Why I Don't Bother Creating Special Content for Holidays
With the holiday season around the corner, I thought I’d share a little secret: I don’t create holiday content.
I know most people are surprised when I say that. After all, most people’s social media calendar is filled with holidays—both “Instagram holidays”, like National Doughnut Day or real holidays.
While I think it’s fun to see all these special photos of Halloween costumes, sparkly stuff for new years and of course, all the doughnuts, when it comes to a small service business like mine, it’s a waste of resources. Here’s why:
Most people are out on real Holidays. Even if people do check Instagram while on vacation, they won’t be on it for long. That’s why when there’s a holiday we start seeing lower engagement the week prior and it lasts all the way till the following week.
As a service I don’t have a special line or special sales going on holidays. I am actually off. So this wouldn’t be the right strategy for me.
If I will do a photoshoot, as I do several times a year, it will be to get the most engagement and sales. And none if that happens for me during a major holiday.
As for “Instagram holidays”, I don’t care much to recognize those because I see them as fillers, not relevant conversations you can help you build meaningful relationships with your audience.
Again, different strategies to different businesses. But if you’re a service biz like me, who aren’t doing anything business-wise during holidays, any simple “happy [insert holiday here]” message is enough. You can re-use content from the past year, use some free stock photo or a regram (but if you do this, ask for permission and credit correctly!).
Now if you do have special products or events, or are a blogger/influencer, then holiday content is important. Just make sure you don’t share your best content on the actual holiday day, or your content may not be seen by as many people as it should!
Happy-almost-holidays!
xx
Manu
