With the holiday season upon us, most of us have our sights on indulging (or resisting) buckets of Halloween candy, gathering with our closest friends and relatives, and playing Santa.
Holidays are always one of the most anticipated times of the year, but for businesses, they represent more than just fond memories—they’re an opportunity for explosive revenue growth.
This year it is estimated that millennials in the U.S. alone will be spending $200 billion. By 2018, they will have the most spending power of any generation.
Social media, is playing a huge role with 62% of millennials saying that if a brand engages with them on social networks, they are more likely to become a loyal customer.
So how do you tap into the revenue potential?
Take it from one online content creator who recommends using organic growth, and timely content, starting off the season strong with swoon-worthy Halloween-themed content across all of her social channels.
Meet Kayla Gallagher, a social media influencer known for her innovative and adorable culinary creations @pankobunny that have amassed a following of over 300k across Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as over 300M+ views. Her content, has been featured on Tastemade, a global food lover’s network that generates 2B views per month, and in 2016, she was named one of Canada’s next up and coming YouTube stars.
This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, Gallagher shares how businesses can leverage the holiday season to generate brand loyalty and faster growth organically.
Below, learn several ways you can increase your engagement and ultimately your revenue with Gallagher’s recommendations.
Benefit From No-Brainer Content.
If you’ve ever taken to the task of posting consistent content, you’ll know that after a while, coming up with novel ideas is hard work. What do you do when your ideas have run dry and it’s just an ordinary Tuesday?
Luckily, when the holidays roll in, content is built-in to the calendar. The dawn of autumn is a license to start posting about Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, well before the actual dates. Because holidays are so widely celebrated and searched (SEO, anyone?), they provide a great opportunity to help you engage your following and raise brand awareness.
To capitalize on the holidays, Gallagher recommends creating holiday-themed content around your brand offering that will help your audience celebrate the festivities. Gallagher has been posting spooky dessert recipes since the beginning of October. “I ask people what they’re doing for Halloween and make a point to interact with them. It creates a strong sense of community,” she says.
One more great way to generate sales, is to offer a giveaway to your followers for one of your products. It is a great way to get brand exposure and build interest. Philip Henson, founder of the Social Investor, says “leveraging the word “free” is the best and most efficient way to capture attention quickly when building a new customer relationship.” Select the winner who shares and comments the most while tagging their friends to reach a larger audience.
Collaborate With Other Leaders.
The world’s top content creators are better together. That is, they reach far more people by networking and collaborating with one another. Gallagher says since joining Tastemade, her viewcount and following has surged. “My hot tub french toast post went viral on their Facebook page. It got 27M views in the first day, which was validation that I was doing the right thing. It got to the point where if Tastemade shared a video I made my phone would blow up and I’d have to turn off all of my notifications,” she reflects.
Joining a network of other content creators that serve a similar audience as your ideal customers can help you gain much more exposure. Reach out to account holders with a larger following than you and ask them to promote your holiday-themed content—it’s a win-win because your quality content will create more engagement for them while directing their followers back to your business or channel.
Stick To The Basics.
While the holidays offer a novel way to engage followers, you’ll have the most success by cementing your approach in tried-and-true strategies. Gallagher says with any new theme, she doesn’t diverge much from her classic techniques:
You can increase the shareability of your videos by drawing viewers “into the action” in the first 1-2 seconds. Aim to elicit surprise or intrigue by starting your videos with the unexpected. For example, Gallagher’s most popular video begins with her pomeranian puppy licking the batter out of the cupcake pan.
Ensure that your content feed flows nicely together as a uniform body of work. Select a consistent color theme and take your photos in backgrounds that complement one another. “No odd photos stand out it all just matches. You can scroll through the grid and it all looks nice so when people view your account they know what to expect when they follow you,” Gallagher says.
Lastly, gain more exposure by dominating smaller hashtags rather than getting lost in larger ones. While it might seem counterintuitive, using smaller hashtags can help you rank in the top results when others search them, which makes you more visible. Before you use a hashtag, research how many likes the top-ranking posts have as an indicator of whether or not you’ll be able to rank among them.
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This article originally appeared on Forbes.com
