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Never Run Out of Content Again: Holiday Edition
The holiday season is a time for connection, creativity, and capturing attention like no other time of year. But as any content creator or business owner knows, it can also feel like a marathon of posts, promotions, and engagement. The pressure is on, but don't worry—we’re here to make sure you never run out of content during this holiday season. In this post, we’ll walk through strategies, tips, and examples to help you keep your content calendar packed with valuable, festive ideas that resonate with your audience.
Let’s dive into how to create endless holiday content that aligns with your brand and keeps your followers coming back for more.
1. Map Out Your Holiday Goals
The first step to ensuring consistent, high-quality content during the holidays is setting clear goals. Do you want to drive sales, build brand awareness, engage with your community, or simply keep your brand top-of-mind? Your holiday goals will guide the type of content you produce and the platforms where you focus your efforts.
Example Goals:
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Product-Based Businesses: Boosting sales with countdowns, exclusive holiday deals, and last-minute gift guides.
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Service-Based Businesses: Increasing engagement with valuable holiday-themed tips, showing support for community events, or sharing festive posts that promote goodwill.
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General Goals: Drive awareness by sharing behind-the-scenes holiday prep, customer stories, or spotlighting your team’s holiday traditions.
2. Mix It Up with Content Types and Themes
The key to keeping your audience engaged is offering a variety of content types. This not only keeps things fresh but also allows you to reach different segments of your audience in creative ways.
Content Types for the Holidays:
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Gift Guides: Create curated gift lists featuring your products or services, or partner with local businesses to create a community-focused gift guide.
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Countdown Posts: Count down to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Christmas with daily or weekly posts that include fun facts, sneak peeks, or deal alerts.
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Behind-the-Scenes: Show how you’re prepping for the holidays, whether it’s decorating the office, packing orders, or getting into the holiday spirit.
Service-Based Business Ideas:
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Dentists: Share holiday tips on maintaining dental health during the season of sweets.
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Realtors: Offer home-staging tips for holiday viewings, or a checklist for winterizing properties.
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Attorneys: Post year-end planning tips or advice on family and estate planning during holiday gatherings.
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Acupuncturists or Wellness Providers: Share tips on reducing holiday stress and keeping a balanced routine.
3. Stay Festive with Daily or Weekly Series
One of the best ways to build anticipation and encourage repeat engagement is with a recurring series. Whether it’s “12 Days of Tips” or a weekly “Festive Friday,” consistent themes help audiences know what to expect and create a sense of excitement.
Holiday Series Ideas:
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“Countdown to [Holiday]”: Share a series of posts leading up to the holiday with special deals, festive photos, or holiday-themed Q&As.
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“Holiday Health Hacks” (for wellness businesses): Share stress management, sleep tips, or healthy holiday recipes.
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“Home for the Holidays” (for real estate): Feature homes decorated for the holidays or host a virtual holiday house tour.
Service-Based Examples:
4. Engage and Interact with Holiday-Themed Polls, Questions, and Contests
Holiday-themed engagement posts are a fantastic way to connect with your audience while boosting reach. These types of posts are especially effective on Instagram Stories or as a holiday poll on Facebook.
Interactive Ideas:
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Polls and Questions: Ask your followers about their holiday traditions, favorite seasonal treats, or gift ideas. This can spark conversations and even inspire future content.
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Contests and Giveaways: Host a holiday-themed giveaway to drive engagement. Giveaways that tie into your products, like “Win Your Holiday Wish List,” are highly effective.
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Challenges: Start a seasonal photo challenge where followers share their favorite holiday decor or how they use your products during the season.
Service-Based Examples:
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Law Firms: Poll your audience with legal fun facts or “myth-busting” posts about common year-end legal considerations.
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Wellness Practitioners: Run a “12 Days of Wellness” challenge encouraging followers to share stress-relieving holiday practices, such as meditation or breathing exercises.
5. Plan Ahead and Batch Your Content
Batching your holiday content saves time and keeps your messaging consistent. Create a content calendar specifically for the holiday season, and map out your planned posts, promotions, and engagement activities. Try to schedule at least two weeks in advance, if possible, so you can stay focused on responding to engagement and creating spontaneous posts as opportunities arise.
Batching Tips:
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Design templates in Canva for your posts to maintain a cohesive look.
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Schedule posts with tools like Metricool, which allows you to plan and automate your content across social channels.
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Dedicate a “content day” to batch-create your videos, graphics, and captions for an entire week or month.
6. Don’t Forget About User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is gold during the holiday season, as it highlights your community and showcases your brand through the eyes of your customers. Encourage your followers to share their holiday experiences with your product or service, and reshare these on your profile.
UGC Ideas:
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Ask customers to tag you in their holiday photos, and feature a “Customer of the Week.”
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Run a holiday-themed photo contest where followers share creative uses of your product or service.
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Spotlight customer reviews and testimonials that speak to your holiday products or seasonal offerings.
Service-Based Example:
7. End with Gratitude
End your holiday campaign with a heartfelt thank-you to your customers and community. Whether it’s a special year-end video, a thank-you post, or a behind-the-scenes look at your team celebrating the season, gratitude goes a long way. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the year and set the stage for continued connection into the new year.
End-of-Year Ideas:
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A year-in-review post highlighting your company’s best moments.
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A thank-you letter from the CEO or founder expressing gratitude for customer support.
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Share customer success stories or how your services have helped clients throughout the year.
Service-Based Examples:
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Attorneys: Highlight clients you’ve helped with notable cases or legal services.
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Dentists and Wellness Practitioners: Reflect on the health milestones your clients have achieved, and thank them for their loyalty.
Chat GPT Prompt Prompt:
"Help me create a holiday content plan that keeps my social media full and engaging throughout the season. I want a mix of post ideas that are festive, valuable, and relevant for my audience. My business type is [insert business type, e.g., acupuncture, realtor, retail, consulting, etc.], and my goal is to [insert goal, e.g., increase engagement, drive holiday sales, build brand awareness, etc.]. Please include ideas for:
Seasonal Tips related to my industry
Customer Spotlights or Testimonials that build trust and engagement
Holiday-Themed Promotions or exclusive deals
Behind-the-Scenes Content that shows how we're preparing for the season
Community and Giving Back Posts that showcase holiday spirit
Engagement Posts like polls, countdowns, or holiday quizzes
Helpful Reminders or checklists to make the season easier for my followers
Festive Humor or Relatable Posts that add a touch of fun
I’d love a mix of reels, stories, carousels, and regular feed posts to keep things fresh. Make it unique, on-brand, and festive!"
