With Black Friday approaching fast, our Social Media Account Director, Vicky, takes us through how you can prep your social media during the busiest shopping period and after.

As we’re in the midst of the busiest time of the year for shoppers and businesses alike, there’s nothing that’ll put you ahead of your competitors in the social space like preparing your social media strategy for the Golden Quarter, even this far in.

More than ever, this time of year brings so much noise within eCommerce and on social media, both paid and organic. But how do you make sure you are putting your brand and business in-front of the right people and making sure you’re delivering your desired results?

Understanding what your audience wants is key to landing those customers and conversions and to utilise this data to then re-implement and keep them coming back in Q1 and beyond. 

Don’t be afraid of using machine learning and AI as a tool for this time of year.

Really leverage platform features and tools.

For example, utilising Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping is great to implement alongside your other paid social campaigns. By using these alongside your current campaigns you have a happy medium of working alongside what the channel is driving as a focus for paid social but also working in tandem with your current paid social strategy that you know works well for your consumer.

Utilising the AI tools within the platforms as such Ad Copy Recommendations, is a great way to ease the load of your social strategy planning. Sometimes writing Ad Copy can be a struggle for people who may not class themselves as content writers. These tools help utilise machine learning for your audience with recommendations.

Being in front of your audience at the right time.

Be on time for your shoppers and don’t leave it too late to reach them.

Strike the right balance of going at a time that feels right for your business but also getting ahead of your competitors and giving them the content they want on the channel they want. 77% of Pinterest users started shopping for gifts in November so getting that content ready is key even at this time. Every 4 seconds someone is searching for a gift on Pinterest, make sure you are there for your prospective customers.

Think outside of the box with your content strategy on social…

When it comes to social content, 85% of users say they trust UGC content over brand videos and photos.

Unsure of how you can do this? Turn those reviews, that tagged social content from your customers into your own content to gain that trust with prospective customers and consumers. People buy from real people! 83% of users say short-format video is their preferred online shopping content with one in two (53%) of review-style videos on social media leading to a purchase. 

Put your money where your paid social is…

With competition across platforms intensifying, you need to spend more or get tactical with budgets.

Consider your offering and how long you’re running your campaigns for. For most platforms, you will need a healthy budget to ensure it is quick to process, review and push out of the learning phase to start delivering. Be tactical with the lengths of your campaigns and how much money you’re putting into your campaigns. Having a healthy daily spend on your campaign budgets will ensure that the system has enough resources to learn about your audience. This enables your ads to then be reaching people who are best positioned to make a purchase.

It doesn’t stop after Christmas!

Utilise that free time and disposable income people have.

Most people think Golden Quarter comes to a halt just after Christmas has ended but now more than ever, utilising that extra disposable income, free time and willingness to purchase many people after this time of year, this is a vital period to capitalise and drive for prospective customers and pull back retained customers. Get ahead on sale messaging, inspirational content and being at the forefront of shopping for that New Year push before shoppers pull back on their spending in the New Year.

Overall, being present puts your social strategy in the best place for Q4 and beyond. Listening to what your consumers want is key. Don’t be afraid to go strong with your campaigns and push through the noise in this busy time period and utilise the tools each social channel has to offer!

Unlock more expert marketing tips and in-depth consumer insights for the peak trading period  Download your free copy of our latest report, Make Golden Quarter 2024 shine, today.

Vicky Mepstead is Social Media Account Director at Visualsoft.