interests and behaviors because then you can decide more accurately, which holidays you should take part in as a brand. Just remember, you will also want to make sure you also address a healthy mix of content, also known as a content mix, so you don’t limit yourself to a certain audience. A content mix can keep the conversation interesting and offer different types of value across the board so you can cover all your bases and appeal to more customers. Make sure to keep it relevant though and use appropriate hashtags so people can discover your brand. Identify the popular ones that people use on social media, but don’t overkill it with posting every single holiday and observance because then your brand will be seen as one that has no solid identity. So keep in mind that there are holidays and observances that will not fit your brand, and that’s ok. If you stay true to your brand and only focus on what’s relevant to your brand, consumers will see you as so much more authentic and that’s what will lead to a strong brand and ultimately growth.
There are so many different ways your brand can provide value and take advantage of the exposure available online. Participating in holidays and observances is just one way your business can join the conversation and show its brand identity as opposed to just the product. Not only does this strategy make it easier to be noticed, but it also makes it easier to plan content ahead of time. Since the dates of the events are public, all you have to do is decide what to participate in based on data analysis, current audience and trends as well as your brand’s online performance. Once you know where your audience and brand stand you can then start evaluating your options. Holidays like the 4th of July offer a great starting point to content building because so many people celebrate it. You can choose which holiday you want to participate in and build content around those holidays. If you want to address more social issues and raise awareness on certain topics, you’ll just have to make sure it’s relevant to your audience and brand. Content calendars are a great way to lay out what you want to post, making it easier to manage content and stay organized. Most of all, it saves you both time and money, so you can recycle that extra time into getting even more creative. By unlocking more opportunities to get creative, your brand will become more versatile offering even more value and purpose as a brand allowing it to grow even more.
At MSM DesignZ, we can help you manage, scale and optimize your social media presence. Technology is ever-changing, we rely on data analysis, testing and optimized content to build successful campaigns for our clients. We value the importance of utilizing trends and experience to drive strategic decision making. Not only have we seen social media grow into what it has become today, but we have also seen what works and what doesn’t. We will always continue to place our clients’ needs at the heart of our operations. From web development to social media management, we’ll work directly with you to build a personalized strategy to not only retain but also gain business. We are assisting in all areas for our clients. Visit our contact page at https://www.msmdesignz.com/contact/, and we’ll work with you to devise a custom plan that will keep your brand alive and well. We look forward to working with you!
Sources:
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/hashtag-holidays/
https://www.thestreet.com/lifestyle/food-and-drink/how-americans-spend-money-on-july-4th-15009108