Christmas is a time for giving. Translation: Christmas is a time for spending! People are looking for special gifts to buy for their loved ones, and businesses are there to provide those gifts. This is why Christmas is a great time to capitalise on your digital marketing efforts, especially through social media Christmas campaigns.And you don’t have to sell gifts to make the most of Christmas; both product and service-focused businesses can use the festive season to their advantage, especially on social media. To give you some inspiration, here are some recent examples of quality social media Christmas campaigns.
It must be great to be Argos at Christmas, with a huge catalogue of gifts to suit everyone. Like many other brands in the UK, Argos put out a big Christmas ad to promote themselves last year. Although the big hitters we see each year from the likes of John Lewis and Sainsbury’s are TV ads, their viral potential makes them extremely sharable online. To encourage this, the brand usually creates a hashtag people can use to talk about the ad online. Here’s Argos’ contribution, telling viewers to #FoolProofYourChristmas with Argos.
In 2017, Nordstrom’s Instagram account opened a new door of their advent calendar to followers each day. Each contained a short video showcasing some of their products and also featuring special surprises. Most notably, there were cute kids and puppies, Christmas decorations, cocktails, and even Celine Dion to kick off the festive season!
Debenham’s gave us a Cinderella Story for the 21st century in 2017. Their Christmas ad showed a brief encounter on a train followed by the woman losing her shoe. The modern man takes to social media to find the woman, rather than running around the kingdom. As his post goes viral, they eventually find each other and have their fairy tale ending, showing the power of the hashtag.
Marketing is at its best when it combines the digital with the traditional. Want more customers in your shop this Christmas? Then use the visual power of social media to show your followers how amazing your Christmas displays are. Urban Outfitters did this in their Instagram posts and stories last year and got a lot of attention for their creative display.
People love indulging in food at Christmas, so a baking post is bound to turn heads. Costa Coffee boosted their Instagram engagement last Christmas by posting a blind-baking challenge, encouraging people to watch their stories to see the challenge unfold. At the same time, viewers may be planning a trip to Costa based on how delicious the cakes look.
John Lewis aren’t just kings of the sentimental Christmas ad. They hit the right notes on social media too! In 2017, all their Instagram posts around Christmas time reinforced their brand image and their status as a place to shop for the best Christmas presents. A mix of images and videos, along with their hashtag #JohnLewisChristmas, captured attention and got their followers in the festive spirit.
How will your brand celebrate Christmas this year? We hope these examples have given you some inspiration, but if you’re still stuck for ideas, then contact Vitty for our support with your social media Christmas campaigns.