Category: Social media

Posted on in Social media

How To Find the Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts

a red clock with the YouTube play button in the middle: best time to post youtube shorts

Social media algorithms can be vexing. They’re powerful, changeable, and somewhat mysterious—particularly if you create content for a relatively new feature, like YouTube Shorts. 

The YouTube algorithm plays a significant role in determining the success of your efforts on the platform. In addition to publishing high-quality content, many creators also optimize other factors that affect post ranking and distribution, including publication timing, i.e., when to post. 

Strategically timing your YouTube Shorts can help you leverage the algorithm to meet your social media goals. Here’s what you need to know. 

  • Why is it important to post YouTube Shorts at the right time?
  • How does the YouTube algorithm work?
  • What is the best time to post YouTube Shorts?
  • 3 tips to identify the best time to post YouTube Shorts

Why is it important to post YouTube Shorts at the right time?

Deciding when to post content is key to any social media marketing strategy because you want to catch your audiences when they’re most active on the platform. On most social media platforms, you can increase your reach by strategically timing posts to coincide with your audiences’ most active windows. Although Shorts is a relatively new feature on YouTube, the same applies to short-form video content hosted on the platform. 

A little bit of strategic timing can positively influence the following metrics: 

Views

When a viewer plays a video and watches at least 30 seconds of it, YouTube counts that activity as a view. Posting Shorts at the right time can ensure that your content is live and searchable while your users are online, which can increase the total number of views your videos receive.

Engagement

Posting at the right time can increase engagement—particularly if your channel responds to or is conversant with current events and trending topics.

Return on investment

If you’ve monetized your YouTube channel, increasing views can increase your return on investment (ROI) and help you secure more brand deals.

Video performance

The YouTube algorithm factors in video performance and watch history, which means that earning a large number of early views can increase your likelihood of reaching a larger audience over time. 

How does the YouTube algorithm work?

The YouTube algorithm is the set of mathematical rules YouTube uses to determine which videos to show to audiences. YouTube has yet to publish extensive information about how the platform ranks and promotes YouTube Shorts, so most of what is publicly known about how the YouTube algorithm works relates to long-form videos. 

Here’s an overview of the common knowledge about YouTube’s algorithm: 

  • How YouTube serves content to viewers
  • Posting time
  • YouTube videos don’t index immediately
  • YouTube doesn’t display newly uploaded content in chronological order
  • Shorts and long-form videos algorithms are distinct

How YouTube serves content to viewers

YouTube’s algorithm evaluates the following data points to serve users with high-quality, relevant content:

  • Types of content a YouTube user watches or doesn’t watch
  • Individual video performance, including views, watch history, and search history
  • Viewer feedback, including likes, dislikes, and the “not interested” designation
  • Satisfaction surveys
  • How much time a viewer spends watching content
  • How well content matches a user’s search query, if applicable

Posting time

According to YouTube, publication time doesn’t influence a video’s long-term performance. That said, YouTube acknowledges posting time can influence how many early views a video gets, which can make YouTube more likely to recommend the video to other viewers. As a result, most creators strategically upload YouTube videos to coincide with when their audiences are on the platform. 

Here are a few posting time details to keep in mind:

YouTube videos don’t index immediately

It takes YouTube two to three hours to index videos and display them in search results, so some creators post videos a few hours early. For example, if the optimal time to post based on viewer activity is 5 p.m., you might upload videos by 2 p.m. if you want users to find your content via a search query, like “how to make vegan cheesecake.”

YouTube doesn’t display newly uploaded content in chronological order 

Unlike many other social media platforms, YouTube doesn’t display content in chronological order. While posting time still matters, having the most recently uploaded video on the platform at a given moment doesn’t necessarily increase the likelihood YouTube will recommend your content. 

Shorts and long-form videos algorithms are distinct 

According to YouTube employee Todd Sherman, YouTube uses separate algorithms for long and short-form content: Because many viewers enjoy watching different kinds of content in different formats, separating the algorithms allows the platform to better meet most user needs. 

Experimenting with Shorts can be a low-risk endeavor for an established creator. If your first attempts don’t perform well, they won’t hurt your long-form content rankings. 

Todd also noted that both algorithms rest on a similar set of principles, meaning much of the information available about the long-form algorithm also likely applies to the Shorts algorithm. 

What is the best time to post YouTube Shorts?

The short answer is: It depends. Because YouTube Shorts are relatively new, there’s no definitive public information about the best times to post. Instead, many creators use YouTube Studio to determine the optimal time to post, based on data about their specific audience’s behaviors on the platform.

Here are a few factors that determine the best posting time for your channel: 

  • Target audience demographics
  • Time zone
  • Competitor activities
  • Trending topics and current events

Target audience demographics

Viewing patterns vary according to your target audience’s age and other demographic factors. For example, a target audience of working professionals is more likely to watch YouTube in the early evenings than during working hours, while college students may be more active in the late afternoon and late at night. 

Time zone

Your time zone and your viewers’ time zones also affect your ideal posting times. For example, if you live in New York and your target audiences are most active between 5 and 9 p.m. in their local time zones, you may post content at 2 p.m. ET to reach your West Coast viewers. 

Competitor activities

If your competitors all post during peak viewing times for your audiences, you might try posting content at slightly off hours to minimize competition. For example, if your audiences are most active between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. and all of your competitors post exactly at 6, try posting YouTube Shorts at 6:30. This way, you’re still solidly within peak hours but face less competition from other new videos. 

Trending topics and current events

Be aware of trends and events relevant to your particular niche. For example, if you cover politics and political activism, your viewers may be particularly engaged in the wake of major Supreme Court decisions and around local and national election cycles.

3 tips to identify the best time to post YouTube Shorts

The best time to publish YouTube videos varies depending on when your audience is most active on the platform. There isn’t a single exact answer to the question of the best time to post, but with a bit of digging and experimentation, you can find the best time for your channel.

Here are three tips to help you find your optimal posting time:

1. See when your viewers are online

The YouTube analytics section can help you determine the best time to post videos by showing you when your viewers are online. Here’s how to find your viewer data:

1. Open YouTube Studio.

2. Navigate to your channel dashboard.

3. Click “Channel Analytics.” 

4. Click the Audience tab.

5. View the bar graph titled “When your viewers are on YouTube.”

You’ll see a graph showing the days and times your viewers were most active on the YouTube platform during the past 28 days, with the dark purple bars corresponding with most active times. 

YouTube videos tend to get most of their views in the first two days, so you can schedule your posts so this period covers the days and times when your audiences are most active. You can also experiment with posting videos during the most active periods or two to three hours before these periods to allow YouTube time to index your content.

Your channel dashboard might not display this graph if you haven’t had enough channel traffic in the past 28 days. In this case, you can manually gather data using the process in the next step. 

2. See when your videos earn the most views

You can also gather your own data using YouTube’s Realtime data section, which contains information about views during the past 48 hours. Here’s how:

1. Open YouTube Studio.

2. Navigate to your channel dashboard.

3. Click Channel Analytics. 

4. Click the Overview tab.

5. Consult the Realtime data in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

This section displays a bar graph that tracks video views over the previous 48 hours. Although the graph doesn’t show time markers, you can work backward from when you’ve accessed the data (labeled “Now”) to identify the days and times your videos earned the most views. 

Note the most active times, check back 48 hours later, and repeat the process. You can gather data for one to two weeks, taking note of any patterns that emerge along the way. Although you may continue to record peak viewing times for a month or longer, two weeks should be enough to start noticing any significant trends.

3. Test different posting times

Because YouTube hasn’t yet divulged how recency (when the video is first posted to Youtube) factors into the Shorts algorithm, one of the best ways to find the optimal time to post Shorts is to experiment. Testing different posting times can also help you A/B test how posting during periods of high activity affect your video performance. 

To use this strategy, pick several times and days to post content and review your results. If you’re seeing consistently strong results at a particular time, keep posting then—even if you haven’t determined why that particular day lends itself to such strong performance. 

Once you find your sweet spot, stay consistent. Consistent posting can help your audiences know when to find you. As you build a loyal following, your users may intentionally log in at your typical posting time in anticipation of new content. 

Wrapping Up:

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, over 1,000,000 SKU and more. With a successful track record of over 100,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements.

Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses! If you would like to know more details about us, please contact us:  blog.shopshipshake.com. If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on: https://shop.shopshipshake.com/shop/register/business

The article originates from: https://www.shopify.com/blog/best-time-to-post-youtube-shorts

Posted on in Social media

How To Create a Content Calendar

books in a row:content calendar

Like your regular monthly calendar, a content calendar is a planning tool that can streamline communication between members of your content team. As content ideas pass from designers to copywriters to social media managers, each team member can refer back to the content calendar for information about an idea, including its associated deadline and related creative assets.

Here’s how to create a content calendar to ensure seamless collaboration and efficient execution of your content.Click here to start selling online now with Shopify

Table of Contents

  • What is a content calendar?
  • Benefits of having a content calendar
  • How to create a content calendar
  • Content calendar tools

What is a content calendar?

A content calendar is a digital calendar used to plan processes for producing and publishing all of the content in your marketing plan, including blog content and social media posts, and even videos, ad campaigns, and other content produced by your brand. You can use content calendars to brainstorm new ideas, store creative assets, and coordinate with other teams. A content calendar can also include important dates from your marketing calendar and world events like holidays.

No two content calendars are alike—some brands may use a simple spreadsheet, while others have dedicated content calendar software. At a minimum, a content calendar is a place to note publishing dates for upcoming posts and basic information about them like the post title and the platform where it will be published.

Benefits of having a content calendar

Creating and using a content calendar will help your team get the most out of your content marketing strategy. Working with a calendar can help you: 

  • Stay on top of publishing. Organizing all of your content in one place can help you establish a consistent publishing schedule for each platform. A quick glance at the calendar will show how many social posts and blog posts are planned per week, making it easy to spot any publishing gaps. Content calendars with automated notifications can also keep every stakeholder accountable for their step of the production process.
  • Reduce errors. Creating and publishing content in a rushed manner can lead to errors like typos or missing links. Planning content in advance will give your team the chance to be thoughtful about the content and have ample time to review and edit the copy to ensure accuracy ahead of publication.
  • Create consistent messaging across platforms. Depending on the size of your marketing team, you may have multiple content managers publishing to your website and social media channels. The team can align on timing and messaging for all channels in the content calendar. This way, you don’t end up with an Instagram story captioned “7 reasons we love vanilla” published on the same day a Facebook post declares, “We couldn’t live without chocolate.”
  • Have one source of truth for content. A well-organized content calendar is a one-stop shop that can answer common questions about upcoming posts that anyone in the business may have. Instead of frantically searching for links, content team members can consult the calendar to find the upcoming content they need. Other teams, like your sales or product teams, can also look at your content calendar if they’re interested in seeing what blog or social media posts are planned.
  • Centralize creative assets. In addition to planning future social media posts and blog content, a calendar can be a central place to store creative assets. That way, if the social media marketing team wants to feature an image previously included in a blog post, both teams know where to find that asset.
  • Keep clear records and avoid duplication. With consistent use, your content calendar can serve as an archive of previously published content. Having a clear picture of what you’ve already published can help ensure you don’t duplicate blog posts.

How to create a content calendar

Investing the time to create a clear, functional content calendar can save you effort in the long run by making your workflow more efficient and reducing the risk of errors and duplication. Use the following steps to get started:

  1. Define the scope
  2. Identify the details to include
  3. Establish best practices
  4. Collect feedback from your content team

1. Define the scope

A content calendar can include content for multiple channels and platforms or focus on a single social network. Decide whether your team will have a separate social media content calendar, or if it can be combined with a blog content calendar.  If you have a small content team with no more than one person managing each channel, consider using a single calendar to facilitate communication between channel owners and create a central place to view the overall publishing schedule. 

For large teams with in-depth posting strategies tailored to each platform, individual calendars will allow for more detailed planning and analysis. If your calendar includes multiple platforms, set up a system—such as a color code—for distinguishing between types of content.

2. Identify the details to include

Content calendars often include the most important details needed to publish a piece of content, including the intended publication date, post title, caption copy, links to other pages on your website, and design assets, among other things. To determine what details to include in your team’s calendar, think about who will be using it, what information they will need, and their ideal workflow.

For example, if the content calendar keeps track of blog posts that need to be featured on social media, include a field in the entry for individual social media posts where they can find the link to the article as well as instructions on where to find the imagery included in the post. That way, the social media manager will know exactly how to find and share the content.

3. Establish best practices

Set clear guidelines for how the calendar should be used. These guidelines should outline how often the calendar should be updated, what each calendar entry should look like, and how assets should be stored. Make sure each member of your team understands which aspects of the calendar they are responsible for updating.

4. Collect feedback from your content team

Share your new content calendar with your team and ensure everyone knows what role they play in maintaining its schedule. Once the process is rolling and everyone is using the content calendar, solicit ongoing feedback to make sure it’s working for everyone. Make adjustments to the format or workflow as needed.

Content calendar tools

Using a digital calendar will make it easy to plan and update your publishing schedule. Consider some of the content calendar tools brands and social media marketers use to stay organized:

  • Free templates. Downloadable content calendar templates are available online. You can update and edit these templates to suit your team’s specific needs. These templates are compatible with Excel or Google Sheets. 
  • Google Sheets. Google Sheets is a free, cloud-based app that allows teams to work together on a single spreadsheet. This format makes it easy to filter content by any field you set, which can include a piece of content’s publication date, platform, and other categories. 
  • Google Calendar. Google Calendar is another free Google app that allows you to create events, schedule tasks, and set reminders. Create a separate event for each piece of content to use Google Calendars as a content calendar. Because you can share a calendar with others, this software makes it easy for anyone in your organization to access the publishing schedule.
  • Project management software systems. Project management platforms and content calendar software such as Trello or Asana offer useful functions like the ability to assign tasks to specific team members. 
  • Social media management tools. In addition to functioning as a digital calendar, many social media management tools, like Sprout or Hootsuite, can connect to your social media accounts and publish content directly to your social media channels.

Wrapping Up:

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, over 1,000,000 SKU and more. With a successful track record of over 100,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements.

Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses! If you would like to know more details about us, please contact us:  blog.shopshipshake.com. If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on: https://bit.ly/3Cfdu4w

The article refers to: https://www.shopify.com/blog/content-calendar

Posted on in Sales&Marketing, Social media

Online Reputation Management 101

Proper online reputation management is a must in today’s ever-evolving digital world and you can very easily make or break your brand.

It’s been about 16 years since “Google” was added as a verb to the Oxford English dictionary. It was a significant addition to the lexicon, describing an activity that has come to define what’s now become the most basic method of verifying individuals, brands and organisations.

Thinking of hiring someone? Google them. Thinking of buying a product? Google it. Thinking of working with a particular company or organisation? Let’s get ‘googling’.

These days, much to Google’s chagrin, ‘googling’ someone or something now goes beyond the search engine. Our armchair investigations take us into social media platforms, review sites, and even closed systems like WhatsApp groups.

What this means for your public relations

For PR professionals, this means that reputation management goes beyond getting great earned coverage in the traditional media (although this is part of it). The implications are clear: as desktop research becomes an integral part of our decision-making process, a strong online profile is a critical pillar of a brand’s reputation.

So much so that studies by Oberlo claim that 79% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

So where do we begin?

Audit yourself

Start with a basic audit of your online reputation and ask yourself these three questions:

  1. What comes up when people search for me or my brand on the web?
  2. What are the comments and reviews on my social media channels?
  3. What are third-party review sites saying about me? (think TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, etc.)

Once you’ve taken a deep dive into how you or your brand appears online, here are six key steps to improving your online reputation:

  1. Improve your Google ranking

According to research conducted by Reputation X, a page that ranks number one on Google generally receives 31.7% of the traffic. The search engine’s algorithm that determines the order in which search results appear is geared towards ensuring that users get the most useful results in every search.

Ensuring that your website receives a strong ranking on Google requires a long-term strategy that involves, among other things, posting fresh, relevant content regularly. This includes ensuring that the copy on your site is seeded with relevant keywords and that your content is being shared and linked to other relevant pages.

A Google Adwords strategy is also a key part of ensuring that even if organic search rankings don’t put you on top, you at least have a presence on the first page of search results.

2. Own your presence on relevant platforms

Is your business name claimed on Google and Facebook? If you’re an attraction, are you in control of your brand name on TripAdvisor? These are key hygiene factors for managing your online reputation.

Owning your Google My Business page, for instance, allows you to ensure that the information around your business is accurate and regularly updated, so potential customers can find and learn about your services without having to work too hard. It also allows you to monitor and respond to reviews of your business.

3. Monitor your online review

The statistics around the power of online reviews are quite compelling, with insights by Terakeet adding that 91% of customers are more likely to choose businesses with a five-star rating, while  BrightLocal suggests that 82% of consumers are less likely to choose businesses with negative reviews. Now imagine you don’t have any reviews of your business online at all – it’s a bit like not existing.

Yes, negative reviews happen, and while you won’t be able to delete them, it is important to be seen to be responding to them. The general rule when dealing with an unhappy customer online is to try to take the conversation offline as quickly as possible and engage with the customer in a less public space.

It’s also worth noting that spam reviews have become a problem on platforms such as Facebook, and as such, spam must be reported the moment you spot it.

4. Encourage customers to give you reviews, particularly the happy ones

If you have a sales team, get them to reach out to happy customers and ask if they’d mind giving you a rating.

Getting a high number of reviews sends out a message that many people use your service, which provides a credibility boost in itself, and of course, many positive reviews can help level out any lower ratings from negative reviews.

5. Get out in the news

A proactive PR strategy to build your brand is another powerful way to manage your online reputation.

Seeding out press statements, getting quoted in mainstream news, and getting thought leadership pieces placed in mainstream publications are all ways to ensure that positive news, featuring your narrative, comes up when potential customers search for you.

6. Don’t forget the real world

It would have occurred to you by now that not all the parts of your online reputation are directly in your control, and this is not surprising. Online and offline, our reputations are determined more by what others say about us and less by what we say about ourselves. And how others feel about us is primarily determined by what we do in the real world.

It’s an obvious, but important point to note: No amount of savvy reputation management, be it online or offline, can substitute for first providing positive experiences to as many people who interact with your brand as possible.

Wrapping Up:

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, over 1,000,000 SKU and more. With a successful track record of over 100,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements.

Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses! If you would like to know more details about us, please contact us:  blog.shopshipshake.com. If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on: https://shop.shopshipshake.com/shop/register/business

This article partly refers to: https://bizmag.co.za/online-reputation-management-101/

Posted on in Build your business, BUSINESS, Digital business, e-commercce, Social media

3 Digital Marketing Strategies That Will Save You 20 Hours Every Week

As an entrepreneur, you know that time is money. That’s why saving 20 hours per week is essential if you want to grow your business faster and easier. Discover three digital marketing automation strategies that will free up valuable time so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Are you struggling to keep up with the demands of digital marketing? You’re not alone. Small businesses and entrepreneurs are often so busy that they don’t have time to focus on their marketing efforts.

Don’t worry, though! There are ways to automate your digital marketing so that it doesn’t take up all your time.

As a digital entrepreneur and marketing coach, over the past ten years growing online businesses, I’ve learned precisely how to save 20 hours a week with automatic digital marketing processes, which I’m here to teach you. By implementing the three following automation strategies, you can free up valuable time to focus on other aspects of your business. Let’s get started!

1. Social media marketing automation

Automating your social media marketing is one of the fastest and easiest ways to save time in digital marketing. There are many tools available that allow you to schedule posts, monitor engagement, and more.

At the beginning of each month, create a calendar by planning 30 days worth of social media content ideas. For example, each day of the week, you should vary your content by type (i.e., educational, entertaining, inspiring, tips and tricks, behind-the-scenes, etc.). This will help keep your social media audiences engaged and interested in your posts while making it easier for you and your team to create the content.

Similar to how manufacturing facilities streamline production processes by batching work, the same technique should be applied to your marketing efforts. Instead of creating marketing content from scratch and posting to social networks daily, batch your workload by producing content in one sitting and then schedule your posts for the rest of the week. This will make it easier for you and save you a lot of time so that you can move on to other areas of your business.

When filming videos or shooting photos for social media, aim to capture a variety of content that can be reused and repurposed for various posts. This will cut down on the content creation time, as you’re utilizing one shoot for multiple pieces of content.

You can also share UGC (user-generated content) featuring your company’s products or services (either by hired content creators or real customers), which shows social proof while giving you easy-to-post original content that doesn’t require extra work or effort on your part.

In addition to these social media marketing tips to save time and energy, you can also reshare posts from several months ago. For example, if you had a popular post on Instagram from at least 3-months ago that got a lot of engagement, repost that with a slightly different caption now. This drastically cuts down on your content creation time, helping to attract a wider audience of potential new followers interested in your business.

2. Automating email marketing

Automating your email marketing is a great way to save time and increase efficiency while staying in touch with your customers and prospects. You can use an email automation platform like Flodesk, Mailchimp or Constant Contact to create automated campaigns that send personalized emails to your subscribers based on their preferences and interests.

For example, creating an email sequence workflow that automatically is scheduled to send to people who opt-in to your email list is the absolute best way to streamline your email marketing process. It’s also important to segment your audience lists so that you optimize your email workflows — this way, you know where each person is in the customer journey experience.

For example, if someone opts into your email list by signing up for a lead magnet (such as a free ebook), then you’ll want to add them to a cold lead list (since they’re just learning about your business). That way, you start to warm them up through emails before selling them on your products or services.

By comparison, if you set up an audience list of past customers, you can remarket to them by offering reward-based promotions (such as exclusive Thank You coupon codes) to encourage them to purchase again.

As you can see, setting up audience lists makes it easier to create different types of automated emails that drive brand awareness, boost sales conversions and incentivize repeat purchases.

3. Implementing content curation tools

Content curation is another excellent way for entrepreneurs and small business owners to save time on digital marketing. Using a content curation tool, such as Buzzsumo or Curata, you can quickly find and share relevant content in your industry without spending hours researching articles and sources. Content curation tools allow you to easily search for the best content related to your target audience, save it for later use, and share it on social media.

In addition to sharing industry-focused content, you can also share inspirational quotes that relate to your target audience’s mindset. For example, suppose you’re selling beauty products geared toward women. In that case, you might consider quickly creating a beauty image (even a stock photo will suffice) with a caption by an empowering female icon (such as Coco Chanel or Marilyn Monroe). Women are inspired by motivational messages from these figures and will often engage with this type of content on social media (by liking, commenting, and sharing it). This is an easy, effective way to create content that gets results quickly.

These are just a few simple ways that automation will help you save time in digital marketing. Implementing these strategies will allow you to focus more energy on other important business areas while growing brand awareness for your company and acquiring new sales leads.

Wrapping up

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, over 1,000,000 SKU and more. With a successful track record of over 100,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements.

Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses! If you would like to know more details about us, please contact us:  blog.shopshipshake.com. If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on: https://shop.shopshipshake.com/shop/register/business

This article partly refers to: https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/3-digital-marketing-strategies-that-will-save-you-20-hours/441524

Posted on in Business, Social media

20+ Holiday Marketing Ideas for Ecommerce Brands (2022)

You can’t ignore it: there’s a certain buzz in the air. The holiday season is upon us.

As store owners, you survived the biggest shopping weekend of the year. But even with Black Friday Cyber Monday behind us, shoppers are still scrambling to buy last minute gifts, pushing the limits of your shipping deadlines. And if you have a retail presence, that chaos can last until closing time on Christmas Eve.

If your customers are celebrating Ramadan or Hanukkah or just looking forward to popping the New Year’s cork, they’re in a buying spirit. With a few last-minute tweaks to your store design, festive product collections, and creative holiday marketing ideas, you can make the most of the next few weeks. 

Even if you don’t sell seasonal products or gifts, consider the massive opportunity the holiday season brings. Holiday ecommerce sales are projected to top $209.7 billion in the US alone. Although spending will be down overall, online holiday sales will see a 2.5% bump over 2021.

Ahead, you’ll find a huge list of holiday marketing campaign ideas, including gift guides, email marketing campaign examples, and festive apps to get your store ready for the holiday shopping season. 

Getting your store holiday ready

Now that you know why it’s worthwhile to get in the holiday spirit, let’s talk about how to do it. Holiday preparation for commerce stores usually happens much earlier in the year, as you consider and get ready for:

  • Increased inventory needs 
  • Seasonal staff hiring
  • Shipping deadlines and policies
  • Holiday marketing campaigns
  • Packing and shipping supplies
  • Holiday-themed product development
  • Festive store design and assets
  • Holiday returns and exchanges policy
  • Gift-giving product collections

If you’ve already checked all the boxes, congrats! You’re in for a smooth ride through the festive season. If not, don’t fret. With weeks to go, there’s still time to implement a last-minute holiday marketing strategy and give your store a festive facelift as you brace for holiday shoppers.

22 holiday marketing campaign ideas for ecommerce stores

Many of these holiday marketing strategies are designed to be easy to implement, even if you’re short on time and budget. The list of holiday marketing campaigns and ideas also includes apps and tools you can use to implement them, plus real examples to inspire you.

Holiday products and themed collections

1. Develop holiday-specific products or variants

For many brands, it’s too late to develop new seasonal products, unless you’re a dropshipper or use a print-on-demand model. Handmade brands may also be nimble enough to create new products. 

For everyone else, with a few tweaks to packaging or variants (say a rebranded festive sock color or holiday label for a pine-scented candle), stores can give the impression of having new offerings, even if they’re reimagined classics.

2. “Gift-ify” your existing product catalog 

Bundle products into gift packs for the holiday season, update packaging with festive add-ons like To/From tags or ribbons, and add gift wrapping as an option right on the product page or checkout. Everyday products from your core collection can generate new interest when bundled as a holiday combo and sold as gifts.

Website product page for Friends NYC
Friends NYC

3. Offer digital gift cards 

Digital gift cards can be added to any store at any time of year. You can easily update the design to reflect the season and promote these as last-minute gift ideas to your customers. Consider featuring them prominently on your site and at the top of gift-giving collections. Promote them on social media after your shipping deadline has passed to keep holiday sales flowing until Christmas Eve.

Two hands holding gift cards against a green background

4. Create holiday collections

Create new collections around holiday themes, categories, or gift recipients. This will help website visitors easily navigate your site for holiday shopping. Curate core products into collections like “Holiday Party Dresses,” “Gifts for Dad,” or “Toys for Toddlers.” This is an easy and free marketing strategy for a small business that is tight on time or budget.

Lily Lou's Aroma's homepage

5. Consider timed holiday “drops”

Build anticipation around new products or product variants by teasing “drops” to your social media audience or email subscribers. Example: run a “12 days of Christmas” campaign that introduces a new featured product each day leading up to your shipping deadline. Or delight your customers with a virtual advent calendar that reveals a new holiday promotion each day.

6. Add gift-wrapping as a product

Selling gift wrapping service as a separate product means it will show up prominently in search and collections. You can choose to offer this as a free add-on or to charge for premium wrap as a unique personalized shopping experience. Customers purchasing gifts will appreciate this convenience during the busy festive season.

Product page on numpfer's website

Holiday content and social marketing

7. Develop a holiday gift guide

Help your customers navigate your store from a gift-buying perspective. Consider creating gift guides on your blog, in email marketing, or via social media. As an easy alternative, link from social media or your homepage to holiday-specific collections renamed as gift guides.

Side by side panels of two gift guides for specific personalities, featuring an array of products each
An instragram post from Bangs Shoes featuring a number of products arranged into a gift guide

8. Promote your holiday promotions and products on social 

Reward your loyal fans with discounts and deals shared exclusively to your social followers. Use a discount app like to offer a gift with purchase, BOGO deals, or tiered discounts that drive higher cart totals. Try timed or limited daily deals that create a sense of anticipation and urgency.

Instagram post by Ruff House Paperie

9. Use content marketing to drive traffic 

A great holiday SEO strategy can help drive more prospective customers to your site. Consider what value you can offer to your customers this time of year. Whether your target audience is looking for festive recipes, unique gift ideas, or DIY content, find relevant ways to attract them through this content and drive them to your products. Consider multiple formats like gated ebooks or how-to videos.

Webpage featuring a cocktail recipe
Webpage for Rent-a-Christmas featuring a blog post
Almond Cow product page selling a recipe e-book

10. Host a giveaway

A social media post by Altitude sports promoting a giveaway 

11. Update social media headers or avatars

Header of a Twitter page for Plant Therapy featuring a holiday bannerYou may want to update social media assets like your Facebook cover image or Twitter avatar for the holiday season to remind customers that you’re a destination for gifts. Try a tool like Hatchful or Canva to create a custom logo and social media assets for the season. Also update your bio to include holiday messaging.

Holiday marketing campaigns for email

12. Send a holiday discount code to your email list

Reward existing subscribers with an email marketing campaign to drive them to your site for their shopping needs. Get creative with your subject lines—you’re competing with a ton of noise in your customers’ inboxes ahead of the holiday season. 

13. Incentivize new subscribers with a discount

You can also incentivize signups by offering a discount to new subscribers. Set up a welcome email that generates a unique coupon code for new subscribers, or use a pop-up on your site and reveal the code upon sign up.

Email sign up CTA from My Christmas Crate

14. Launch a timed email campaign with daily or weekly features

Kick off a multi-email campaign and help increase your open rates and click-through rates by teasing new holiday promotions and surprises each day or week. Think: daily deals, discount codes, gift with purchase, and new products. 

Sample of a holiday email from Spell and the Gypsy Collective

Holiday marketing campaign ideas for online stores

15. Swap out standard lifestyle images with festive versions

Gift sets of Nuun tablets arranged in a holiday scene

If you have the time and budget to reshoot some of your bestsellers as holiday-themed lifestyle photos, it encourages your site visitors to consider your products as gift ideas. Otherwise, browse free stock photos on sites like Burst to find images to use for collection headers and more.

Persona wearing an ugly Christmas sweater holds a gift

16. Dress up your homepage

Add festive touches to your homepage to let buyers know you’re a destination for gifts or holiday products.

  • Create a snow-falling effect on your homepage with Christmas & Snowfall Effect 
  • Festive Decorations adds animated holiday icons to you store
  • Greet customers with a seasonal soundtrack using Custom Background Music: Xmas

17. Add an announcement bar

Loog Guitars festive homepage

An announcement bar at the top of your website can be used to announce specials or shipping deadlines to new visitors. An app like Hextom works with your Shopify store to add custom banners in seconds. Use this space to promote free shipping and other holiday campaigns. 

18. Create a gift registry or add a wish list feature

Wishlist Plus and Gift Reggie are gift registry apps that let customers save favorites and enable you to send custom marketing messages and reengage them. This is a great marketing tactic to help build your customer list—customers create an account to save favorites, helping you reengage them in future marketing campaigns.

Flying Tiger wish list page

19. Enable gift-wrapping with an app

Rather than set up wrapping as a separate product, try an app that integrates with your store. Wrapped adds a gift wrapping option directly to product pages and checkout. Customers can select from multiple options and add a gift message before adding to cart.

Screengrab of Moon Bottles checkout page featuring gift wrapping add-on

Promoting holiday shipping options

20. Add a countdown bar

Apps like Countdown Timer by POWr and Order Deadline remind customers of your order deadlines, with countdowns embedded in product pages. Communicating cut-off shipping dates clearly on your website can create a sense of urgency—a successful holiday marketing strategy you can use to drive sales. 

21. Create a shareable shipping calendar

Customers appreciate clear guidelines around shipping to ensure their gifts will arrive under the tree in time. Don’t make them search for it. A calendar graphic or chart with important dates is a useful asset that you can share across FAQ pages and even email and social media. 

Holiday shipping calendar example for ecommerce

22. Promote last-minute delivery and pick up options

If you sell to local customers, offer ordering beyond the shipping cut off, and allow customers to use curbside pick up for last minute orders from your physical store, studio, or office. You may even offer a one-time local delivery option just for the holidays.

Wrapping up

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, over 1,000,000 SKU and more. With a successful track record of over 100,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements. Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses.

If you would like to know more details about us, please contact with us:  www.shopshipshake.co.za

If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on: https://shop.shopshipshake.com/shop/register/business

Article reference: https://www.shopify.com/blog/holiday-ecommerce-tools-apps

crop smiling ethnic blogger recording video on smartphone on street
Posted on in Business, How it works, Social media

Using Video Content: How to Reach, Interest and Engage Customers

Content marketing is so much more than just writing articles – video packs more of a punch. Learn to utilize video to engage your customers and be heard.

Every successful business knows that content marketing is a significant way to improve conversions, build your brand, create credibility in the market and attract new customers. 

The term “content marketing” usually brings blogs and other written content to mind. While these channels allow businesses to share their expertise and explore topics in depth, there are other ways to communicate with prospective customers – particularly video. 

Using video content in your marketing can increase engagement, expand your market, boost web traffic, drive leads, and much more. We’ll explore video marketing and how businesses can use video content as part of a successful digital marketing strategy.

What is video marketing? 

Video marketing uses digital videos to promote and market your company and its products and services. Because of its format, you can incorporate visuals of people and processes, text, spoken words, and music, as well as splashy graphics – all of which can grab attention. 

Technology like smartphone cameras, webcams and video editing software helps small business owners and marketing professionals create powerful videos quickly, frequently and affordably. 

Busy consumers may prefer a short video rather than a long article describing a product, service or concept. Many people learn better when they hear and see information, so videos can deliver your message more effectively. 

Incorporate video into your marketing plan to engage your target market on social media, explain or demonstrate your product or service, showcase your expertise, and provide social proof with video testimonials.

Types of video footage

There are three types of video: live action, animation and shared screen.

  1. Live action: In live-action videos, there is footage of people, processes, and other things and places in the real world. Live action was the most popular type of video in 2021, making up 42% of the content, according to the Wyzowl video marketing statistics. 
  2. Animation: Animated video comprised 33% of the video used in 2021. 
  3. Shared screen: Screen-capture recordings, used primarily for software demos, made up 15% of the video content.

Types of videos

Video content offers infinite possibilities, and marketers use videos for myriad purposes. Here are the top five video uses and the percentage of video marketing they comprise, according to Wyzowl (many video marketers use videos for multiple purposes, so the total is more than 100%). 

  1. Explainer videos: These are typically mid-length videos (three to five minutes) that explain a concept, use case, or product or service solution; 74% of video marketers use explainer videos.
  2. Social media videos: Social media marketing videos are usually short (up to two minutes) and include anything from a product introduction to a funny story. More than two-thirds (68%) of video marketers produce them.
  3. Presentation videos: These are usually captured from a webinar or live presentation, although they can be done specifically for the video and can be up to an hour. They may include PowerPoint slides and other graphics. These videos are used by half (50%) of video marketers.
  4. Video testimonials: Video testimonials are a powerful form of social proof, where a current or past customer goes on video and talks about their positive experience with a company, product or service. These are always live action; 48% of video marketers use video testimonials.
  5. Video ads: These short videos directly promote a product or service, appearing on the company website, social media or third-party websites; 42% of video marketers use video ads.

Benefits of video marketing

Video marketing provides a slew of benefits to businesses, no matter their size or industry. These are some of the top benefits: 

  1. Video can reach a broad audience. Most American adults watch digital videos, making it a great way to reach your target audience.
  2. It boosts brand awareness. When many prospects view your video, your brand awareness expands. Since digital videos are easily shareable, a short viral video can make a huge difference in how many prospective buyers know your company and its offerings.
  3. It can help you find leads. Depending on what kind of product or service you have, lead generation may be an essential marketing goal. Explainer and testimonial videos can give a prospective customer enough criteria to request more information or book an appointment with a salesperson. In fact, 86% of video marketers use video in this way, according to Wyzowl.
  4. It can drive sales. Video has been shown to help drive sales. According to Animoto’s annual social video survey, 93% of consumers say that video is helpful in purchase decisions. Also, watching a company’s video is directly tied to sales, since 71% of consumers buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video on social media. Consumers also said that video is the most memorable content from brands.
  5. It increases web traffic. Nearly 9 in 10 video marketers (87%) say that video has increased their website traffic, according to Wyzowl. This happens because of the time website visitors spend on your site. When they watch a video of up to several minutes, Google and other search engines take note. The more time visitors spend on your site, the higher the Google algorithm ranks you, because it assumes you provide valuable content. Higher ranking directly contributes to more organic search traffic. Additionally, using short (less than a minute) videos on social media can make someone curious enough to click through to your website, adding another source of traffic.

How to use video content to boost your marketing strategy

If you’re interested in making a powerful statement in very few words, consider these four ways to use video content to improve your company’s marketing strategy.

1. Engage blog followers.

A blog doesn’t have to use only written content. To create meaningful blog content, go beyond the written word and use video to engage followers. Often, a video blog, or “vlog,” is a great way to break up the monotony of single-media blogs.  

As you create your video, keep in mind some crucial factors to help your vlog posts be successful:

  • Watch your time. You have an average of 10 seconds per video to attract a viewer’s attention. After 10 seconds, the viewer will usually click away without getting to your call to action. But don’t go too long either. Keeping the videos under two minutes will maximize engagement.
  • Optimize your video for mobile use. It’s crucial to optimize your video content for mobile use. On average, the desktop viewer has an attention span of two minutes or less, but the mobile user has an attention span of 2.5 to five minutes. 

2. Describe your brand.

Website visitors may wonder about your company and its mission. You could write a lengthy About Us page, but it’s tricky to say just the right thing without being wordy or confusing. You’re also limited in the number of images you can use to describe your concept.

Renderforest, a video production company, puts the effectiveness of video best: “Let’s face it. In nowadays’ fast-paced world, users prefer a short, fun video to a textual content (even if it’s a quality one) if given a choice. So, promoting your website through an explainer or company introduction video can be considered [an] effective strategy.”

To see this concept in action, watch a sample video on the company’s website. The one-minute video shows the company’s mission in a visually appealing way without taking up much time. 

3. Enhance your landing pages.

Most of your outside content generally ends with a call to action with one goal in mind: Get people to your website. While a call to action can be compelling, you also need an effective landing page to entice customers to stick around when they visit your site. 

A video on a landing page is one of the best ways to keep customers engaged. Attract visitors’ attention immediately by programming the video to play as soon as the webpage opens. You’re all but guaranteed at least 10 seconds of viewer attention, which is often all it takes to land a customer.

4. Garner social shares.

The key to getting your brand out there and attracting the attention of a broad audience is getting social shares. Because of the gripping nature of the screen, videos are much more likely to gain attention than blog posts. This is particularly true since videos take less time than blog posts.

The best way to get social shares is to create a video that people want to watch. Offer a video that’s mutually beneficial. Instead of creating a video entirely to drive conversions, create a video to educate the viewer or provide some value.

For example, humor – though not the only strategy worth using – is something everyone enjoys, so it can provide value for viewers. If you can create a commercial that makes someone laugh and then tie it into a call to action that directs them to your website, you’ll have created a video that brings value to all parties. If consumers think the video is worth sharing, you’ll get more brand attention and conversions.

Where to display video marketing content

Video is a flexible medium that you can use (and reuse) in multiple places. Don’t be afraid to modify existing video content to work for other uses. For example, a snippet from a video testimonial could be used on your product page or social media. 

Here are some places to share video content:

  • Company website: Your website is an excellent place to put explainer videos (“about us” and product sections) and video testimonials (throughout the site or on a dedicated page).
  • Blog: Post informative videos and presentation videos on your company blog.
  • Landing page: You can use a short video ad on your landing page to capture attention and leads. You can also use your landing page to tease prospects by giving them access to in-depth content in exchange for contact information to help you grow your email list. Set up your system to automatically email them a link to a presentation video with a call to action at the end.
  • YouTube: Especially if you have a lot of video content, it can be beneficial to have your own YouTube channel. In addition to generating traffic and exposing your content to more people, YouTube provides many SEO and analytics tools, so it’s an excellent place to host your videos before embedding them on your website or landing pages.
  • Social media platforms: Create videos for social media platforms like Instagram. Short videos in portrait format work best here, in contrast to longer ones in landscape format, which work best in other places. Include videos in Instagram Reels, Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories, as well as in regular posts.

Wrapping up

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, and more.
With a successful track record of over 20,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements. Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses.

If you would like to know more details about us, please contact with us: 

www.shopshipshake.co.za

If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on:https://bit.ly/3ks0m1M

Posted on in Build your business, Social media

How to Find and Target Your Social Media Audience

Developing a clear understanding of your social media target audience may be the most important thing you do as a social media marketer. Your target audience informs all elements of your social media strategy.

Here’s a hint before we dig in: Your target audience is not “everyone” (unless you’re Google). Your task in defining your social media audience is to identify and understand your niche so you can dominate it.

Audience research will help you craft relevant content, messaging, and ads. All of this can lead to higher conversion rates and better social media ROI. Of course, these are key metrics for all social marketers (and marketing bosses).

How to find your social media target audience

Social media audience research isn’t complicated. It’s mainly about narrowing your focus while expanding your reach.

We’ve created a free social media audience research template to help you keep track of all the information you learn as you conduct your research.

1. Compile data on your existing customers and social media audience

Who most wants to engage with you on social media? Start with the people already buying from you, following you, and interacting with your posts. Some data points you might want to consider are:

  • Age: You don’t need to get too specific here. Focus on learning which decade of life your social media target audience is in, or their generation.
  • Location (and time zone): Where in the world does your social media audience live? This helps you understand which geographic areas to target. You’ll also learn what hours are most important for your customer service and sales reps to be online. And when you should schedule your social ads and posts to ensure best visibility.
  • Language: What language does your target audience speak? Don’t assume it’s your language. And don’t assume they speak the dominant language of their current physical location.
  • Spending power and patterns: How much money does your target audience for social media sites have to spend? How do they approach purchases in your price category? Do they have specific financial concerns or preferences you need to address?
  • Interests: What does your target audience like to do? What TV shows do they watch? What other businesses do they interact with?
  • Challenges: What pain points is your social media audience dealing with?
  • Stage of life: Does your social media target audience include college students? New parents? Parents of teens? Retirees?

B2B companies should also consider:

  • Size of business: What kinds of businesses buy from and engage with you? Are they start-ups or enterprise-level brands?
  • Who tends to make the buying decisions: Are you targeting the CEO? The CTO? The social marketing manager?

Social media analytics provide much of this information. Facebook Audience Insights can be particularly helpful.

Your own customer database can also provide a wealth of information. You can’t assume that your overall customer demographics will match your target audience for social media sites. But understanding who’s already buying from you can help you understand who’s most likely to be interested in your social channels.

If you’re not already, now would be a great time to incorporate UTM codes into social posts, either manually or using a social media management platform like Hootsuite. This will allow you to gather information about who clicks on your content using Google Analytics.

2. Use social listening to find conversations about your brand

Social listening is a key way to uncover conversations about your business, your industry, and your products. Monitoring relevant keywords and hashtags reveal what people are saying about you and your competitors online, even when you’re not tagged.

Reaching out in response to these social posts is a great way to find your target audience on social media, even if they’re not yet following you.

You can also use social listening for deeper social media audience research. As you monitor keywords and hashtags, you may uncover other relevant hashtags your audience uses. You can then test adding these hashtags to your social posts to extend your reach to more relevant users.

3. Research which social channels your audience uses

Now you have a sense of who your audience might be and what they’re talking about online. So it’s time to find out where they already spend their time on social media. There are a couple of tools you can use to find this information.

4. Check out the competition

Odds are, your social media audience overlaps with that of your competitors. So it’s worth checking out what they’re doing so you can benefit from the lessons they’ve already learned. Are they reaching segments you hadn’t thought to consider? How are they positioning themselves?

Here are a couple of helpful tools:

Search streams

We talked about search streams for monitoring keywords and hashtags above, but they’re also a great way to keep an eye on what your competition is up to.

In your social media management dashboard, set up streams to monitor your competition’s social posts and look for patterns in hashtags, post type, and content strategy.

To dig deeper, check out our step-by-step guide on how to do competitor research on social media. It walks you through the best ways to use social tools to gather competitor insights.

5. Understand what your target audience wants from your social channels

First, you need to make sure you have a rock-solid understanding of how your product or service makes your audience’s life:

  • better
  • easier
  • or just more interesting.

Does it solve their challenges? Address specific pain points? Help them meet their goals?

If you don’t already have a clear list of the benefits of your product, it’s time to start brainstorming now. Creating benefit statements automatically involves stating some basic information about your target demographic.

Next, start to think about how you can create value for your audience through your social channels. Some key questions to consider:

  • What are your audience’s main purchasing barriers, and how can you help overcome them?
  • Where are your followers at in their buying journey? Are they researching or ready to buy? Looking for reviews?
  • What kind of content does your audience tend to engage with?

If you’re having trouble figuring out exactly what your social audience wants to see on your social channels, you could always ask them.

Wrapping up

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, and more.
With a successful track record of over 20,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements. Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses.

If you would like to know more details about us, please contact with us: 

www.shopshipshake.co.za

If you are interested in cooperating with us. Please register on:

https://bit.ly/3ks0m1M