Ahhh...the holidays. It's when every brand wants to run a holiday campaign to engage with customers and drive followers. So if your goal is for your customers to engage with your brand, how do you make sure you have a higher success rate?

Let's keep in mind,

YOUR GOAL = NEW FOLLOWERS

Engagement will create the exposure necessary for new followers to discover your account, so while it is necessary it isn't your end goal. 

Here are three tips for you to plan a successful holiday campaign on Instagram.

1. Keep It Easy. Know that there are thousands of other brands also running their holiday campaigns during the same time period, so in order for users to want to engage, it has to be easy. If you are asking them to take a photo, post a photo, use a special hashtag, follower 2 different instagram accounts and tag 3 friends - you've already lost them at the post a photo part. Holiday campaigns should be easy for users to join and just as easy for account admins to manage and track entries. Accept entries through ONE giveaway post, not 3 different Instagram posts and 2 Facebook posts.

2. Keep it Brief. How long are you going to run this campaign for? After the first 3 days the organic participation usually drops. You can choose to boost the campaign using advertising spend to run it for one week. If you are running a campaign for a full month, make sure you refresh the visuals for your ad to keep things new! You can run an Instagram ad to lead to the permalink for your contest / giveaway Instagram post so people can visit to enter.

3. Expand Your Reach. The whole point of having a social network is to be SOCIAL. Get other partners to come in on the campaign. Be selective and choose partners that align with your brand. For example, if you serve cold pressed juices, you might partner with a bartender and mix up some innovative and healthy mocktails as a signature drink for your holiday event. Tag them in your posts to promote healthy mocktails during the holiday season!

So in conclusion, make it easy for users to enter, keep it brief so the campaign doesn't go on for longer than it needs to or else it gets boring, and make sure to expand your reach strategically and partner up with aligned brands!

Looking for a team to help you craft your holiday campaign? Send us an email through our contact form and we will be in touch!