Social media planning throughout the year can help to create a unified marketing strategy for your business. As the holiday season approaches, businesses everywhere will be gearing up for one of the most strategically planned times of the year on social media.
Wrapping up your social media in a neat little bow isn’t just good for admin’s sake. It’s also a chance to reflect on what worked and what didn’t, celebrate successes, and connect more meaningfully with your audience.
Have you started planning how you will see the year out online? Last year, we focused on social media management in general over the festive period. This year, we are sharing tips and tricks for a great end-of-year wrap-up on social media.
Social media planning
When you begin planning your end-of-year wrap-up content, you first need to consider what you want to include. Think about sharing certain highlights for the business. These could include key milestones and achievements, success stories or testimonials from clients, projects you’re proud of, and any other moments that defined your year.
It is always best to plan for this as early as possible. Give yourself at least two months in advance. This will give you time to gather the information and creative assets you need, gain approval and schedule it all. Around this time of year, depending on the business, it can either be very quiet or very hectic. If you know you won’t have much time once November rolls around, this is something to consider. Having content ready or almost ready frees you up to continue running the business and engaging with your audience.
Next, you need to determine the format of your end-of-year post. Will you choose a theme that runs throughout December, or just make one post at the end? Will you need assets to accompany it, or photographs to source from throughout the year?
A well-executed year-end wrap-up boosts engagement, attracts new followers, and leaves a positive impression on your audience.
Ideas for content
12 Days of Christmas campaign
For this idea, you can share 12 highlights in the lead-up to Christmas Eve. These can be highlights, project spotlights or testimonials from throughout the year.
Additionally, you could use these days to celebrate your team’s efforts or showcase client success stories.
End-of-year Video
Create a video summary of your business milestones including key statistics and numbers. Get your calculator ready!
Include clips shot throughout the year or just utilise photographs and content assets.
Highlight your busiest, most successful moments to show prospective clients what you can do.
Round-up posts
Share a carousel (group of images) or a bullet-point list of your top achievements, or favourite moments from the year.
Carousel posts have been an algorithm-favourite this year, so they are one to consider.
You should consider including statistics or visuals for added impact.
Reshare top content
If you had any content that performed particularly well this year – reshare it.
This is an opportunity to take a look back at your most popular blogs or posts and most watched videos to garner some more engagement before the year is over.
You could create a ‘Top 5’ list with summaries of each piece of content as well as links to drive traffic to older content.
Go interactive
Go interactive with your content if this would suit your marketing strategy. People are winding down for the year and are likely in the Christmas headspace.
Doing this allows you to celebrate your successes in an engaging way that doesn’t involve lengthy reports or text posts.
Invent advent calendars or quizzes, share team content, tag your clients—people love to see people on social media.
Holiday-themed extras
If it would suit your marketing strategy, consider hosting giveaways or contests to boost your engagement and visibility online. It is the season of giving after all!
Share holiday-themed tips or content.
Share behind-the-scenes moments with your team for a more personalised touch.
Make sure your wrap-up includes a Christmas and New Year’s post with information about when you will be open and closed.
The posting stage
When you’re managing your social media over the festive period, choosing when to post your content can make all the difference. For some, it’s their busiest time of year and for others it’s a time for them to be away from work as much as possible. This may mean people are scrolling less on platforms like LinkedIn, or less receptive to very obviously corporate content.
Avoid posting on Christmas Day at all costs! You are incredibly unlikely to have people actively engaging with social media, let alone their phones, during this time. Boxing Day is also a day when people are still spending time with family. Posts are likely to receive better engagement either before, on Christmas Eve, or from the 27th December onwards. New Year’s Eve is also a good time to post, just to wish followers and clients a Happy New Year.
An additional tip would be to tag clients or other local businesses around this time. Whether you’re thanking clients or highlighting the local community, people are much more receptive to sharing and celebrating posts at this time of year. This takes the focus away from the company and puts it onto the people.
Bringing it all together
Social media planning at this time of year makes all the difference. As the year winds down, you can utilise these channels to help close the year’s chapter on a positive note. Celebrate accomplishments and foster connections with your audience at the same time. The style you choose will depend on your brand’s identity or tone of voice but no matter what you choose, your year-end wrap-up can serve as a powerful tool to highlight your brand’s journey.
What are you waiting for? The clock is ticking down to the festive holidays. Start planning your perfect year-end wrap-up today.
Want to get ahead for next year? At DCA, we provide marketing and creative services that span multiple sectors. The ideal package all rolled into one—and just in time for Christmas! Get in touch and let’s see how we can help you with your social media planning in 2025.
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