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The post How to Create a Social Media Holiday Marketing Plan appeared first on HostGator Blog . The holiday season is fast approaching, it’s time to get ready for shopping, spending time with your family, big meals, and… social media marketing? Yes, this time of year is perfect for developing a top-notch social media marketing plan! Marketing doesn’t have to be a challenging task anymore. There are plenty of different ways to reach a wide range of audiences. The most difficult decision you have to make now is deciding which sales methods you’re going to use this year. Fortunately, we’ve made it easy for you. Here are four top ways you can add some seasonal spice to your social media marketing campaign. 1. Link Your Social Media to Your Holiday-Themed Emails First, spread the cheer through your emails! You can use a tool like Constant Contact to build wonderful holiday-themed marketing emails. Make sure you take advantage of all of the holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and small, fun, social holidays in between. Email marketing is successful because you can reach a large group of people almost instantly. Typically, marketing emails have a 21.80% read rate and a click through rate of just under 3%. Initially, these numbers may not seem impressive. However, take the time to consider that if you send emails out to 10,000 people, about 280 people are going to click through. Those are now 280 people that are much more likely to purchase a product from you. One great way to boost your click-through rate is to increase your email personalization. You can do this by segmenting email lists based on previous behavior. For example, if someone clicked through on a previous email, send them more of that type of email to incentivize them to make the purchase.   2. Use Festive Hashtags If you’re looking for a way to boost your marketing reach with Twitter or Instagram, start paying attention to  holiday hashtags . When people use hashtags, all of the same hashtags can be viewed on one page. For example, if someone uses #EmailMarketing, anyone can click the phrase and see what everyone who used that particular hashtag is talking about. You may be wondering how this fits in with the holidays. It’s simple. If you use hashtags for the holidays such as Christmas, New Years, or Thanksgiving, your posts will appear when someone searches #Christmas or #NewYearsDay. When you use hashtags, you increase your visibility, especially when the topic you choose is being widely discussed, like during holidays. Don’t stop at just the mainstay holidays. There are plenty of fun “secondary holidays” that often start trending, like #NationalCocoaDay. Take advantage of these holidays by checking out an event calendar and scheduling your upcoming posts accordingly.   3. Incorporate Buyer Keywords Into Your Content Did you know that Google’s algorithm prioritizes certain content and businesses during the holiday season? This is because a user’s intent usually changes around the holiday season. They are more likely to buy. The first thing you have to do is make a list of keywords you’re going to target throughout your content. Google Keyword Planner is an ideal resource for looking up keywords and seeing how popular they are. If you are an eCommerce business, this is a great time to focus on creating content with targeted buying keywords. Some example of buying keywords to target this holiday are: Best holiday gifts this year Best gifts for entrepreneurs Cute holiday dresses Don’t forget: it’s normal to start working on holiday keywords months in advance. By the time the search volume is in the thousands, you’ll already be in a comfortable ranking position. Use Google Keyword Planner to find low competition, high search volume keywords to create content with less competition. If the competition is low or medium, you have a much better chance at ranking towards the top of Google.    Once you’ve decided on keywords, it’s time to put them in your content. SEO Yoast is a tool that lets you target specific keywords and ranks how well you use them on each page. Make sure you follow all of the suggestions at the bottom of the Yoast plugin, and you’ll increase your chances of ranking for your chosen keyword.   4. Add a Retargeting Pixel to Your Checkout Page Why is a retargeting pixel important for your checkout page? Shockingly, up to 80% of people who start filling up an online shopping cart will leave before making a purchase. These are people that were obviously close to buying but changed their mind for one reason or another. You can use a retargeting pixel to bring them back in and secure the conversion. There are multiple types of ads you can use to target these folks. One of the best ways to convert is by offering them a discount, as in this example from  Cole Haan : If they’re browsing the internet and see your add with “Get 10% off now” on the banner, it may be enough to bring them back to complete their order. You don’t have to worry about people who complete the checkout getting these ads. You can program the pixel to “burn” upon completion of their order, which will take them off the “audience” list.   Social Media and Your Holiday Marketing Game Plan Having a game plan is important in any marketing situation.  The holiday season is perhaps one of the best times to draw in new customers and get old customers to come back and try new products. Your social media is important in determining how much traffic comes your way. If you use the tips and tools provided, you should be able to get a steady flow of high-quality traffic to your business page, which translates to more sales. Happy holidays! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →