With Black Friday and Cyber Monday over and just a month left until Christmas, the last days to get those extra holiday sales for your shop are starting to dwindle. Your business may be swamped at the moment, but that doesn’t mean your social media presence should backslide.

Here are 10 easy posts you can make to connect with your customers this season:

1. Use Instagram Stories or Facebook stories to feature your products

Stories are popular and perform so well across multiple social media channels. Take advantage and post about your business on the fly using stories.

This doesn’t take tons of preparation and doesn’t require a full video team or production. Stories can be something simple that you can do before your business opens/after it closes or while there is a bit of downtime!

For example, if you own a product-based business, you just need to grab the products you want to showcase, your phone, hit record and start posting!

Stories are great to launch a new product, advertise a sale, or offer a discount on your services to the followers that are already engaging with you and your brand! Don't forget to add a call to action (CTA) at the end. This would be something along the lines of:

"visit the link in our bio!"
"tap for more info!"
“click the link posted”

2. Help out all those last-minute shoppers

We’ve all been there. You think you’re done with holiday shopping and remember at the last minute that you’ve forgotten a person (or several, if we’re being honest.)

Help our last-minute shoppers by offering curbside pickup or local delivery. Or, at the very least, advertise that they can order ahead and have you set items aside for shoppers to pick up at their convenience.

These additional ways to shop can help your business make additional online sales even after the Canada Post deadline has passed, so make sure your followers know about them.

Want bonus points with them? Offer to wrap it for free if they buy $100+.

3. Support a local charity or social enterprise

Do you have a favourite local charity or organization that you support yearly? Show them some love on social media this holiday season and make your followers all warm and cozy with a good cause.

Consider offering a special sales day that you will donate $1 of every sale to (insert charity here.) One of my favourite local restaurants—The Palladium Family restaurant—does this and I look for their posts on social media about it every year! Their event is taking place on December 7th this year and for every $ spent, they donate a portion of the sales for a local food bank. So you can bet that on December 7th I’m not making supper!

4. Let your customers know what your holiday hours are

Are you open late for the holidays? Do you have special hours? When do you actually close before Christmas?

Let your customers and potential customers know when they can find you open!

5. Run a holiday contest or giveaway

It's not too late to have that online contest and gain extra followers! For example, I’m starting my 12 days of Local Holiday giveaways from December 1-12!

Having a contest or giveaway is a great way to engage your followers with a chance to win some exclusive new products or services before the holidays. Make sure you are following the rules for contests, which I broke down in this article.

6. Hold a flash sale and promote it on social media

Stories are a great place to advertise a flash sale, since they only last 24 hours. It’s short and sweet—an easy way to hold a quick sale before the holidays! It doesn’t require printing posters, a radio commercial etc. Let your followers know about your deal and what the details are!

7. Use the social media countdown option

If you celebrate Christmas, start a countdown on your social media feeds! You could reveal something new each day or count down until holiday vacation! Make countdowns for a new product launch, an exclusive one-day sale, your festive video and so much more!

8. Do a holiday this or that engagement post

Engage your followers by asking them questions about your business and products! If you sell candles, ask your followers if they prefer the sugar cookie scented candle or the cinnamon candle? If you have a cafe, do they prefer hot chocolate or cider?

Make it about your business but make it fun!

9. Continue with the questions! Ask your followers a question via polls on Instagram or Facebook stories

Ask your audience some questions about Christmas or about your industry.

10. Share a holiday gift guide (yours or other small businesses that you like)

Gift guides are a great resource for your followers on social media. It’s a great way to showcase your products and to show them multiple products from your business without pushing a specific sale for them! You can list items in $$$ amounts. (Examples Gifts under $10, Gifts under $25, Gifts for Males, Gifts for Kids etc.)

Whether that means creating a gift guide full of your business' products, compiling all your favourite products from other local businesses, or even teaming up with small businesses in your area to create a shop local guide—be sure to share your gift guide on your social media feeds!

Engage, engage, engage!

Last but not least, just make sure that you are being active on your feeds and that you are engaging with your followers. Make sure to post a holiday message (or several) on your social media feeds throughout the last month of the year!

Still feeling like you’re struggling to post regularly and with intention? Check out my Social Media Content Planner if you’re a business person who likes to go it alone—or Connect & Conquer Club if you need to check-in and be challenged by like-minded business owners!

10 social media post ideas to drive holiday sales