The holiday season means big business, with over $630 billion in revenues in the United States last year. For restaurants, retailers, and service providers, the holiday sales opportunities are tremendous. However, with so much competition, how can you stand out? The answer is social media marketing. 

With over 4.5 billion people using social media worldwide, platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter offer immense potential to connect with customers and drive holiday sales. In this blog, we’ll explore 12 tips for restaurants, retail stores, and service businesses to create festive, engaging social media campaigns perfect for the holiday season.

Tips for Restaurants

1. Create holiday menus and feature special seasonal drinks or desserts. Post tantalizing food photos across Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. 

2. Develop holiday dinner packages or specials for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, etc. Promote them through social media ads and organic posts.

3. Offer holiday meal kits for takeout, with all the fixings for classic holiday dishes or desserts. Market them to families and those looking for easy holiday entertaining.  

4. Run holiday season contests asking people to vote or engage for their favorite holiday food item on your menu. Offer a discount or free item for voters.

5. Show behind-the-scenes holiday food preparation and decorating videos on Instagram and Facebook Stories. These give an authentic inside look that engages followers.

6. Partner with UberEats, DoorDash or other delivery services for holiday meal delivery specials. Cross-promote on social media channels.

Tips for Retailers

1. Decorate your storefront and interiors festively. Share photos and videos across social media to get people excited to shop the holiday looks.

2. Create gift guide videos or posts showcasing great finds for everyone on the holiday list. Share gift ideas in various price tiers and categories.  

3. Promote special sales and savings for key holidays, like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. 

4. Run holiday giveaways and contests for branded products, gift cards or other prizes. Offer an additional entry for sharing with friends.

5. Share user-generated content of customers shopping your holiday collections or gifts they’ve purchased.

6. Go live on social media to show holiday looks, offer real-time promotions, or build excitement on Black Friday before opening.

Tips for Services based businesses

1. Offer holiday-themed services or packages, like holiday cleaning, holiday pet sitting, holiday lights installation, etc. Promote these everywhere on social media.

2. Provide tips related to your services to simplify holiday prep. A cleaning service could share hosting prep tips. A hair salon could share holiday hairstyle ideas.  

3. Run holiday promotions, like 15% off for booking holiday services before December 1. Share offers across all social channels.

4. Partner with complementary local businesses to offer holiday giveaways promoting one another. This raises awareness for both of you.

5. Recap big holiday jobs or projects by showing the before and after images. For example, holiday lights installers could show holiday lighting finished products. 

6. Use hashtags related to the holidays, winter, and year-end tasks to join larger conversations and reach broader audiences. Respond to questions and engage with followers.

Social Media Marketing Best Practices

1. Start promoting holiday content, products, and services early, at least 1 month before the holiday. Get audiences excited and thinking about the holidays. 

2. Create social media ads with special holiday offers or promotions. Target them by demographics and interests. 

3. Develop holiday-themed social profile frames and encourage customers to use them. This spreads brand awareness.

4. Share user-generated content of happy customers enjoying your holiday offerings. UGC builds engagement and credibility.

5. Schedule social media content using Sprout Social or Hootsuite so holiday messages are promoted consistently. 

6. Go live on social channels often to share behind-the-scenes holiday action, promotions, etc. The immediacy intrigues viewers.

7. Monitor key holiday hashtags like #holidays, #Christmas, #NewYearsEve, #shoplocal, etc. and engage where appropriate. Join the conversation.

8. Look at key metrics and optimize holiday social content based on highest engagement and conversions. Double down on what resonates.

9. Respond promptly to social media comments and messages. Provide holiday customer service cheer.

10. Follow holiday social media trends, like the ugly sweater challenge, and create relevant, fun branded content around them. 

11. Use social media monitoring tools to track brand mentions and sentiment related to your holiday offerings. Jump in to remedy any negative experiences. 

12. Thank all customers for their support this holiday season. Share some of your favorite social media memories and images from the holiday season as you close it out.

The holiday season offers massive opportunities for brands to connect with both existing and new customers on social media. Follow these tips to spread holiday cheer, while also driving promotions, engagement, and ultimately increased sales. Pay close attention to performance and don’t be afraid to experiment on social to determine what resonates best with your audiences. With a thoughtful, strategic holiday social media marketing plan, your business can succeed this holiday season