Christmas seems to come around quicker every year and every year, and the battle to get consumers’ attention intensifies every year. According to Forbes, a third of the Christmas sales will happen online this Christmas.
What this means for businesses is they have to find interesting ways to entice customers to buy their products. Smaller businesses can use technology to level the playing field, and social media marketing can be particularly effective this time of year – according to a survey by Sprout Social, 42% more of shoppers are currently using social media to find a gift compared to 2023.
There are many Christmas marketing ideas, but one that has the potential to drive engagement and foster brand loyalty is a giveaway campaign. Below are 5 Christmas giveaway ideas that you could try out this year utilising social media.
Why Are Christmas Giveaways So Effective on Social Media?
Christmas is the time of giving. By creating creative holiday giveaways, you can tap into customers at a level you might not be able to during other times of the year. People search for gifts to give to others and come together. Emotionally and psychologically, these feelings align with giveaways as they show your audience that you share that same spirit.
Christmas-themed campaigns allow you to tap into the festive feeling, the more generous nature of people and the desire to buy things for others.
Giveaways are good on social media as they improve audience engagement with hashtags, tagging and posts. Social media algorithms promote brands that are causing engagement and this increases your visibility online and helps with lead generation.
Starbucks has effectively used Christmas marketing ideas with their Red Cup Giveaway Day. On this day, anyone buying a festive item will receive a free festive reusable red cup. They also have a giveaway day for NHS staff.
PetSmart, a massive pet superstore chain in the USA, has had successful 12 days of giveaway campaigns and Lofi Girl, a YouTube channel and music label with nearly 15m subscribers on YouTube, hosted a user-generated content contest on their Instagram page for Christmas.
Idea #1: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways
The “12 Days of Christmas” provides a framework for a good giveaway campaign. You can have daily giveaways that ramp up to Christmas and encourage customers to keep returning to try out their luck the next day. We’re actually doing this right now on our own socials – go and take a look!
You will resonate with audiences more if your prizes are Christmas-themed, and you should choose items that are well in stock and already popular. You could also create limited edition Christmas products or offer deals such as free shipping and personalised gifts – which are greatly appreciated around the holidays.
It’s vital to maintain consistency with this campaign. Each prize should be equal to each other to ensure people aren’t just waiting for something special. Saying that you can build momentum by perhaps having a special prize on the last day, which is only available to people who have participated.
Idea #2: Festive Photo Contest
Encouraging user content to create a contest is an easy and effective way for people to engage with your business across social media. With Christmas-themed photo prompts such as the best-decorated tree, most festive pet or best Christmas lights, you increase the trust between yourself and your audience.
You can repurpose the user-generated content by cross-posting it to other platforms. User-generated content also improves the credibility of your brand as others see that people are engaging with you.
An easy-to-use hashtag is the key to success in tracking entries. Popular hashtags that can be found easily will boost your SEO and give context to your content, driving traffic on your platforms.
Idea #3: Caption This Christmas Moment
Having a caption contest is a simple and fun campaign you can run on social media. You post a photo and ask your audience to comment with an appropriate caption. This encourages your customers’ sense of humour and creativity, promoting engagement.
You can tie it into the festive season with a Christmas-related image or use a picture that links to your brand directly.
Participation in the contest can be incentivised with valuable or brand-related prizes. They could be products that are popular or limited editions to get prospective customers more excited and eager to enter.
Idea #4: Holiday Wishlist Giveaway
At Christmas time, people write lists. You can incorporate this sentiment into your giveaway campaign by having your customers share a wish list of your products and services. These wish lists can act as entries to a competition where they may have some of their wishes granted as a prize.
Not only do you encourage participation by having a prize, but your customers’ wish lists also help display the variety of products and services you provide. They promote themselves what they like and want, and everyone else can see it without you directly advertising.
You can make this contest simple and accessible by providing a template for people to fill out. You could also post example lists to help people along. Creating a dedicated landing page for the contest can make it more accessible and encourage signing up for your email list so they can be first to know the results.
Idea #5: Mystery Gift Challenge
As the years pass, Christmas inevitably loses some of its magic as most people find themselves buying more presents than they receive or are completely aware of what they are getting.
Out of all the festive social media campaigns out there, the one that could most make your customers feel like a child again, having no idea what they are getting for Christmas, is the mystery prize.
You could create a challenge around a mystery gift, adding excitement and intrigue to your consumers’ experience. Even more than the simple giveaway, you can build a whole campaign around it – using teasers and hints about the prize to build anticipation and showcase the variety of your products. This can be done through various platforms, utilising email marketing and social media.
How you reveal the prize is up to you and should keep the momentum going. You could film an unboxing and announce a winner or even send the prize to your winner and request that they film the unboxing.
Get Help with Social Media Marketing Now
Social media holiday contests and giveaways are an exciting and simple way to build engagement and increase your customer base. You should try out some of these ideas and create a memorable campaign that effectively uses social media and resonates with your audience over Christmas.
At Maxweb Solutions, we can help you create these campaigns and build your business. To learn more about our web design and digital marketing services, get in touch today.
Posted on Friday, December 6th, 2024 in Latest News.
