Fall, winter, spring summer. We know them well. Did you know social media has seasons too? It’s true! Introducing the seasons of social media—and how you can implement them into your social strategy.
Pre-fall
It’s October, so we’ll start with something relevant. At this point, we’re a little past the pre-fall phase. This is the time, however, in which you can concentrate your social media posts on anything to do with back-to-school, fall sports (in the South, it’s all about football) and even start posting about upcoming fall events. Timewise, this is August-September.
Are you going to be switching up your hours of operation for fall or winter? Now’s a good time to post about that as well.
Full-fledged fall (including “spooky season”)
Time to embrace all-things autumn! Show off your business’ fall décor. Share info about any fall specials or promotions. Oh yeah—and don’t forget “spooky season.” That’s basically the entire month of October. Is your business doing anything festive for Halloween? The time to post about it is now!
Holiday lead-up
After Halloween, it’s all about looking ahead to the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza—whatever it is your clientele celebrates, it all happens around the time between late November and New Year’s Day.
What should your social media focus be at this time? Staying ahead of the holidays so they don’t sneak up on you! Take this time to make a game plan for holiday social posting. This includes planning ahead if you or your staff will be taking time off work.
The holidays.
Depending on the type of business you run/work for, the holidays may be either your busiest time of year (like retail)—or your slowest (like real estate). Either way, the holiday season provides a fountain of social media content for you to post about.
Holiday promotions and specials, events (whether they are ones your business is involved in, or just happening in your community), charitable efforts. This is also a great time for end-of-year reflections. Talk about your accomplishments as a brand over the past year and what you’re looking forward to in the new one!
New year lull.
When it comes to the seasons of social media, this admittedly may be one of the dullest. It’s the post-holiday lull. Traveling has happened. Family has been seen. Gifts have been unwrapped. Food has been eaten. In social media, we tend to find ourselves posting a lot of “general,” non-time-specific content during this time that we have stored up. On the calendar, this is January until around Valentine’s Day.
Inklings of spring.
Valentine’s Day gives you something to rally around when it comes to getting out of the new year social media lull. From that time into St. Patricks’ Day, we start thinking about spring. What exciting things will your brand have to talk about once spring has sprung? You can start to post hints of it during this time.
Full fledged spring.
Bust out the baby chicks and Easter baskets! When spring hits, it’s a time of resurgence—both in the world in general, and for your social media pages.
What’s new with your business? As people are generally becoming more active again with the onset of warmer weather, it’s a good time to remind them why they should come see you.
Pre-summer.
The lead-in to summer happens late April through Memorial Day. Gear up for summer vacations, kids being out of school, and parents needing things to occupy their kids’ time. For social media purposes, ask yourself—“Where will my clients be over the summer, and what will they be doing?” Then, tailor your content depending on the answers.
SUMMER.
Where we live, that means get ready for the relentless heat. Bring the heat to your brand’s social media pages by sharing what the season carries for your business. Your followers will appreciate knowing how you can help them enjoy the season—sun’s rays and all.
Gearing up for back-to school.
Can you believe it’s already that time again? We say it every year. Starting in mid-July, it’s time to start creating social media content for back-to-school season. And then we start the seasons of social media all over again!
Summary
The moral of these seasons of social media? Always anticipate what’s ahead. Cause for last minute posts can and does happen, but the more you can plan your content ahead of time, the more efficient your social media strategy will be!
McNutt & Partners is a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency. Contact us today for your marketing needs! Call 334-521-1010, or visit our contact page.