written by Bonnie Chomica

Easy Tips for Seasonal Content

Fall and the end of the year can be a hugely busy time for business promotion.

Do you find it hard to think of promotional or content ideas to get your name out there?

The fourth quarter is full of holidays and calendar events that should give you plenty of ideas to be creative, fill your email and social feeds, and bring people closer to a sale.

Here are just a few ideas on how to embrace seasonal themes. The approach you take for each will totally depend on your business, what you offer, and your audience.

OCTOBER

Canadian Thanksgiving – It’s the first thing I think of in October, especially since I was out shopping for a turkey today.

Content ideas:

• 5 ways to show thanks to your clients
• How do you celebrate the harvest and bounty?
• 3 options to protect your pets from turkey dinner
• Do you love or hate pumpkin pie?  [ I’m on the hate list. ]
• 3 tips how to prepare for a holiday weekend

• Thanksgiving special – product, service, meal, etc.
• Spot the pumpkin to enter – in your store, on your website, etc.
• Open/Available on holiday Monday – in store or on online

Halloween – This is always fun because you can be ghoulish, or cutish.

Content ideas:

• How to celebrate Hallowe’en in your home office
• 3 tips to stay clear of Hallowe’en candy
• 5 best DIY costume ideas
• Do you know the true origins of Hallowe’en?

Promotion ideas:

• Best costume makeup contest – in person, on Facebook Page
• Hallowe’en special – if appropriate to your service or product
• Attention-grabbing Hallowe’en Facebook Ads

[Author’s note – never dress up your cat!  It’s just cruel.]

NOVEMBER

Football

November is playoff time in the Canadian Football League. As a die-hard Winnipeg Blue Bomber fan, I’m getting stressed about our chances to get to the Grey Cup.

But, no matter who wins, it’s still fun to watch this Canadian tradition.

AND, OMG! Keith Urban is playing at the half time show!

US Thanksgiving

NFL football is going strong in the US in November, and will have big exposure during their Thanksgiving weekend, not to mention the college games.

• How to use CFL playoffs for team building
• 3 easy menu items for your Grey Cup party
• Should women be allowed to play football?

US Thanksgiving

• Why college football is the best
• 5 holiday travel hacks for Thanksgiving
• 6 tips to wrap up your work stuff so you can enjoy the holidays

Remembrance Day / Veterans Day

It is usually traditional for most businesses to honour our armed forces, people who serve our country, and those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Be careful to do whatever you do tastefully, or it could cause negative impact on your brand.

Black Friday / Cyper Monday

Some people live for these sales to launch them into Christmas shopping mode. I’m personally not a crazy-people-filled-mall fan, but there is merit in using those calendar dates to promote something from your business.

Promotion Ideas:

• Avoid the mall and stop at our shop
• Black Friday Sale like you’ve never seen
• Prices only on Black Friday
• First 10 in line get a $50 coupon

DECEMBER

Christmas – obviously.

There are so many topic ideas, again, depending on your business. Are you selling hardware? Are you in the health and wellness industry? Financial services? Trades? How about animals, kids, or entertaining?

Content ideas:

• 12 days of Christmas countdown?
• Wrap up your year early
• How to stay healthy through the holidays
• Show thanks to clients and colleagues
• Travel tips, shopping tips, eating tips, electrical tips, pet tips, how to not get stressed tips, and the list goes on.

Boxing Day / Week

The madness continues. I truly don’t know how anyone can go fighting their way into the malls to save a few bucks. Way too much stress for me.

Content ideas:

But, it is a great promotional opportunity because people pay attention to the words ‘Boxing Day Sale’.  Use it to your advantage.

WHERE SHOULD YOU POST

So, you have all these great ideas, now, where do you put all these seasonal holiday type things? Certainly you can do flyers or print or online ads, but online content is where it’s at.

The most obvious places are your blog, your email, and your social media.  And usually, you can combine the three to interconnect your content plan. Create things your audience will want to stop and read and not just scroll by.

Blog Posts

Your blog is your content, so use it to write about seasonally slanted themes. Share your opinion, your perspective, and always remember to try to relate to your audience. Why might they find it interesting or how can they benefit from your content. Find or create attractive images (copyright free), tell stories, interview people about their view of the season, or create video or audio pieces that could work well.

Social Media

Nobody knows your blog is posted unless you share it, and social media helps you do that.

Whether you use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube or other platforms, people will be watching for social media posts that stand out on a seasonal/promotional level.

Let’s face it, it’s hard to stop the scroll, so make your posts worthy of being viewed whether you are

• Advertising
• Blog sharing
• Video or image sharing

Email Content

Email is a great way to connect with people as it’s a means to communicate with them one on one. You are in their personal inbox, so it’s an opportunity to build a relationship and be a bit more personal in your content.

Share your blog post link, introduce your special seasonal offer, or just plain send an email that says how you appreciate them, or a little known fact about the season, or ask for their advice.

Be respectful of that personal space we call an inbox. Show you are a real person, build trust, and more often than not, try to be helpful.

WHAT ELSE IN OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER?

So, other than the seasonal themes and the types of content I’ve noted above, what others would you suggest?

Please share them in the comments below. Maybe we’ll all discover new content ideas to promote.

 
PS – If you struggle with generating content ideas or creating a content plan and calendar, contact me for a 15-minute discovery session to see what your options could be.