Holiday Social Media Tips

Happy almost Fourth of July weekend!

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As one of the major summer holidays, public relations and marketers work hard to craft 4^th of July social media campaigns to attract their audience’s attention. Most campaigns are made for Twitter but more are happening on Snapchat and Instagram too.

The biggest obstacle is trying to stand out from the crowd and get your message heard. Here are some ways to get your brand noticed on social media.

1. Include visuals

Whether it is a picture, GIF or video, any visual element increases engagement and makes people stop and look. Be creative with pictures and make sure you take them from the best angle with a plain background so it is easy to see, especially since a lot of people will be viewing your content on a small screen. If possible, take high quality photographs with an actual camera and then upload them later onto social media.

2. Make a creative hashtag

Your hashtag is extremely important for people to find your campaign, and it also lets you monitor traffic and engagements. Incorporate the holiday and your brand for users to instantly make the connection. On posts, include your unique hashtag and a trending hashtag to further expand your audience and engagement.

3. Build in giveaways or contests

As per tradition, brands love doing special holiday sales and promotions to increase sales and awareness. Promotions work well to attract new people to your brand because everyone loves getting something for less or even free. Create promotions that require users to share your brand’s posts with their followers. In addition, any promotions or offers also spread through word of mouth too.

The upcoming holidays are a great time to boost your brand and increase traffic on all social media sites. You can also take some of these tips and apply them to your personal social media pages too. 

This blog post was written by PRowl Secretary Shaun Luberski.

Happy Honda Days from Skeletor

Twitter was abuzz with laughs and speculations yesterday when Honda's official Twitter account was seemingly hacked by none other than the cartoon villain, Skeletor. After taking over the brand's account, Skeletor made a few changes, editing their bio to read: "It is I, Skeletor! Master of the Universe, Internet, and now Honda's Twitter Account! Prepare to experience my evil in 140 characters or less!! Muahaha!!!"

The takeover had all of the classic elements of a social network hacking, which has happened to many brands including Skype, Jeep and Burger King. However, this was no hacking matter. The takeover was a part of a new advertising campaign, promoting Honda's annual Honda Days sale. The takeover remained live on the brand's account for about 4 hours before they returned to business as usual, tweeting:

And we’re back! Skeletor has returned to Eternia and sanity has officially been restored. #Skeletakeover is over! #Finally
— Honda (@Honda) December 2, 2014 

Unlike other brands who have staged account hackings, Honda's seems to have been very well received. Followers engaged with the tweets and many found it entertaining --though they didn't quite understand the thought behind it. Those who had seen this commercial released by Honda earlier in November better understood the Skeletor connection.

Now that Honda's Twitter account is back to normal, do you think the social media tactic will help their Honda Days sales? Will social media takeovers become more prominent moving forward? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Holiday Shopping in Your Inbox

Prepare for an inbox of coupons and promo codes this holiday season.

We've taken e-mail for granted. We use it most often for business purposes rather than personal purposes, but it remains a tactic for marketing professionals everywhere.  E-blasts, promotional codes, weekly updates, and blog content are all sent out as attention-grabbers via e-mail.

(Source: Here's The Thing)

According to Experian Marketing, over 90% of marketers are using e-mail in their marketing plan this holiday season. This puts e-mail in a more common place than social media. Chances are companies are using free media regardless, but their audience and focus are both factors of what channel receives the  most effort. Ultimately, we check our inboxes compulsively for the sake of business, so why do marketers reach out to us on the same outlet for the sake of consumerism?

The biggest holiday sales and shopping occur online, surpassing Black Fridays sales on Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving. It's a virtual world for the holiday shopper, e-commerce and digital marketing staying one step ahead of the game.

As aspiring communication professionals, we understand that everyone has something to promote. Send out my e-blast, I'll send out your e-blast. Digital marketing is a perfect opportunity to differentiate marketing from public relations, and furthermore, organic promotion from that of paid advertisements.