The countdown to Christmas is on and it’ll be here before you know it. The hustle and bustle of malls and shopping centers is a common sight to see this time of year. People are out looking for the perfect gift for those important people in their life – which can be completely overwhelming! Most people turn to online channels and social media for ideas and inspiration, so why not capitalize on it? Consumers often look to you as the credible source, for gift inspiration, so tell them what to buy for who and why with holiday gift guides.
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Holiday gift guides make for great content across your social media platforms. They provide a solution to a time-consuming, daunting, and often stressful task. You’ll be able to provide unique ideas that can steer away from the same old, same old. Let your creativity shine when creating these holiday gift guides. Remeber: the best way to get the most engagement across your social media is to go live or use video. But, we understand that can be challenging for most. Which is why we wanted to share some ideas you use can use outside of going live.
Slideshows
Slideshows are great because they add movement, but don’t require the time or energy that comes with being on camera. The moving images can help keep your customers looking at and engaged with your content longer than they might have otherwise.
When creating a slideshow you’ll want to upload anywhere from 3 to 10 images. You’ll then want to set a timer for how long each image is displayed – we recommend 2 seconds in between before showing the next image. You can also add music to your slideshow from the approved choices available of Facebook.
Albums
Albums are a great way to keep everything in one place. You can always create multiple albums, each with their own theme, to make it an easy viewing experience for your audience. Title your album clearly to help send your customer to the right place, i.e. “Gifts for Her” or “Gifts for Mom” make it clear about types of items are inside.
Once the album is made it’s always important to include the product name, price, and store contact information on every image. This makes it easy for your customers to find the item in-store or to get in touch with you if needed. If you have an online shop you can also include the direct product link so people can purchase online.
We recommend creating an album with a minimum of 5 images. When viewed from a mobile device or computer people will only see thumbnails of the first few images, so you’ll want to catch peoples attention early and get them to click over to view what else is inside. Again, it’s about increasing the time people spend with your content and engage with it.
Carousels
Are a collection of up to 10 images that can link to a specific place online. These are great for e-commerce businesses or if you sell online because you’ll be able to link directly to the product page. You can use carousels on both Facebook and Instagram, but they vary slightly in how you set them up.
Flat-lays
Flat-lays are a great way to share content and can be very visually appealing. You’ll lay your products down against a clean, simple background or you can just use your floor. Then you’ll take the picture from up above over the items to showcase all the items in the image. You can get super creative with flat-lays. These are great if you want to share outfit ideas, themed item, or even items of a single color. You can share these across all platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but especially on Pinterest.
Tip: For more flat-lay inspiration each #flatlay on Instagram.
Stories
Stories work for holiday gift guides because they allow for quick snapshots or videos of your products. If you’re doing special sale or want to let people know you’re almost out of an item, this can help create urgency to get people through your doors.
Remember, these ideas can be used for more than just holiday gift ideas. You can also create guides for “Holiday Party Decor” or “Christmas Party Outfit Ideas” or even “Office Christmas Party Favors”…honestly the possibilities are endless.
You can catch new episodes every Monday at 10 a.m PST on our Facebook Page. Replays will be available on the blog each week.
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