Your Instagram Marketing Guide for the holidays: 2020 edition

The holidays are officially here! Even though it will be some time before the celebrations commence, it is never too early to start implementing your holiday marketing plan. Read on for some creative considerations!

This year, there are some special circumstances to consider as COVID has kept many people home and restrictions or lockdowns around the globe mean IRL shopping may not be an option for many of your potential customers. Keep this in mind across your messaging on social media, marketing materials, and especially if you run direct-to-customer business. You may be accustomed to running fairly successful sales if you own a brick-and-mortar store, but digital is the name of the game this season. 

Now, that being said…

Get your Instagram Shop set up this month! 

As we head into the highest volume shopping season of the year, if you aren’t making use of Instagram’s shopping feature, you are definitely missing out. According to the platform, 70% of people turn to Instagram for inspiration while shopping, and 87% have been inspired by an influencer on the platform to make a purchase. It only makes sense to focus your efforts on enhancing your e-commerce presence on the platform, and now is the perfect time to get it done! 

First, make sure you have a business or creator account, ensure you’re located in a supported market, and connect your business’s Facebook page if you haven’t already. Then, all you have to do is upload your product catalogue and submit your shop for review by Instagram! 

If you’re intimidated by the prospect of uploading your entire catalogue into a new platform, don’t be! Instagram can connect easily to platforms you probably already use, like Shopify. If you don’t currently have an e-comm platform, you can simply use the one from Facebook Business Manager. 

Once you’re approved, turn on Shopping on your profile. This will add the tab for your shop to your profile feed, and also allow you to begin tagging! You can tag products in your regular posts and stories, which allows people to click on a product and immediately be taken to the page to purchase it, all within Instagram. It doesn’t get much more seamless or easy than that! 

Still feeling a bit unsure? Check out this guide from Instagram Business. 

Update your assets to be holiday appropriate 

We’ve said it before, but we stand by this! Changes to your brand aesthetic for the holidays will inspire your customers to purchase either for gifts or as a holiday treat for themselves. Plus, it will keep your feed and website dynamic and visually interesting to maintain engagement and interest from your audience. 

Be creative with it by creating new product photography with a festive twist in order to draw a customer’s attention to specific products you think would make perfect gifts. Take a look below at our client L’or de Seraphine for some inspiration. Their core collection photography is light and airy while their holiday collection brings a darker, warmer edge. Note that both remain true to the brand’s overall message and aesthetic. Remember this, too: quality content signifies a quality product, so make sure the photography is professional (or at least looks like it!).

Ho-ho-host a holiday giveaway

You can never go wrong with a giveaway on Instagram! They are great for spreading the word about your brand and gaining followers fairly affordably (the cost of product or a service, and potentially boosting the post). Gather an assortment of products that bring the holiday cheer, and make it enough for two people to share! By doing this, you motivate people to tag friends with whom they can share this prize. Have entrants tag friends in the comments and then share on their own stories for an extra entry. This will maximize the exposure of your post, and bring people back to your profile. Bonus points for collaborating with another brand, from whom you can mutually gain followers. 

Consider paid promotion

If you have the budget, consider running some paid advertising on social media, especially Instagram (now that you’ve got that Instagram Shopping tab!). This can be more affordable than you would expect so take a look at your options when considering your budget. Instagram Business suggests a series of Shopping ads, which will drive traffic to your Shopping tab. Anyone who interacts with your Shopping pages will be added to a nifty Custom Shopping Audience list, made up of your most engaged potential customers. Once you’ve grown your Custom Shopping Audience list, you are able to target your ads to that list of users specifically. The potential for conversion is very high with this audience as they have already been eyeing your products. A targeted ad could be just the reminder they need to finally click the purchase button!

The best part about your Custom Shopping Audience is that Instagram can create Lookalike Audiences based off of your existing highly engaged customers. People with similar interests and habits as your current audience are the perfect place to really start building your following and drive traffic to your business. 

Check out this guide for more details about setting up Shopping ads.

Feeling inspired? All of these ideas have long-lasting benefits that will carry you through the holiday season this year and beyond into 2021! Jump right in and let us know how you get on!