‘Tis the season to be Social! This time of year provides your small business a great opportunity to boost your storytelling marketing with a holiday campaign. It’s a crucial time to stay engaged with your audience since the competition is fierce, especially this time of year. We’ve put together 10 holiday social media marketing ideas to Jumpstart the season.

1. Show your audience you’re in the spirit and help them get in the spirit too.   Sure, we all decorate our office with holiday cheer, and this should include your social media too.  A decorative cover photo on Facebook and a festive Twitter background with your logo on it will add to the human side of your brand.  Relating to your audience, who are also decorating their homes for the holidays is a great way connect with them.

2. Observe how your customers’ routines change during this busy season.   This is the busiest time of year for everyone and typically effects schedules a little.  If you notice your interactions shift, adapt by changing the time you post.

3. Get visual. We always stress how important visuals are, and you definitely don’t want to slow down now. Continue to build your image content but with a holiday twist. Your customers will notice you taking the time for these sort of details, and that appreciation results in shared content.

4. Step up your customer experience. During the holidays, customers turn to social media more than ever for customer service concerns. Treat your social presence the same way department stores do during this time of year: stay open longer. This means having someone available to meet your customers’ needs at all times with a great attitude.

5. Offer an incentive for sharing. It’s the season for giving after all, so reward customers who share your content with something valuable. Small rewards go a long way, especially during this stressful time of year.

6. Do some social good. Add a charitable element to your holiday marketing. Whether you donate time or money, every little bit counts.

7. Promote Social-Local-Mobile. By promoting check-ins, another opportunity arises to gift your new and current customers with rewards.

8. Leverage holiday hashtags. Pay attention to what is trending and use appropriate ones to attract new customers.

9. Post helpful content.  Help take the holiday stress off your customers. Create to-do lists, gift guides, etc that will help your customers tackle the season.

10. Prepare for the New Year. Reflect on 2013 and set business goals for 2014. The most important thing to accomplish before the year’s over is mastering Facebook. By doing so you’ll be one step closer to social media marketing success!